Chechnya
Maybe we have played out this whole question of ethnic divisions. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
Re: Chechnya Capitalism
I wrote, referring to Chechen nutball ideologist Nukhayev: Read the book! As it turns out, however, unless you read Russian, you can't. Klebnikov's book Razgovor s varvorom, his interviews with Nukhayev, has not been translated into English. Therefore probably not available on Lexis-Nexis either. Why am I not surprised. __ Do you Yahoo!? Vote for the stars of Yahoo!'s next ad campaign! http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/yahoo/votelifeengine/
Pakistan and Chechnya
In view of the recent discussion that brought up alleged ties between the ISI and Chechen militants, I thought this might be of interest. This is from a Chechnya-themed news server I subscribe to. CD Author Calls for Serious Steps To Improve Pakistan-Russia Relations Islamabad NDC Journal in English 28 Jun 04 [Group Captain Abrar Ghalib, SI (M): Pak-Russia Relations in Post Afghanistan War: Geopolitical Scenario] Introduction After 1971, Pakistan's relations with the Soviet Union remained strained, and after the Soviet armed forces were sent into Afghanistan in December 1979, Pakistan's stand against the Soviet intervention resulted in further worsening of relations. Indeed, Pakistan's support to the Afghan struggle against the Soviet occupation alienated the Soviet leadership, and resultantly Pakistan was in a virtual state of war with Moscow. Though the Soviet occupation ended in 1989, a considerable degree of resentment persisted in the political and military circles. Ironically relations between Islamabad and Moscow came under severe strain once again, as the Taliban and religious parties in Pakistan began sympathizing with the Chechen freedom fighters. The overall situation has undergone a significant change since September 2001. The differences over Afghanistan have disappeared and some moves have been made to improve bilateral relations between Moscow and Islamabad. Most importantly in the changed post Cold War environment, Russia is looking for as many partners as possible to counter the uni-polarity affected by U.S. hegemony. Pakistan-USSR Relations in the Wake of Military Intervention in Afghanistan Strains reappeared in Pakistan-USSR relations following the Soviet-backed communist takeover in Kabul in April 1978. As a consequence of this development, Pakistan felt exposed from the North and began supporting the insurgents fighting against the communist regime of Taraki in Kabul. On 19 March 1979 Pravda accused Pakistan along with China and others for their Reactionary machinations against the democratic Afghanistan. A high-level delegation led by Mahmood Haroon Minister of Interior visited Moscow to allay Moscow's apprehension regarding Islamabad's alleged complicity in the counter-revolutionary activities against Soviet-backed communist regime in Kabul. But Moscow remained unconvinced (footnote 1). Pakistan's Security Concerns The Soviet military action in Afghanistan involving some 100,000 Soviet troops marked the beginning of a Cold War between Islamabad and Moscow. In the soviet move into Afghanistan, Islamabad saw the elimination of a valuable strategic buffer and the possible Soviet military drift towards its own borders. From Pakistan's security viewpoint it was a nightmarish situation, as the Red Army stood perilously close to the Khyber Pass, a traditional gateway of the invaders of the subcontinent. In order to mitigate Islamabad's threat perception resulting from its move into Afghanistan, Moscow offered to guarantee the inviolability of the Durand Line. This offer was made through India in March 1980, presumably during Sawaran Singh's trip to Islamabad as a special envoy. The Soviet proposition was rejected by Islamabad as it involved India and Iran as co-guarantors of the inviolability of the Durand Line. Pakistan's security compulsions forced it to embrace Washington once again. Moscow grew hostile towards this second honeymoon between Washington and Islamabad. On the eve of president Zia's visit to Washington in December 1982 Izvestia, in a long article accused Pakistan of conducting An undeclared war against the democratic republic of Afghanistan, and noted that its Arms build-up exceeds its defence needs, and that its efforts to create a nuclear weapon cannot fail to alarm its neighbours. Izvestia warned Pakistan that its use as a blind tool of American imperialist policy in the region is not only fraught with serious consequences for peace in the South and South West Asia, but also harbours a threat to the security of the people of Pakistan themselves. Moscow has also accused Pakistan for its lack of sincerity in seeking a negotiated settlement of the Afghan issue through Geneva parleys. Besides pursuing a strategy of verbal threats Moscow had also put indirect military pressure on Pakistan to change its pro-Washington tilt as evidenced by the frequency and intensity of the cross border raids, air violations and artillery barrages. Over the Mattni incident in April 1985, in which several Soviet soldiers got killed, Moscow reacted angrily and described the incident as an act of war against the USSR Gorbachev himself warned President Zia of the dire consequences if Islamabad its Afghan policy (footnote 2). The range of issues on which Pak-USSR perceptions diverge and conflict is indeed very long. Most of Moscow's grievances against Islamabad were based on her negative perception of Islamabad's
Re: Pakistan and Chechnya
--- Chris Doss [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In view of the recent discussion that brought up alleged ties between the ISI and Chechen militants, I thought this might be of interest. This is from a Chechnya-themed news server I subscribe to. CD This is also of interest. From the same list. Editorial Views Russian Refusal To Export Military Hardware To Pakistan Lahore Daily Times (Internet Version-WWW) in English 11 Jul 04 [Editorial: Building trust between Pakistan and Russia] Pakistan's foreign minister, Khurshid Kasuri, was in Moscow on Friday where he met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. The important news that emerged from that meeting is Lavrov's refusal to export Russian military hardware to Pakistan. Mr Lavrov was also reported to have said that Russia's defence ties with India posed no danger to the military balance of power in South Asia. Mr Lavrov has a right to refuse military hardware to Pakistan because Russia, as a sovereign state, is free to determine its own interest. But his assertion that Russian defence ties with India do not upset the military balance in South Asia is patently wrong and self-serving. India has had a long relationship with Moscow. Since Pakistan and India have been adversaries since 1947, Pakistan cannot begrudge India its current advantage with Russia. However, given the situation in South Asia currently, Russia should play a more responsible and even-handed role. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has voiced exactly such a desire in the past. But to do that Moscow will need to factor in Pakistan's concerns and requirements. But this is not the impression we get from Mr Lavrov's post-meeting statement. For its part, Pakistan needs to understand that it cannot hope to bring relations with Russia on an even keel in the short-term. It is going to take some time before the old scars are healed. There are still elements within Pakistan who are linked to the Chechen cause. This adds to the problems. General Pervez Musharraf and Mr Kasuri are both going around with a shopping list for military hardware. But approaching Russia on this score is not likely to be very productive. Russia may be in need of hard cash but it is still heavily influenced by India. Also, making a deal with Russia does not mean much since Moscow has not been able to supply the goodies even after it has made the deals with other countries. The issue is complex for a number of reasons. The effort at this point should be to simply try and normalise relations and build trust and confidence. __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
Louis wrote: You may be a great economist, but sometimes you suck as a moderator. Respectfully, I have to disagree. Michael is an excellent moderator. Michael does something akin to actual life: keep differing ideas in contact, because there is something that comes out of it that's better than the sectarianism Jim mentioned in a separate thread. I am sure you put me in the same sniper category as Doug. I have accepted that horrible fate. But those two chaps are both better moderators than you. (That is just my opinion, since you have opened up that line of comment.) This is an utter disgrace that so few people on pen-l would take a stand against this. Utter... these are the kinds of purple prose flourishes that I have privately noted to you that you should lose... Ken. -- All politeness is owing to Liberty. We polish one another, and rub off our Corners and rough Sides by a sort of amicable Collision. To restrain this, is inevitably to bring a Rust upon Men's Understanding. -- Anthony Ashley Cooper Third Earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713)
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
This is an utter disgrace that so few peopleon pen-l would take a stand against this. -- It's much more of an utter disgrace that some people on pen-l would repond to ethnographic data, links to entire books, and references to scholarly articles with vague and totally unsubstantiated analogies, quotes from dead people that have no relation to the present, and slanderous fabrications that haven't even been fact-checked. In other words, it's an utter disgrace that some people are such utter frauds. Michael, when are you going to unsub me? Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers!
