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Edited by David Johnson
| ISSUE #66 | September 17, 1999 |
| ISSUE #66 | September 17, 1999 |
#1 Christian Science Monitor 17 September 1999 Continuing blasts in Russia put heat on Yeltsin After yesterday's bomb, politicians are calling on the president to resign. By Fred Weir, Special to The Christian Science Monitor President Boris Yeltsin appears to be in the hot seat after another suspected terrorist bomb went off in Russia yesterday. Five blasts have rocked the country in the past month, killing nearly 300 people. Some leaders have blamed Chechen rebels for the attacks, although they have denied responsibility. With fear mushrooming that more violence could come, people are holding Mr. Yeltsin personally accountable for the security problems. And leading Russian politicians are calling on him to resign. "Everyone can see that the main threat to Russia today is the president," says Sergei Metrokhin, a deputy with the liberal Yabloko Party in the Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament. "He is to blame for initiating the war against Chechnya [which took place from 1994 to 1996] ... and for all the security blunders that have happened since. Our security system is clearly not working." Russian newspapers have been full of speculation for days that Yeltsin may soon quit to clear the way for fresh presidential elections. According to Russia's Constitution, if the president resigns the prime minister takes his place for three months, and then new polls must be held. Last month Yeltsin appointed Vladimir Putin, head of the former KGB internal security service, prime minister and anointed him as his successor. If Yeltsin resigned soon, that would force new presidential polls in December, the same time elections for the Duma and the Moscow mayor's post are to be held. The supposed advantage for the Kremlin inner circle is that their main rivals, former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov and Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, would be tied up with the other elections at that time. "Luzhkov is enemy No. 1 for the Kremlin, and he would not want to risk losing his mayor's job by running for president in December," says Andrei Piontkovsky, director of the independent Center for Strategic Studies. "Primakov is heading the Fatherland coalition in parliamentary elections." Mr. Putin, meanwhile, would be the incumbent for three months, meaning he would be able to muster the state's resources behind him and control the political agenda. The Kremlin's parliamentary envoy, Alexander Kotenkov, denied the rumors. "I don't see any possibility for the president to resign ahead of schedule," the official ITAR-Tass news agency quoted him as saying. Short of resigning himself, analysts say Yeltsin could resort to his favorite tactic of displacing responsibility - by firing Putin. Yeltsin met with the prime minister yesterday to demand that security countermeasures be stepped up. "Putin's head is clearly on the block," says Mr. Metrokhin, the Duma deputy. "If he fails to solve this problem, he can be sacked as a scapegoat. But if he takes control of the situation and acts firmly, he will probably be fired anyway." In any case, there seems little doubt that the wave of bombings has put enormous pressure on the Kremlin to delivery swiftly on its pledges to ensure that Russians can sleep safely in their beds once again. Tens of thousands of Interior Ministry troops have been brought into control in Moscow, and the government has promised special security measures across the country. Extensive precautions have been taken at strategic points such as nuclear power stations, airports, and subway stations. On Wednesday, a man with a thick Caucasian accent phoned Tass to take responsibility for the explosions on behalf of the Dagestani Liberation Army. He promised there would be more. Yesterday's early-morning bomb blew away the front section of a nine-story apartment building in the city of Volgodonsk, 600 miles south of Moscow.
#4 Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 From: Elizabeth Reisch
Subject: Summary of Albright's speech at the Carnegie Endowment Albright: Russia is Not Ours to Lose U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright spoke to a gathering of 120 people at the Carnegie Endowment today about U.S. policy toward Russia. Following is a summary of her remarks. Responding to critics who charge that the United States has lost Russia, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said, "The suggestion that Russia is ours to lose is arrogant; the suggestion that Russia is lost is simply wrong." She pointed out that throughout all of the crises in Russia in recent years -- Yeltsin's armed confrontation with the Duma in 1993, the war in Chechnya, the financial crisis of August 1998, the disagreement over Kosovo, and now investigations into money laundering and corruption -- a chorus has arisen to pronounce the death of the new Russia. Each time, she said, "the Russian people have refused to attend the funeral." Drawing upon the words of Lev Tolstoy, who wrote that "the strongest of warriors are these two -- time and patience," Albright advocated for the United States to continue to support Russia's transition with vision and persistence. A hostile and dismissive policy toward Russia would only risk re-creating our enemy, she said. Albright stressed that Russian reform is "a work in progress." Since the Cold War ended, she said, first President Bush and then President Clinton have pursued two basic goals in relations with Russia. The first is to work to reduce Cold War arsenals in both countries, to stop the proliferation of nuclear and conventional arms, and to create a stable and undivided Europe. The second is to support Russia's effort to transform its political, economic and social institutions. While acknowledging that neither of these goals has been fully achieved, she argued that neither has been lost. Despite turbulence and "even a midair turnaround" [referring to Primakov's decision to cancel his visit to Washington mid-flight to protest NATO strikes on Belgrade], the U.S.