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
Kenneth Campbell wrote: Respectfully, I have to disagree. Michael is an excellent moderator. Michael does something akin to actual life: keep differing ideas in contact, because there is something that comes out of it that's better than the sectarianism Jim mentioned in a separate thread. Yes, that's true. I apologize to Michael for this characterization. In fact, I try to moderate Marxmail with the same wisdom that he applies here. I lost my temper unfortunately after a day of being baited on pen-l. -- The Marxism list: www.marxmail.org
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
Kenneth Campbell wrote: Respectfully, I have to disagree. Michael is an excellent moderator. Michael does something akin to actual life: keep differing ideas in contact, because there is something that comes out of it that's better than the sectarianism Jim mentioned in a separate thread. I am sure you put me in the same sniper category as Doug. I have accepted that horrible fate. But those two chaps are both better moderators than you. (That is just my opinion, since you have opened up that line of comment.) Why thank you. Michael was my role model as a moderator. I've got a higher tolerance for polemic than he does sometimes, but I've got a lot of respect for the way he runs PEN-L. We owe him thanks, not rotten tomatoes. Doug
Chechnya and capitalism
Much as I think Joseph Green argues his case carefully and is right to criticise the violations of human rights that occurred under Stalin's leadership, the apparently mindless clearing of the Chechens and others in 1944, while to be condemned, needs to be understood, and put in the context of other massive population clearances which we have all condoned. I am thinking of the deportation of 14 million Germans, and the clearing of eastern Pomerania, Silesia and Prussia. I dipped into Stalin's rather scholastic but detailed Marxism and the National Question (1913) again. Although on less than thorough examination I could not find a reference to Chechens, there is a lot on the Caucusus of course. In it he has this ominous phrase. The national question in the Caucusus can be solved only by drawing the belated nations and nationalities into the common stream of a higher culture. The argument here is that the different groupings have by no means achieved the clearer characteristics of a nation, including a common territory and economy. In accordance with Lenin, the assumption is that the national movement has substantially different contents according to whether the bourgeoisie is leading it, or whether it is occurring arguably at a time of the decline of the bourgeoisie. Hence the word belated. Under conditions of the dictatorship of the proletariat national contradictions were kept under firm control at the expense of other values shall we say. As the state centralised socialist countries liberalised and disintegrated, in many cases but not all, we saw a resurgence of national and racist differences which they had no social or economic structure to contain. I suspect much as I disagree with the oppression of the Chechens now, and consider it disastrous for the unity of the people of the world, since they are seen as representatives of muslim people oppressed by christians, I suspect that hidden away in current Russian analysis there are details about the economic issues for Chechnya which assume correctly it is not viable on its own. This is tied up with the emergence of gangster capitalism in parts of the former Soviet bloc. And with the apparently relentless logic that smaller territories whatever their subjective feelings, economically have to be part of a larger economic bloc than the bourgeois nation state of 19th century Europe. There are strange or not so strange echoes in Stalin's early essay: What is to be done with the Ossetians, of whom the Transcaucasian Ossetians are becoming assimilated (but are as yet by no means wholly assimilated) by the Georgians, while the Cis-Caucasian Ossetians are partly being assimilated by the Russians and partly continuing to develop and are creating their own literature? How are they to be 'organised' into a single national union? To what national union should one attach the Adjarians, who speak the Georgian language, but whose culture is Turkish and who profess the religion of Islam? Only in the last week the new president of Georgia has shifted the official time zone of Georgia one hour forward to synchronise more closely with the time zones of the European Union. Quite explicitly. There appears to be no model for different national remnants to live side by side expect in super-states dominated by finance capital, which requires minimum rules of bourgeois democratic rights. Consider how the EU has flagrantly intervened in Turkey to insist on some minimum rights for Kurds. Whether Russian finance capital is strong enough to provide this umbrella to stabilise the basic interests of the Chechens appears to be highly problematic. My instincts are all on the side of erring against any oppression by reason of nationality, gender, race, sexual preference etc etc. as a way of building unity especially of that group with which you yourself do not identify. In large states this makes for a certain encouragement of identity politics which has some similarities to the cultural autonomy that Stalin and Lenin opposed. However I am really arguing that if we try to study history concretely, as well as with a flaming heart, we have to interpret these national questions not only from the point of view of the interests of the international unity of working people, but also from the point of view of economic viability of political structures. What is the Russian Federation's economic plan for the recovery of the entire North Caucusus? Chris Burford
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
However I am really arguing that if we try to study historyconcretely, as well as with a flaming heart, we have to interpretthese national questions not only from the point of view of theinterests of the international unity of working people, but also fromthe point of view of economic viability of political structures. Whatis the Russian Federation's economic plan for the recovery of theentire North Caucusus?--- To stabilize the situation by flooding it with money, basically. (Federal subsidies to Dagestan increased over 200% in the year following the attacks.) I think this op-ed piece gives a good idea of Kremlin thinking. Chechnya must look aheadBy Robert Bruce Ware In the short term, nothing will be settled by Sundays constitutional referendum in Chechnya. Many Chechens have endorsed the constitution, whether or not they agree with its particulars, simply because they are exhausted by the conflict and yearn for stability on almost any terms. Less conciliatory members of Chechen society will continue to engage federal troops in sporadic fights, and militants will still resort to terrorist acts to demonstrate they have not been sidelined. Indeed, as more people gradually return to Chechnya, terrorist acts will become easier to engineer and more deadly in their execution. Western critics will find ample reason to claim that the referendum was illegitimate or inconclusive. Another barrage of anti-Russian rhetoric will further undercut Russian moderates, renew the determination of Russian hardliners and limit opportunities for genuinely constructive Western influence. Critics, however, will be missing the crucial point. The short-term consequences of the referendum are relatively insignificant. Over the next five to 10 years, a new Chechen social order and new elites will slowly form around economic shifts that will develop following the entrenchment of the new administration and the consequent expansion of federal subsidies for the republic. Progressively, this new order will push Chechen radicals to the side and promote pragmatic and moderate elements. http://www.russiajournal.com/news/cnews-article.shtml?nd=36306 BTW, the main longterm threat to Russia's territorial integrity is probably not Chechen militants, since not many people in Chechnya and almost nobody outside Chechnya support them, but this: Study: Half of Economy in 6 RegionsBy Mikhail Balyasny Special to The Moscow Times The economy may have grown every year since the 1998 financial crisis, but so has the gap between rich and poor regions, according to a new study. Despite having less than 10 percent of the population, the two wealthiest regions in Russia -- oil-rich Tyumen in Western Siberia and the city of Moscow -- now account for nearly a third of gross domestic product, up from less than a fourth at the start of 1999, according to a research report by Aton investment bank. "Those regions that were poor remain poor, and those that were rich remain rich," said Peter Westin, the report's author and Aton's chief economist. Topping Aton's per capita output table at $8,981 per year is Tyumen (including Khanty-Mansiisk), followed by Moscow ($6,603), billionaire Roman Abramovich's fiefdom Chukotka ($5,093), diamond-rich Sakha ($4,568) and gold-filled Magadan ($3,245). The top six regions by output -- Moscow, Tyumen, St. Petersburg, Sverdlovsk, Tatarstan and Samara -- account for half of the overall economy, according to Aton. http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2004/06/29/041.html Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish.
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
I suspect much as I disagree with the oppression of the Chechens now,and consider it disastrous for the unity of the people of the world,since they are seen as representatives of muslim people oppressed bychristians, I suspect that hidden away in current Russian analysisthere are details about the economic issues for Chechnya which assumecorrectly it is not viable on its own.--- As I've said before, Chechnya is not seen as a Muslim issue in Russia (though it is by the mujaheedin). But anyway, I think you are right to hint at the fact that independence from the Soviet Union has been a disaster for everyone who tried it. Something that hasn't been mentioned here is that, when the Chechen electorate actually voted whether or not to be part of Russia in 1991, the great majority said "yes, we want to be part of Russia." When Yeltsin attacked in 1994, they were not fighting "for" independence. They were defending themselves. The idea of independence only become popular afterward, and not for very long, since 1996-1999 Chechnya was not exactly a wonderful place. For that matter, the majority of Soviet citizens voted to retain the Union as an integrated territory in 1991, for the obvious reason that no republic can go it alone without Russia (except for the Baltics, which have a new Russia now in the form of the EU).. ---And with the apparently relentless logic that smaller territorieswhatever their subjective feelings, economically have to be part of alarger economic bloc than the bourgeois nation state of 19th centuryEurope. --- I think this is true. My tovarishch Peter Lavelle's friend Dina, who part of the Chechen intelligentsia I mentioned who left in the early 90s, had this to say on the subject of the economic viability of an independent Chechnya (see! I have an advantage! Real live Chechens! :) ): At that time, the Chechen intelligentsia opposed Dudaev. So he and his supporters surrounded themselves both with criminals whom they released out of the two Grozny jails and the ignorant people from the mountains who were constantly paid for and fed in the so called Freedom Square in front of the Presidential Palace. They were also promised good positions, cars, etc. in the new Chechen government.The opposition turned out to be very soft, indecisive and helpless [I also was among the opposers, as most intelligentsia was, because we understood that Russia would never let its territory get separated, it is the matter of the country's constitution, besides, what could a tiny republic do without Russia?].http://www.untimely-thoughts.com/index.html?cat=4type=3art=544 Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish.
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
On Chechnya and the modern nation state/finance capital: Actually, Chechen radical ideologists such as Nukhayev are explicitly anti-modernist and believe that the Chechens should live like their ancestors did, live in tribes and herd goats and raid. A few years ago he was invited to Moscow to participate in a Eurasia Party conference (it's complicated to explain) and he gave a long speech saying that Russia and Chechnya should unite to fight the forces of civilization (N says that Chechnya is complete barbarism [his words] and Russia is half-barbarism, so they are natural quasi-allies). The English-language transcript of the address, which should give some idea of the ideology, no longer seems to be online, but I luckily did have a part of it already downloaded, which I post below. Also, Paul Klebnikov's last book, which in English would be called Conversations with a Barbarian, is really one long interview with Nukhayev. If you read it, and ignore Klebnikov's White Russian politics, you will get a good idea of the strange mixture of fundamentalism, Luddism and gangsterism that drives these people. Here's the snippet of the address: Address of HOJ-AHMED NUHAEV Bismillah irrakhmanirrakim! Dear participants to the conference! I shall begin my address from a fact evident to everyone. For the first time in the world history on the planet a super-power force has appeared, which openly professes the purpose to subordinate all peoples on earth to a New World Order. This force, undoubtedly, owns the financial, material and technical resources to the accomplishment of its globalist purposes and threatens in the same way the independence and the autonomy of all the peoples of the world. I am talking about the threat of globalism. In what this threat concretely shows itself? In that the forces of globalism try to gather and to bring to nothing religious and national traditions of the peoples, dating from very ancient times. The presence of traditions is the major obstacle on the path of consumer values, deprived of every spiritual content. Proceeding from this, we must formulate two main relevant conclusions: first, our opposition to globalist policies must lean on traditional Eurasian values, and, secondly, all Eurasian peoples wishing to preserve their independence and national originality must identify in the forces of globalism the common enemy. These two conclusions are the basic postulates on which is erected the ideology of eurasism, in particular, the ideology of the movement «Eurasia» headed by Aleksandr Dugin, here present. An application of the value and effectiveness of this ideology you can partly see in the fact that I, convinced supporter of Chechen independence, today appear at this conference in the capital of a state which is at war with my people. I have accepted the invitation of the organising committee of the conference and, moreover, I am its herald because I clearly acknowledge: eurasism creates that level of dialogue between Chechens and Russians on which, for the first time in history, we have a real basis for mutual understanding, for peace and for union against the common enemy, On what is founded my confidence? The purpose of Russia in this war is to clean its rim from the agents of the West, to not admit the rise on its borders of bridgeheads of hostile forces. The purpose of the Chechens in this and all the previous wars is the protection of its traditional way of life. The Kremlin must realise that the accomplishment of the Chechen purpose will also automatically accomplish the Russian purpose, as the nature of the traditional society is such that it does not accept the despiritualised Western values, and the Chechens will never allow their land to be turned into an Atlantic bridgehead. Thus, Chechens and Russians can proceed in their bilateral relations from the logic of the common enemy to the logic of the common purpose. Then a peace treaty combined with the stabilisation of the situation in the Caucasus will condition and impulse the integration of all Eurasia. Having challenged globalism, having put before herself the issue of returning to a multipolar world, Russia objectively acts in the interest of all the peoples of Eurasia. The following step is logically inevitable: Russia, leaning on the ideology of eurasism, will launch a process of consolidation of the peoples of our ancient continent. But, for this consolidation to have a strong world-view base, the eurasist ideology, in my view, must decisively to carry out heel from the specific geopolitical content to the benefit of traditionalism. Why do I think so? There are two strategies which Russia can oppose to the expansion of the Atlantic forces. The first one, geopolitical, was already tested during the cold war. It consists in a system of «dynamic equilibrium», of symmetrical challenges and answers. The essence of this strategy is to preserve parity with the Atlantic forces in all the aspects of the military
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
Chris Doss wrote: On Chechnya and the modern nation state/finance capital: Actually, Chechen radical ideologists such as Nukhayev are explicitly anti-modernist and believe that the Chechens should live like their ancestors did, live in tribes and herd goats and raid. This kind of characterization reminds me of James Robertson, leader of the Spartacist League, describing Albanians as goat-fuckers. In fact, Nukhayev's observation that: What would happen if the Old World, or more concretely Russia, will abdicate from the rules of dynamics, from the technological race, in favour of the rules of static? Let's examine this question into more detail. First, Russia would free huge means which are spent on the «technological race» with the West and allocate them to branches really relevant for the people: to the recovery of agriculture, now in permanent crisis, to ecological environmental recovery of the land, to microeconomic projects directed on reviving the countryside. differs little from the Zapatistas or Vandana Shiva. I can understand why some people might go ballistic at such a development schema, but if I had my choice between grovelling before capitalist modernization and small-scale development based on environmental sustainability, I'd opt for the latter. is really one long interview with Nukhayev. If you read it, and ignore Klebnikov's White Russian politics, you will get a good idea of the strange mixture of fundamentalism, Luddism and gangsterism that drives these people. Here's the snippet of the address: And here's a snippet that shows the character of the Bonapartist figure that wants to break their resistance: Counterpunch, April 17, 2001 Down the River With Vladimir Putin A couple of years ago Vladimir Putin journeyed to the American Southwest to take his natural son on an initiation ritual. The boy's mother is now an American citizen. First stop was a big game ranch in Texas, where Putin and Jr blasted zebras, antelopes and bison. Apparently, Putin, reenacting a scene out of Mailer's Why Are We In Vietnam, marked his son's forehead in the blood of one of these hapless creatures. Then it was on to Moab, Utah, for a raft trip down Cataract Canyon on the Colorado River, one of the world's most demanding stretches of whitewater. The Moab river guide community is still shaking its head from its close encounter with the Russian president and former KGB man. We get a lot of whacked-out people coming down the river, but Putin really is a dangerous guy, a real mobster, a guide told CounterPunch in late March. His packs were loaded with guns, vodka and tens of thousands of dollars in cash, the guide said. He seemed to be a little on edge. It was during a time when it was unclear what was going to happen to the Yeltsin government. He was a real bully. He was drunk much of the time and bossed people around as if they were his personal slaves. His son caught a channel catfish and they slapped it down in front of the guide and demanded that it be cooked up immediately. Cataract Canyon is in the heart of Canyonlands National Park, one of the most dramatic landscapes in the world. But Putin and son were soon bored with the redrock canyons and class five rapids. By the third day, Putin was demanding that the guides call in a helicopter to have his party picked up and flown out. Then he got drunk and started bragging about how many people he had personally killed. More than 40. The rafts finally exited Cataract and motored across 30 miles of Lake Powell's flat water to the marina complex known as Hite. The old town of Hite now lies submerged under 200 feet of water. The next step on the Putins' tour was supposed to be a four-wheeler excursion tearing up the desert in the bizarre Needles District of Canyonlands Park. But Putin opted for a more traditional form of initiation for his son, straight out of Notes from the Underground. From the Hite marina, he placed a call to Las Vegas. We want some whores, Putin shouted into his cellphone. Price is no object. CP -- The Marxism list: www.marxmail.org
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
Somebody should tell Counterpunch that Putin has no son. He has two daughters. --- A couple of years ago Vladimir Putin journeyed to the American Southwest to take his natural son on an initiation ritual. The boy's mother is now an American citizen. Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages!
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
Chris Doss wrote: Somebody should tell Counterpunch that Putin has no son. He has two daughters. In fact I just sent a note to Jeff St. Clair to remove it from the website. In any case, it has about as much accuracy as your describing Nukhayev as recommending to the Chechens that they make their livelihoods by raiding. Maybe more. -- The Marxism list: www.marxmail.org
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
Actually, Chechen radical ideologists such as Nukhayev are explicitly anti-modernist and believe that the Chechens should live like their ancestors did, live in tribes and herd goats and raid. This kind of characterization reminds me of James Robertson, leader of the Spartacist League, describing Albanians as goat-fuckers. --- Actually, it reminds me of the time Nukhayev (who used to be a mobster) said that Chechens should live like their ancestors did, live in tribes and herd goats and raid. This is the same guy who says that God caused the Russian Army to shell Grozny in order to reduce Chechnya to a completely rural state.
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
Read Klebnikov's book. Have you ever heard of Nukhayev? -Original Message- From: Louis Proyect [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 09:34:03 -0400 Subject: Re: [PEN-L] Chechnya and capitalism Chris Doss wrote: Somebody should tell Counterpunch that Putin has no son. He has two daughters. In fact I just sent a note to Jeff St. Clair to remove it from the website. In any case, it has about as much accuracy as your describing Nukhayev as recommending to the Chechens that they make their livelihoods by raiding. Maybe more. -- The Marxism list: www.marxmail.org
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
Hot damn, Nukhayev even has a website (with part of it "in inglish" (sic)). Yeah, this is superprogressive: No matter how blasphemous it may seem, I have to comment that the Russians, by embarking on their latest war, helped us to avoid the fate of being turned into a state and of having a totalitarian power established. Apart from anything else, by their zealous bombing campaigns and artillery barrages, they resolved a problem which the Chechens, in order to find their way back to the Truth, would sooner or later have had to resolve for themselves: the demolition of "their" capital city. Grozny, like any other city, was a hotbed of depravity and dissolute behaviour, of mixing and assimilation, and introduced the putrefying breath of civilisation. Grozny was the embryo, the foundation of a state in Chechenia, since a city is essentially the archteype of a state, a polis. Without the regulatory role of the state, neither the complex infrastructure of a city nor its socially divided, urbanised population alienated from natural law, can exist. It is cities, alienating people from one another and from the natural way of life, which faultlessly and uninterruptedly manufacture the biological raw material needed by the state: all these accumulations of people who have broken their blood ties and are living in an artificial environment. In historical terms, it is when kinship based relations are destroyed and with the appearance of cities, areas where economic blandishments rule, that the state is born with its "internal combustion engine", its economic dictates which underpin the dynamic of innovation and change. This is why spiritual and moral rebirth can go only in the opposite direction to urbanisation, away from the individualistic way of life to the communal. http://www.noukhaev.com/books/eng/david.htm Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage!
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
So where does he recommending raiding as a way of life? Or did you just make that up? Chris Doss wrote: Hot damn, Nukhayev even has a website (with part of it in inglish (sic)). Yeah, this is superprogressive: No matter how blasphemous it may seem, I have to comment that the Russians, by embarking on their latest war, helped us to avoid the fate of being turned into a state and of having a totalitarian power established. -- The Marxism list: www.marxmail.org
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
Read the book!Louis Proyect [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: So where does he recommending "raiding" as a way of life? Or did youjust make that up?Chris Doss wrote: Hot damn, Nukhayev even has a website (with part of it "in inglish" (sic)). Yeah, this is superprogressive: No matter how blasphemous it may seem, I have to comment that the Russians, by embarking on their latest war, helped us to avoid the fate of being turned into a state and of having a totalitarian power established.--The Marxism list: www.marxmail.org Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish.
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
Let's keep it nice! On Tue, Jun 29, 2004 at 07:08:06AM -0700, Chris Doss wrote: Read the book! Louis Proyect [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:So where does he recommending raiding as a way of life? Or did you just make that up? Chris Doss wrote: Hot damn, Nukhayev even has a website (with part of it in inglish (sic)). Yeah, this is superprogressive: No matter how blasphemous it may seem, I have to comment that the Russians, by embarking on their latest war, helped us to avoid the fate of being turned into a state and of having a totalitarian power established. -- The Marxism list: www.marxmail.org - Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
I know. For some reason, the cheap shots always seem to come from one direction.Michael Perelman [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: There is no need to relate this way. Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages!
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
There is no need to relate this way. On Tue, Jun 29, 2004 at 10:03:03AM -0400, Louis Proyect wrote: So where does he recommending raiding as a way of life? Or did you just make that up? Chris Doss wrote: Hot damn, Nukhayev even has a website (with part of it in inglish (sic)). Yeah, this is superprogressive: No matter how blasphemous it may seem, I have to comment that the Russians, by embarking on their latest war, helped us to avoid the fate of being turned into a state and of having a totalitarian power established. -- The Marxism list: www.marxmail.org -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
And here he is apologizing for the quaint custom of blood revenge. We can cite many examples of how the state destroys blood ties, and even their genetic framework, not to mention their spiritual content. Those who watch TV and read newspapers will understand what Im speaking about: abandoned children knowing nothing about their parents, let alone their ancestors; old peoples homes; property disputes between close relatives; brothers not meeting for years while living in the same city; internecine murders and incest their enumeration is endless, but the essence of all this amounts to the catastrophic disintegration of family and blood ties in the so-called civilised nations living in states.Everywhere in the world the state acts resolutely against the barbarous vestiges of blood revenge, and monopolises in its hands the feeling of vengeance that is natural to everyone, for the evil done to him and to his relatives. The state is against blood revenge, but Allah has prescribed it for believers. I cite the Quran:O ye who believe! Retaliation is PRESCRIBED for you in the matter of the murdered; the freeman for the freeman, and the slave for the slave, and the female for the female And there is life for you in retaliation, O men of understanding, that ye may ward off (evil). (2:178-179).And there is life for you in retaliation, O men of understanding: these words from the Holy Quran clearly demonstrate that blood revenge is a precondition not only for the safety of an individual, but also for the preservation of blood ties, the cohesion of the family, the ancestral clan, the nation. By surrendering the right to revenge to the state, people lose the most important element preserving the family, the clan, the nation, from collapse.Sheikh Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi wrote in his «Bezels of Wisdom»:So, He (Allah) established in law the revenge in interests of preservation of mankind and restraint of those of this tribe who violate the Divine borders. And there is life for you in retaliation, O men of understanding, and they in fact are people who reached the nub of things, discovered the Divine laws and the laws of wisdom.I presume again to quote the opinion of À. Solzhenitsyn, writing in Archipelago GULAG about Chechen blood revenge: We Europeans read and hold in contempt this wild law in books and at schools, this senseless, severe carnage. But it seems that this carnage is not so senseless: it does not separate the highland of nations, but strengthens them. There are not so many victims of the law of blood revenge but it strikes a strange fear into all around! Every highlander who remembers this law will not dare to offend any other simply like how we offend each other when drunk, or because of dissoluteness, because of a whim? And all the more, which Chechen will risk coming into contact with another, and saying that he is a thief? Or that he is rough? Or that he is getting out of turn? You know that as for the answer there cannot be a word, not a curse, but a thrust of a knife into the side. And even if you seize a knife (but you dont have it, you are civilised), you will not answer with impact to impact: you see that all your family may be involved into this dangerous process! The Chechens walk on Kazakh land with impudent eyes, pushing others aside with their shoulders and the owners of the country, and those who are not the owners, all give way respectfully. Blood revenge radiates the field of fear and this way strengthens the small highland nation.Lets leave aside impudent eyes in the perception of Solzhenitsyn, as it is clear, that it is not an impudence, it is self-reliance on the part of the Chechens, the feeling of superiority above the morally run wild people, from whom the state has eradicated the ability to defend themselves and even the feeling of human self-respect. The stronger the state, the more unprotected, the weaker the man is, turning him from the free and harmonious creation of the Most High to some resemblance of a hothouse plant, and not maintaining the clash with the natural conditions of life. The state, assuming the regulation of interpersonal and public relations, gradually atrophies the ability of the man to defend himself, the feeling of responsibility in its true sense, and it turns out that the weak, unprotected by their own armour live under the powerful concrete hood of the state system. The state is an anti-civilisation, the legalised savagery when not moral laws, but rough external force, repression, becomes the superior regulator of human life. The people living in the state, begin to resemble trained animals controlled by the dosed combination of the whip and forage. But the moment the animal trainer leaves, that is when it has only to collapse even for a short space of time, and then the explosive release of the animal instincts happens, and the people begin to show what the state has brought up in them recall the Bolshevik troubles in
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
Chris Doss wrote: And here he is apologizing for the quaint custom of blood revenge. And the Old Testament calls for an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. In any case, I can only conclude that he does not advocate raiding at this point. That's progress. -- The Marxism list: www.marxmail.org
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
It is a shame that so much information is mixed with the personal stuff. Joseph laid out a fairly non-controversial time table. Maybe Lou and Chris could each lay out a list of their key points of agreement disagreement. For example, I think that all concerned agree that Yeltsin made things worse. On other points, you disagree. On the other hand maybe the thread has exhausted itself and nothing is left but vituperation. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
Michael Perelman wrote: It is a shame that so much information is mixed with the personal stuff. What is so personal about demanding that he back up his slander about raiding? The main excuse of the Kremlin for its criminal war is that it is rooting out bandits. -- The Marxism list: www.marxmail.org
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
Lou, demanding does not work or belong here. I think that Chris is going to unsub because of this mode of communication. You can disagree. You can supply other facts. The non-personal part of the dialogue is useful; the personal part is not. -Original Message- From: PEN-L list [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Louis Proyect Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 6:29 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [PEN-L] Chechnya and capitalism Michael Perelman wrote: It is a shame that so much information is mixed with the personal stuff. What is so personal about demanding that he back up his slander about raiding? The main excuse of the Kremlin for its criminal war is that it is rooting out bandits. -- The Marxism list: www.marxmail.org
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
Perelman, Michael wrote: Lou, demanding does not work or belong here. I think that Chris is going to unsub because of this mode of communication. Excuse me? Chris Doss: Dammit, answer my question. What should Russia's reaction have been two armed incursions by jihadi gunmen? Sit there and take it? Write them letters? Dear Mr. Khattab, we think you are a big meany. Cut it out. I could also point out that he also made a big announcement that he was killfiling me, which is fine by me. I could in addition point out that following this annoucement I had to put up with snide comments from Henwood per usual. You may be a great economist, but sometimes you suck as a moderator. Why don't you just wind down the thread. It does seem a bit *odd* that we have had something like 100 posts defending Putin's war on the Chechen people. This is an utter disgrace that so few people on pen-l would take a stand against this. Maybe pen-l should drop that little picture of Karl Marx on its web page and replace it with one of the Rostow brothers. -- The Marxism list: www.marxmail.org
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
Maybe some people should take their own advice. But please do take me off the list, Michael. Louis Proyect lnp3 at panix.com Tue May 4 16:35:29 MDT 2004 Previous message: [Marxism] My credentials? Next message: [Marxism] My credentials? Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] Adam Levenstein wrote: Melvin, At the risk of starting a flame war, at the risk of pissing off Louis, at the risk of offending a comrade (you) who I normally respect and take seriously even if I don't always agree with you, let me say that you can take your condescension towards younger comrades and stick it somewhere very dark, tight, and uncomfortable. Let's stop wasting time. Melvin can be very provocative, but there is no reason to bicker with him. Out of 536 subscribers, we have exactly one African-American, retired auto-worker/unreconstructed Stalinist. If there were 15 or so like him raising hell from day to day, I'd probably have to be putting out flame wars all the time and/or ejecting people. If you are disturbed by things he says, my *strong* suggestion is to ignore him. -- The Marxism list: www.marxmail.org
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
In a message dated 6/29/2004 8:55:08 AM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: It is cities, alienating people from one another and from the natural way of life, which faultlessly and uninterruptedly manufacture the biological raw material needed by the state: all these accumulations of people who have broken their blood ties and are living in an artificial environment. In historical terms, it is when kinship based relations are destroyed and with the appearance of cities, areas where economic blandishments rule, that the state is born with its "internal combustion engine", its economic dictates which underpin the dynamic of innovation and change. This is why spiritual and moral rebirth can go only in the opposite direction to urbanisation, away from the individualistic way of life to the communal. Comment To a large degree this same logic is echoed within a section of Marxism without the fundamnetalist ideology. The crys and black flogging against technology and "globalism" without examining economic logic and real world history. Men . . . women, do not relinquish what they have gained or accumulated as the progressive accumulation of productive forces and this most certainly means the technological revolution. Advocating that the Russian State and other areas of the old Soviet Union somehow leave the "technological race" and revert to the "old way of life" uprooted by the advance of industry is nothing new . . . and utter nonsense because it cannot happen. We will never return to the communal way of life but advance to new levels of individual freedom that no longer exists in antagonistic relations. In this sense American is uniquely revolutionary being founded as a modern bourgeois state. There is really nothing for us to go back to in the meaning that we have no feudal history as a concrete economic formation. This of course does not mean one is justifying history and genocide. History has a strange way of justifying itself. An industrial society cannot be de-evolved back into a feudal society with its corresponding feudal bureaucracy, political and economic relations . . . much less an earlier clan type society. Chechnya future is the unleashing of the law of value and the conversion of land into capital. We are going to witness an uprooting of the population of Chechnya unlike what happen during the Soviet Power. Lets see what happens during the next decade or so. Melvin P.
Re: Chechnya and capitalism
In a message dated 6/29/2004 8:19:03 AM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: "What would happen if the Old World, or more concretely Russia, will abdicate from the rules of dynamics, from the technological race, in favour of the rules of static? Let's examine this question into more detail. First, Russia would free huge means which are spent on the «technological race» with the West and allocate them to branches really relevant for the people: to the recovery of agriculture, now in permanent crisis, to ecological environmental recovery of the land, to microeconomic projects directed on reviving the countryside." response: differs little from the Zapatistas or Vandana Shiva.I can understand why some people might go ballistic at such a development schema, but if I had my choice between grovelling before capitalist modernization and small-scale development based on environmental sustainability, I'd opt for the latter. Comment "development schema, . . . my choice between . . . modernization and small-scale development . . . based onenvironmental sustainability," There is no such thing as small scale development based on environmental sustainability in human history. No one makes their history as they please. Small scale does not mean a scale that is small in the field of Marxists economics. Small compared to exactly what . . . other than the ideological categories in ones own head? We are not going back to a mythical kinder and gentler past. The past was horrible by any accounting. Then again one can put forth as rationale any ideological conception emerging from the inner contours of the mind. The agricultural relations of the epoch of feudalism were not "environmental sustainability" from any point of view. De forestation beganmany centuriesago and anti-technology ideology is a blind alley. Lord . . . if life was a simple choice between the ideas in ones head . . . we would be in worst trouble since the ideas in the individuals head differ from that of other individuals . . . and economic logic and impulse under the impact of property and the spontaneous development of productive forces would still hold sway. The hard choices humanity face will not be solved by going backwards but going forward with another understanding of the metabolic processes of the earth and man. If vast states such as Russia or China do not go forth with technological development they sign their doom - death warrents, and the existence of their respective peoples in the face of insurgent American imperialism and its awesome military and nuclear strike force. The anti-Soviet ideology of yesteryear becomes the anti-Russian and anti-China ideology of today and really is nothing more than genuflecting to American imperialism and suggesting that one put their resources into ideological "development schema," - schemes, and not arm themselves against a maniac aggressor. I am no cheerleader of Putin or any state but we can forget about him adopting such an idioticprogram - "development schema." It is idiotic because it is not possible to go back to small scale production and there never existed a form of economy there is perpetually environmentally sustainable in human history. We can forget about China adopting this "development schema" of bourgeois nationalists and reactionary clanish ideologues whose fundamentalist ideology allows them to dream of a mythical past that never existed. The results of abandoning economic logic and data is more than less the pronouncements of individual ideology. Capitalism in agriculture is a solvable problem, that requires a little more thinking that saying "overthrow capitalism." Melvin P.
Russian migration from Chechnya
Just backing up my point. I have lots more material. (Thanks, Ralph!) This has been cut down considerably, since originally he sent me about 70K of materials from JTA and elsewhere. Chris: Sorry for the delays . . . I publish a newsletter on Russian Security and Military Affairs, which covers the Chechen War, and with Maskhadov's PR stunt in Ingushetia, I was temproarily overwhelmed in work. Below are articles from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that covers the plight of Jews in Chechnya under Maskhadov's government. You will notice that an unofficial anti-Semitism became the law of the land, with Jews being persecuted relentlessly, some because of religion, some over apartments, etc. You will also notice that Novoye Gazeta's reporter Izmailov has indicated that it was the Chechen's and local wahhabists who were behind the hostage/slave trade, the same Izmailov who would later change his tune when his masters-to-be found it pertinent to play the Chechen trace in favor of slandering Russia. Money does talk . . . the first article actually deals with wahhabist harrassment/persecution of Jews in Dagestan. Reading these articles illustrate just how bad the area was before Russian forces crossed the Chechen border in October 1999. Best, Ralph Kidnappings illustrate danger for Jews in Russian Caucasus By Lev Gorodetsky MOSCOW, Oct. 5, 1999 (JTA) -- Yuri Izmailov, a well-known member of the Jewish community in the capital of Dagestan, was kidnapped last winter and held near the border with the breakaway republic of Chechnya. The reason: His captors wanted to receive ransom money from his relatives or sell him into slavery to Chechens. After six months of living in a basement, eating only bread and water and sleeping on a dirt floor, Izmailov, 45, knew he had to take action. He managed to dig an underground passageway and escape onto the street, walking away unsuspected only, he believes, because his six-month-old beard made people think he was one of the Wahabbites, a local radical Muslim group. But that wasn't the end of trouble for Izmailov or his family, which before his escape had managed to bargain the ransom price down to $50,000. A family celebration of his escape was interrupted by two armed men who burst into their house. The ensuing shooting left several dead and others, including Izmailov, badly wounded. Izmailov again managed to survive and shortly thereafter, the entire family left the city of Makhachkala, the Dagestani capital, with some going to Israel. Jewish kidnappings in the Caucasus have become more frequent in the past year -- some 15 to 20 Jews are currently being held in the Makhachkala region alone, according to Karen Gurshumov, a leader of the local Jewish community. As the kidnappings show, the situation of the Jews in the predominantly Muslim republics of Russia's northern Caucasus is rather precarious. They come at a time of growing instability and escalating conflict in the region. Chechen rebels have twice invaded neighboring Dagestan and are widely blamed for terrorist bombings that have killed hundreds in Moscow and southern Russia. Chechen leaders say their goal is to establish a fundamentalist Islamic state in the region. In recent weeks, Russia has bombed targets in Chechnya, prompting a stream of refugees from the region and fueling speculation that a new Russian war against Chechnya was imminent. The situation for Jews in the region contrasts sharply with the era prior to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, when the anti-Semitism familiar to Jews in most of Russia was virtually non-existent in this region. The situation began to deteriorate in 1989, when the rapid changes in Soviet society caused by Gorbachev's policies of perestroika led to a sharp surge of nationalism mixed with strong Islamic sentiments. Anti-Zionist and explicitly anti-Semitic slogans and speeches were heard at mass rallies in Makhachkala, Derbent and other towns in Dagestan. The increase of anti-Semitism spurred many local Jews to leave the area where their ancestors had lived for at least 12 centuries. Most left for Israel or resettled in Moscow and other cities in Russia. Fewer made their way to the United States. The anti-Semitic rhetoric has escalated in the past year. Shamil Basayev, a warlord from neighboring Chechnya who has been leading the recent attacks by Islamic rebels in Dagestan, has employed anti-Zionist rhetoric to explain his goals. ``I'm going to fight against Zionism and purge Dagestan, driving out the Yeltsin regime, faithful servant of world Zionism,'' he was quoted as saying at a mass rally in Chechnya a few weeks ago. Aslan Maskhadov, president of the self-proclaimed Chechen republic, has made similar comments. The latest reports from Dagestani Jewish centers say that a new outburst of war -- an invasion of Dagestan territory by Chechen fighters and Islamic fundamentalists, followed by a massive operation of Russian federal troops inside Chechnya
Re: Russian migration from Chechnya
And that was just Jews. Lets see how other people were doing in the Wonderland of Independent Ichkeria. And I didn't even have to use Lexis-Nexis. KRO, Stavropol Authorities Sign Resettlement Agreement By RIA Novosti correspondent Andrey Malosolov MOSCOW, MAY 20, 1997 RIA NOVOSTI -- The Congress of Russian Communities (KRO) and the administration of Stavropol Territory led by Aleksandr Chernogorov signed an agreement for the organization of the resettlement and employment in Stavropol Territory of 30,000-35,000 Russian-speaking citizens who do not want to remain on Chechnya's territory. The RIA Novosti correspondent learned this in an exclusive interview with State Duma deputy Dmitriy Rogozin, Chairman of the Congress of Russian Communities. Rogozin said that the resettlement of Russians from Chechnya will be financed from means of the Stavropol Territory and money earmarked for Chechnya's economic rehabilitation. The resettlement will be effected with the assistance and under the protection of the Russian Security Council, Chechnya and Dagestan. In Rogozin's opinion, most of the Russian-speaking citizens strive to leave the Chechen Republic, fleeing from genocide and criminal lawlessness. According to information available to the KRO, in the Naursky and Shelkovskoy districts which are mainly inhabited by Cossacks, since April 21 the Chechen authorities arrested and took to Groznyy prisons 20 Cossack atamans (heads), including ataman Andreyev, Vice-Chairman of the KRO local department. Robberies and murders of Russians continue in the capital of Ichkeria. Their number has since the launching of the hostilities dropped from 250,000 to 8,000 people. The KRO chairman negatively assessed the signing of the peace accord with Chechnya. He believes that no peace treaty with Groznyy will ever be effective without such provisions as return of all war prisoners, resettlement of Russians not wishing to remain in Chechnya to other places of residence, definition of the status of the Shelkovskoy and Naursky districts which were parcelled off from Stavropol Territory and handed over to the Chechen-Ingush Republic in 1956, as well as border control. Another 4,000 Leave Chechnya Fleeing Harrasment By Nikolay Styazhkin STAVROPOL, August 7, 1997 (Itar-Tass) -- About 4,000 refugees from Chechnya have come to Russia's southern Stavropol territory since the start of this year, a territorial migration service spokesman told Itar-Tass today. The official said the refugees' story is that harrasment from Chechen extremist groups is continuing despite official utterances of Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov about safety guarantees for all ethnic groups in Chechnya. The refugees say that non-Chechen residents are confronted by go- or-you will-be-sorry threats. A total of 40,000 people left Chechnya for the Stavropol territory at the height of the 21-month hostilities. * 03.Chechen Refugees Continue To Pour into Stavropol Territory Moscow Radio Rossii Network in Russian 1800 GMT 21 Dec 97 Refugees are continuing to stream into Stavropol Territory from Chechnya. (?Georgiy Nikolayev), head of the territorial immigration service, told RIA Novosti today that about 4,500 people forced to move from Chechnya had been registered in Stavropol Territory in the first 11 months of this year and that this was one-third of the total number of immigrants to the Territory. Commenting on the results of a two-day interregional conference, which has just ended in Stavropol Territory and which was entitled The Role of Public Organizations in the Resolution of Refugee Problems, Nikolayev noted that a total of about 4,500 people had moved to the Territory from the neighboring republic. He said that half of them had already achieved the status of displaced persons, which is a condition for them to receive benefits and compensation for lost housing and property. * 04.Chechens 'Refusing' To Leave Kabardino-Balkar Republic By Yelena Ashinova Nalchik, September 11, 2004 (Itar-Tass) -- The migration service in Russia's Kabardino-Balkar Republic has reported that more than 2,400 refugees from Chechnya filed their unwillingness to return home. Of those, only 517 are ethnic Russians, migration service director Anzor Guchapshev told Itar-Tass on Thursday. Guchapshev said the refugees are refusing to return to Chechnya mainly because of economic difficulties experienced by the breakaway republic. However, the Kabardino-Balkar Republic which borders Chechnya in the northwest is unable to continue to support the forced migrants, he said. The migration service decided to provide housing for the Russians in the Prokhladniy district in the east of the republic until they are paid compensations, Guchapshev said, adding that as regards the Chechens, nobody is going to evict them. The people should realize themselves that it is time to return home, he emphasized. ** 05.Chechnya Announces Plans to Deport
Re: Russian migration from Chechnya
Chris Doss wrote: Another 4,000 Leave Chechnya Fleeing Harrasment By Nikolay Styazhkin STAVROPOL, August 7, 1997 (Itar-Tass) -- About 4,000 refugees from Chechnya have come to Russia's southern Stavropol territory since the start of this year, a territorial migration service spokesman told Itar-Tass today. The official said the refugees' story is that harrasment from Chechen extremist groups is continuing despite official utterances of Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov about safety guarantees for all ethnic groups in Chechnya. The refugees say that non-Chechen residents are confronted by go- or-you will-be-sorry threats. A total of 40,000 people left Chechnya for the Stavropol territory at the height of the 21-month hostilities. The Economist, January 8, 1994 Russian media; What is Russian for free press? DATELINE: MOSCOW IS BORIS YELTSIN trying to reassert political control over the press and television? Purges began soon after the election. Vyacheslav Bragin, controller of two of Russia's four nationwide television channels, was the first to be sacked. His mistake was not lack of loyalty -- Mr Bragin is a member of the pro-Yeltsin party, Russia's Choice -- but selling too much air-time to Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Next Mr Yeltsin abolished the Ministry of Information and the Federal Information Centre, two rivals for control of much of Russia's media, and set up a media-monitoring unit in the Kremlin. Then he placed the state-controlled television and radio broadcasting services under the man who used to be chief of the Communist Party's Central Committee department for overseeing Soviet radio and television. His aides have also demanded changes of editor at several newspapers and controls have been tightened at ITAR-TASS, a state-owned news agency. -- The Marxism list: www.marxmail.org
Re: Russian migration from Chechnya
Just got sent another 100K of material on this... Amazing how much you can find out by not using Lexis-Nexis. Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage!
Speaking of Chechnya and Iraq...
Forwarded to me by Chechnya pro Robert Ware, with his comments. The Italian media is full of these reports, crediting British intelligence. Last week the Washington Times reported that Chechens had attacked Americans in Iraq. For many years, Chechens have received more credit and more blame than they deserve. Since they have the reputation, any Russian speakers (Uzbeks, Tartars, Kalmyks, Cherkess, etc.) fighting with the Islamists are typically identified as Chechens. On the other hand, al Qaeda and its affiliates have played a substantial role in Chechnya for a decade, and I've been anticipating that, as the jihad dries up in Chechnya, they'll look for greener pastures. Another possibility is that these are not ethnic Chechens, but an international mix of fighters who have had experience in Chechnya. We'll have to see if anything develops. June 20, 2004 Report: Chechen Militants Are in Iraq The Associated Press ROME -- The Italian military based in southern Iraq is looking into an intelligence report that 300 Islamic militants, possibly from Chechnya, may have arrived in the area, the army chief of staff said Sunday. The Corriere della Sera newspaper said that in recent days British intelligence reported that 300 Chechen militants who had trained in Afghanistan were heading toward Nasiriyah after having broken into smaller groups. It's a report that everyone has had. Now we will want to verify whether this report is followed up by a real explanation on the ground, Italian army chief of staff General Giulio Fraticelli told the Italian state television network RAI in Nasiriyah. About 3,000 Italian troops are based in Nasiriyah, working on reconstruction. The report led to concern here that further attacks could be launched against Italian troops. A truck bombing in November killed 19 Italians in Nasiriyah. --- Below: Russians are speculating it was done for propaganda purposes or a quid pro quo, but not ruling out that it may also have been true. But first, here's a remark by the head of the Chechen OMON (special police) about Arabs departing Chechnya for Iraq: There's some information, that in the Shatoy direction acts some bloody Marrocan. In Itum-Kale, they recently noted two Turks and an Arab... But Arabs gradually have been leaving the borders of Russia - they depart for Georgia, they depart, by the way, to Iraq. Anonymous Source in Russian Intelligence Claims Russia Warned U.S. About Iraq's Terrorism Plans Moscow Vedomosti in Russian 18 Jun 04 [Report by Aleksey Nikolskiy and Yekaterina Kudashkina: In Support of Bush--taken from html version of source provided by ISP.] Russian intelligence speaks out in support of Bush An anonymous source in the Russian special services called the conclusions of the American commission on absence of ties between Al-Qa'ida and former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein incomplete. According to his statement, Hussein himself had planned terrorist acts in the USA, and Russian intelligence had even warned American intelligence about this. Experts are guessing about what the Russian side hopes to gain in deciding to organize such PR-support of the CIA. On Wednesday, the independent commission investigating the terrorist act in the USA on 11 September 2001 published its preliminary report on the results of its work. Specifically, it states that no ties were established between the Hussein regime and the Al-Qa'ida organization. Meanwhile, before the start of the war in Iraq last year, the U.S. Presidential Administration of George Bush, on the contrary, had insisted that Hussein had ties with Al-Qa'ida terrorists. This became one of the reasons for attacking Iraq. And yesterday, a trustworthy source in a Russian special department told the Interfax agency that the commission's conclusion does not reflect the full picture of events surrounding the start of the war in Iraq. According to the source, Russian special services also have no information at their disposal about ties of the overthrown Iraqi president with Al-Qa'ida. However, according to information received by Russian intelligence as early as the beginning of 2002, the Iraqi special services themselves were preparing terrorist acts on the territory of the USA, as well as in regard to American embassies and military bases. In the Fall of 2002, this information, in verbal and written form, was repeatedly conveyed to our American partners, the agency cites the words of its interviewee. In investigating the reasons for emergence of the Iraqi crisis, we must consider all aspects, including the direct threat to the USA on the part of the regime of Saddam Hussein. The FSB [Federal Security Service] Center for Public Relations told Vedomosti that it had not disseminated such a statement, while the press bureau of the Foreign Intelligence Service refused to comment. We were also unable to obtain comment in the Russian MFA
Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya: Bin Laden's Dinner Guest
* New York Times 16 December 2001 Dinner Guest of bin Laden Identified as Saudi Fighter By DOUGLAS JEHL RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 15 - The Saudi who was seen visiting Osama bin Laden in the videotape released this week is a 38-year-old veteran of conflicts in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya who left the kingdom most recently on Sept. 21, a senior Saudi official said today. The official's account was the most authoritative yet in resolving the mystery surrounding the dinner guest, who was seen and heard on the tape paying effusive tribute to Mr. bin Laden and flattering him with news of Saudi clerics who he said had endorsed the Sept. 11 attacks in their sermons, fatwas and other messages. The official identified the dinner guest as Khaled al-Harbi, a legless former fighter in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya who was not regarded as a religious scholar, and he said earlier accounts by Saudi and American officials naming him as Ali Sayeed al-Ghamdy, a religious scholar, were incorrect. Unlike Mr. Ghamdy, who had been banned from preaching by the government in 1994, Mr. Harbi has never been arrested by the Saudi government or included on any kind of security watch list, the Saudi official said. The official said Saudi Arabia did not know anything about Mr. Harbi's whereabouts between his departure from the kingdom 10 days after the Sept. 11 attacks and his appearance on the videotape, which was released in Washington on Thursday ...In offering his account of what was known about the Saudi visitor, the senior Saudi official said he had been among the estimated 15,000 or more volunteers from the kingdom who had taken part in the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan during the 1980's, in what Saudi scholars advocated as a holy war against infidel occupiers The Saudi official said that little information was known about Mr. Harbi's service in Bosnia and Chechnya, but that it took place during the early to mid-1990's, and that the Saudi volunteer had lost his legs in one of the conflicts. In the videotape, the Saudi visitor appeared to have been disabled from the waist down; Mr. bin Laden was seen bending down to greet the visitor as he sat on the floor, most of his body obscured by loose robes http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/16/international/asia/16SHEI.html * -- Yoshie * Calendar of Anti-War Events in Columbus: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html * Anti-War Activist Resources: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html * Student International Forum: http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/ * Committee for Justice in Palestine: http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/
Putin's KGB instincts on Chechnya
The following Guardian article probably comes as much from economic considerations as political. In order to maintain the central integrity of Russia and to dominate the strategic oil area of the Caucasus, Putin played the Chechen card and won the presidential succession to Yeltsin. The coordinated bombing of blocks of Russian flats was very helpful for this project His exit strategy however needs more calculation. Having large numbers of troops in Chechnya is a cost liability because they are targets. Reframe the problem as purely one of terrorism and it is obvious that the successor to the KGB, the FSB, is the agency to control the situation. It is of course Putin's firm. They will mimimise the target they present to the enemy; they will know best how to destabilise the leadership of the resistance, and how to work with "constitutional" forces to set up a peaceful government within the Russian Federation. They will cause fewer random atrocities to the civilian population, torture fewer people but more efficiently, and with less damaging reports leaking out to interfering western human rights monitoring agencies. Perhaps he will pull it off and the governance of Chechnya will merge imperceptibly with the total social management that is the frame of thinking of most governments today. It will be interesting to see the cautious congratulatory comments from western agencies. Putin puts KGB's successors in charge of war to crush guerrillas Special report: crisis in Chechnya Ian Traynor in Moscow Tuesday January 23, 2001 Sixteen months into Russia's savage war of attrition in Chechnya and with no end in sight, President Vladimir Putin yesterday stripped his army generals of their command of the campaign and put the domestic security service, the main successor to the KGB, in charge of the Chechnya war. In what appeared to be a vote of no confidence in the generals' ability to tame the Chechen rebels, despite repeated bragging that they have been crushed, Mr Putin put a close ally, Nikolai Patrushev, head of the FSB (domestic security service), in command and ordered him to report on his progress by mid-May. Moscow says it has 80,000 troops in Chechnya struggling to contain what it puts at 1,000 guerrillas. But by the official tally, widely seen as too low, the Russians are being killed at the rate of more than 160 a month, with almost 500 being wounded as the rebels use ruthless hit-and-run tactics. Its principal garrison Gudermes, long under ostensible Russian control and the headquarters for the civil administration of Chechnya, is the latest battleground, according to Russian media yesterday. Guerrillas attacked the main hospital on Sunday, keeping Russian troops under fire for eight hours before melting away into the darkness. According to the Chechens, they left 20 Russian soldiers dead. Moscow admitted losing four soldiers and confirmed that many were injured in a cafe bomb blast in Gudermes. The guerrillas are also targeting "collaborationist" members of the pro-Moscow Chechen administration and its local supporters every week. The lightning speed of the attack highlights the vulnerability of the Russian conscripts, who hole up each evening in converted schools and public buildings, surrounded by mines and barbed wire. They live in fear of the rebels who attack checkpoints, mine roads and ambush Russian convoys. Sergei Ponomarenko, a Russian who recently resigned as a local government chief in Chechnya, told the newspaper Izvestiya that the guerrillas - who routinely ignore curfews and distribute propaganda leaflets "to show who's really boss" - have seized the initiative. When Chechen snipers hit a Russian, Moscow's forces commonly respond with indiscriminate artillery barrages which maim and kill civilians or launch "cleansing" raids on villages and towns, dragging away males of fighting age. "This has turned into a war against an entire civilian population. That's a fact, that's the reality," Ruslan Khasbulatov, a former Russian parliamentary leader and himself a Chechen, told the Russian government recently. Russian or loyalist Chechen administrators and military officers, meanwhile, are using their positions to line their pockets, Mr Ponomarenko said, an assertion echoed by Mr Khasbulatov who said the generals wanted the war to go on because of the opportunities for plundering and profiteering. Mr Putin's move yesterday may be an attempt to break this cycle of viciousness and seal a victory in Chechnya. But it also seems a counsel of despair. The president recently described Chechnya as the source of "Russia's national shame". It also propelled him to power in 1999. Yesterday's move was a snub to the army generals who, according to Mr Khasbulatov, are deliberately prolonging the war to enhance their clout in Russian politics and to exact retribution for th
Imperialist *non*intervention in Chechnya
The appeasement of Nazi Germany by Britain and France before the Second World War, was the result of their imperialist nature. Similarly now, the refusal of the West to put pressure on Putin's Russia to observe democratic rights in Chechnya is a fruit of their imperialist desire *in these circumstances" to compromise with the creation of the oligarchs who was inaugurated in the throne room of the Czar, Below is an example of the report that is being little prominence by the western media, because there is an assumption that nothing very much can be done, or should be done. Chris Burford London John Sweeney reports on the horror of a Russian prison camp in Chechnya Special report: Russia Special report: crisis in Chechnya John Sweeney Observer Sunday October 15, 2000 Inside the prison camp at Chernokozovo, they call it the 'elephant'. 'They put a gas mask on your head. Your hands are cuffed behind your back, so there is nothing you can do. And then they close off the breathing tube and you start to choke.' The torture victim, a small, wiry Chechen man, knelt down and made the sound of a man suffocating: 'The "elephant" was the worst.' A second victim spoke of a refinement of the 'elephant': 'Once the gas mask was on, they would choke you, so you were gasping to breathe. And they would let go and you would breathe in deeply. And then they would squirt CS gas down the breathing hole. It was so bad just the sight of the gas mask in the room would make people confess to anything.' The 'elephant' is just one instrument of torture used by the Russian occupation forces in Chechnya, revealed today in a joint investigation by The Observer and the BBC's Radio Five Report. Russian security forces have mounted a series of cover-ups to hide evidence of abuses from the Red Cross and the Council of Europe. In the small Chechen village of Katyr Yurt, a torture victim blinded in one eye spoke of the screams he heard each night while inside Chernokozovo. The screams were so bad local people were forced to move away because they found them unbearable. 'At night,' he said, 'the things you heard were just terrible. Every night they would take people out of the cells. They screamed. They had their teeth bashed in, their kidneys smashed in. You could hear them being beaten from the cell. So then they would turn the music up loud, so you couldn't hear the screams.' The youngest victim we met was 17. He was living in a refugee city in Ingushetia, next door to Chechnya. We shall call him Peter. He sat in front of us, head bowed, terrified of eye contact: 'They handcuffed your arms behind your back and hooked the cuffs to a chain so you were suspended from the ceiling, with all your weight bearing down on your hands and shoulders. And then they would use you like a punchbag. They called this "the swallow". They'd hold you for half a day like that.' But this wasn't the worst torture for the teenager: 'They put me in a cell. There was something chemical in there. They cuffed my hands behind my back and said, "Go on, swim". I practically lost my sight when they shoved my head in there. There was also something else, a barrel full of water with a cage on top. You couldn't get out of there.' Peter drew us a map. Painstakingly, Chernokozovo came to life. Barbed wire, steps down to his cell, the punishment tank where he was dunked in the chemical that left him blind for days. The second victim - Richard - corroborated much of Peter's story and added his own account of agony: the 'meat-rack'. 'They crank a pulley to stretch you with chains attached to your legs. While they stretch you, they hit you with rubber truncheons, bottles full of water, targeting the kidneys.' He also underwent 'the swallow' and electric shock torture. Richard said that one day in the summer a Red Cross representative - a French woman called Catherine - came to Chernokozovo. Could he tell the Red Cross about the beatings and torture? 'No, the guards had come round before and told us we would be tortured if we did.' The Red Cross has confirmed that one of their delegates visited Chernokozovo; her name was Catherine and she was Belgian. Our third witness is a man of 20 who has the voice of an 80-year-old. He screamed so much when he was being beaten that his vocal cords snapped. In a pitiful whisper, he too spoke of the usual welcome at Chernokozovo, the beatings, having to crawl into the interrogation room and ask for permission to enter. While he was there a man was beaten to death: 'I don't remember the date, but they took him out of the cell one evening. We heard them shouting "Crawl, crawl". They were beating him and we heard him screaming. Then, the next morning, they led four of us into his room. His body was lying there. They'd broken all his ribs. They forced us to carry him out and dressed the body in the Muslim manner. We dressed the b
Chechnya (was Re: Slobbo, Rwanda and the Surreal)
Nor in the effort to oppose ones own imperialism should leftists fail to address the problem that fascism may emerge with a left face as well as a right face. In the turmoil of post socialist societies in eastern Europe that is a particular danger. For example I regard the quietness of western left-wingers about the brutal suppression of the Chechens as ominous and a mark of political inability to criticise the appeasement face of western imperialism as vigorously as the aggressive face of western imperialism. Chris Burford As for "the quietness of western left-wingers," that is because much of the Western Left has come to be pretty much media-driven. Wait until CNN, etc. spend more time on Chechnya and _frame it nicely_ so that leftists can know which side is good and which evil. Then, they'll make up their minds, and we'll hear no end of it. Another reason is that even cruise-missile liberals have to think twice before going to war with Russia. It still has nukes other scary stuff, the Kursk notwithstanding. Yugoslavia doesn't have nukes, in contrast, so unleashing NATO on it didn't make Western leftists feel unsafe. Perhaps, I was wrong to suggest that many Western leftists are beautiful souls in the Hegelian sense. Maybe they are just lazy souls. I salute you, Chris, for your consistency at least, though I completely disagree with you. Yoshie P.S. Also, it is possible that some liberals actually like Putin better than the Chechens, given the tone of discussion, for instance, in _The Nation_: * The Nation July 24/31, 2000 Putin's Choice ...Moreover, the struggle over Russia's future leadership and direction is being fought against the backdrop of two huge unresolved problems--the economic depression and the war in Chechnya. Although there is still much spinning about a new economic "boom"--largely from Western financial institutions and the media--Putin punctured the bubble in his bleak address, pointing out that "economic growth is on the brink of collapse." As for the war, no end is in sight. Chechen fighters have stepped up their guerrilla war, and the number of Russian casualties grows by the week. The war and the depression helped bring Putin to power, but if unresolved, they could undermine him. Finally, as always in latter-day Russia, there is, for better or worse, the American factor. Apart from Washington's decisions regarding National Missile Defense and NATO expansion--both of which would further undermine any chance democratization has here--Putin's Kremlin cares far less about Washington's opinion than did Yeltsin's. Putin is focusing on Europe, especially Germany, and Asia. But it is said that he understands that any large steps he takes before November might influence the US election and thus US policy. If Putin adopts the "liberal" Gref program, it might be seen in Washington as validating the Clinton/Gore Russia policy. On the other hand, if he undertakes the statists' "strong hand" measures or renationalization of the oligarchs' property--no matter how much such measures are needed for Russia's recovery--it would suggest a failure of US policy that would benefit George W. Bush. At least in that regard, Russia is still a world power that matters. Katrina vanden Heuvel * Why they like Putin but not Milosevic can be only explained by the presence of nukes in Russia the absence of Washington's need to enlist liberals for either side at this point.
Humanitarian non-intervention in Chechnya
From BBC report (extracts) Video footage shot by a German journalist shows bodies of men believed to be Chechen fighters in a mass grave. Many of them had been mutilated. Some were wrapped in barbed wire. Soldiers are seen throwing one body into the grave from a tank and dragging another behind a truck. ... "The Russian government has said consistently that our reports of summary executions and other abuses were lies," Human Rights Watch spokeswoman Minky Worden told BBC News Online. "They just can't argue with this footage. It is entirely consistent with what our investigators have found from talking to refugees on the Chechen border. With evidence like this, there really should be no more pussyfooting around by the international community." Ms Worden said economic sanctions such as the withholding of loan payments from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund should now be imposed. But British Labour MP Donald Anderson, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said he believed pressure would not affect Russian policy immediately. "There is no way the tactics of the Russians will alter betwen now and the election," he told the BBC. "Vladimir Putin relies on his reputation as a nationalist, as a strong man, and his electoral success depends on that." The German journalist who took the pictures says he believes the troops themselves may disagree with the work they are having to do. He says this would explain the unhindered access he was given to the site of the mass grave. Throughout Chechnya, Russian soldiers have been searching captured villages and towns for Chechen fighters. Many men have been detained and their families have had no word on their whereabouts.
[PEN-L:6860] Growth Industries At The U.N., Destruction In Chechnya And ,
Growth Industries at the U.N. - Figures released by the United Nations show that disaster relief costs approximately $8 billion per year. A growing number of countries have asked the U.N. for assistance in recent years. The United Nations responded with financial and material aid in 85 natural catastrophes during 1995. Also during 1995, the U.N. discussed and dealt with 50 countries that were engaged in an active war. This involved billions more dollars for U.N. peacekeepers and other activity. Taking advantage of this situation more than 300 monopolies from around the world gathered in Geneva last week to show-off their commodities at the first-ever U.N. "World Emergency Relief Exhibition and Conference." The companies were there to sell their wares - everything from water purifying equipment to tanks which destroy land mines. It begs the question that if enormous profits are generated by disaster relief and war, it is in the self-interest of the monopolies to oppose measures to humanize the natural and social environment, ensuring that people and their societies are empowered to look after themselves and eliminate imperialism, the root cause of war. It also exposes the reality that every facet of life, even humanitarian aid, is transformed into a profitable risk-free business by the imperialists. Destruction in Chechnya --- The restoration of capitalism in the Soviet Union has brought many tragedies to the people, one of the most destructive has been the war in Chechnya. The use of violence by Russian imperialism to solve the political problem of the role and place of the Chechen people within Russia has brought terrible disaster to the people. The toll of human and material losses has been stupendous for such a small people. On October 12, the acting Chechen President Zelimkhan Yandarbiev summarized the losses incurred to this point. There has been US$140 billion worth of material damage throughout the area. Some 70 percent of schools, hospitals, and kindergartens have been damaged, more than 500,000 people are homeless, and an additional 400,000 have left altogether. According to Yandarbiev, 100,000 Chechens were killed in the fighting and attacks by the Russian military, and 45,000 were wounded. Most of these casualties were civilians. The Russian military and Interior Ministry refuses to divulge their human or material losses. The only indication comes from the Russian military newspaper Krasnaya zvezda, which publishes the names of soldiers who die while on duty, but many family members of missing soldiers complain that they have been given no indication of the whereabouts of their soldier-kin. The newspaper reports that 3,826 Russian soldiers have died in Chechnya in the last three years and 1,906 are missing. Marxist Literature Banned in Albania An Albanian court sentenced 37-year-old Nusret Recica from Kosovo to 10 months in prison for disseminating "anti-constitutional propaganda," Agence France Presse reported October 18. Recica was arrested for selling works by Marx, Lenin, and former Albanian communist leader Enver Hoxha on the streets of Tirana. Marxist writings and those of former Albanian communist leaders have been banned since April 1992. The seizure of political power by those who wanted to restore capitalism and invite U.S. imperialism into Albania has resulted in the most brutal suppression of the right to conscience and is a violent barrier on the road towards human progress. Those who struggled against the occupation of Albania by the Italian fascists and German Nazis, and for the overthrow of the reactionary rule of the semi-feudal fascist Albanian government during the thirties and forties, are faced once again with a similar ruthless enemy. Shawgi Tell University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education [EMAIL PROTECTED]