-Russian relationship is still aloft, she said. Helping to transform Russia into a functioning pluralist society with a market economy is a "Herculean task," she said, but not a hopeless cause. Albright called attention to events of the last ten years that the world could not have imagined in 1990: the removal of Russian forces from the Baltics and Central Europe, a formal Russian partnership with NATO and the European Union, and Russian participation with Americans in peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Kosovo. She juxtaposed these positive developments with some of the worst episodes of the Cold War: proxy wars that destroyed lives on every continent, barbed wire stretched across parts of Europe, and gulags. "Leaders in Washington and Moscow have no greater responsibility," she said, "than to ensure that we do not return to that time or any variation of it." The uncertainty over Russia's future course is largely due to the flood of opposing forces that have been unleashed since 1991. "Currents of free enterprise, initiative, and greater freedom compete with those of corruption and crime," Albright noted, while "impulses toward integration and openness vie with tendencies toward isolation and alienation." The United States should support the positive currents, she said, while recognizing that the result will be "distinctively Russian." On the recent spate of bombings in Russia, Albright expressed the Administration's shock and anger at these "callous and cowardly acts of murder." She stressed the Administration's desire to see Russian authorities "bring the perpetrators to justice by constitutional means." Corruption in Russia Albright refuted the notion that the problem of corruption originated with post-Cold War democratic reforms. Corruption, she stated, flourished under the Czars and thrived under the Soviets, but as a state monopoly. "The problem now," she said, "is that Russia has gone from a system with too many bad rules to one with not enough good rules." As a result of this absence of a rule of law, she continued, "foreign investors have hesitated, capital has taken flight, the influential few have distorted markets, and the economy has sagged." Albright defended the Clinton Administration's record on fighting corruption in Russia. She highlighted the work of the U.S. Agency for International Development's rule of law project. She also recalled Administration officials' statements against corruption in Russia, including President Clinton in 1995 in Moscow, when he called for "a market based on law, not lawlessness," and Vice President Gore in 1997 when he pressed for enactment of money-laundering legislation. Unfortunately, she said, "the response from Russian authorities has not been adequate." It is time for the Yeltsin government to make fighting corruption a priority, she warned, because the "tentacles of Russian organized crime have spread far beyond the nation's borders." Responding to some Russians who attribute the furor over corruption to a desire by the West to embarrass Moscow, and to electoral politics in the United States, Albright said that such scenarios are "fantasies." She urged Russia to fully cooperate with investigations into corruption, including money laundering and the use of IMF funds, "no matter where or to whom the evidence leads." She suggested several concrete measures that must be taken to curb corruption, including the enactment of anti-crime and money laundering legislation, financial sector reforms that stress transparency and accountability, and judicial training and advice on fair and efficient tax collection. Albright stated that the United States should not respond to the current allegations of high-level corruption by reducing aid for programs in Russia, as Congress is proposing with its 25-30 percent cut in the Administration's request for FY00. At the same time, she said, the United States should not support further multilateral assistance to Russia "unless fully adequate safeguards are in place." Democracy Promotion One area of assistance in which Albright said the United States cannot afford to waver is supporting the democratic principles that underlie the elections to the Duma scheduled for December 19 and for the presidency next summer. To this end, USAID will continue its work with non-governmental organizations to help provide the infrastructure for elections that are free and fair, she said. "Nothing," she warned, "could do more damage to Russia, at home or abroad, than a failure to observe the constitutional process." Moreover, "nothing could do more to cement Russia's place among the world's democracies than the constitutional election and inauguration of Boris Yeltsin's successor," she said. Albright challenged those who say that grassroots democracy assistance cannot affect much in a nation as large as Russia: "A small difference has the potential to make all the difference when the cause is just and the time is right." She noted that democratic habits are among the world's most "benign addictions" and are starting to spread in Russia. Abandoning U.S. assistance to those committed to democracy and human rights in Russia would be hypocritical, she said: "We championed liberty through five decades of Cold War, so we should not desert liberty's cause in Russia now." The U.S. Arms Control Agenda with Russia Albright expounded on U.S. assistance to Russia aimed at lowering their nuclear arsenals and preventing the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. She highlighted a number of initiatives that the Administration has undertaken since 1992, including the deactivation of almost 5000 nuclear warheads in the former Soviet Union, the strengthening of security of nuclear weapons and materials at more than 100 sites in Russia, and the purchase of more than sixty tons of highly enriched uranium that otherwise "could have been used by terrorists or outlaw states." The Administration's Expanded Threat Reduction Initiative builds upon these efforts, she said. The Initiative includes measures to help Russia tighten export controls, improve security over its arsenal, and provide opportunities for more than 30,000 former Soviet weapons scientists to participate in peaceful commercial and research ventures. One of the contentious issues in the U.S.-Russian relationship is disagreement over the National Missile Defense system, which the United States has been developing and testing in advance of President Clinton's decision on deployment next summer. Should the United States decide to go forward with deployment, Albright said, the United States would need to make changes to the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM). While the Administration has emphasized to the Russians that the "changes would be consistent with the underlying purposes of the Treaty," and that cooperating on strategic defense will make both countries less vulnerable to new international threats, the Russians resist any changes or amendments to ABM, she said. Albright underscored the dilemma by saying that Russia cannot have it both ways: "They cannot fail to crack down effectively on the transfer of advanced technologies and then express surprise when we insist on protecting ourselves against threats fueled by those transfers." Asked about Russian technology transfers to Iran, Albright said, "I think that there has been some progress on this subject, but not enough." She noted that when Clinton met with Russian Prime Minister Putin in Auckland, Australia, they talked about the problems posed by the transfer of nuclear technology to states like Iran. Cooperation on this issue, Albright said, "is one of the essential marks of cooperation in our relationship and we will continue to hold them accountable." - Summary by Elizabeth Reisch, research assistant with the Russian and Eurasian Program. CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE 1779 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036 Phone 202-483-7600 Fax 202-483-1840
www.ceip.org
#5 Russia Refutes Holding Nuclear Tests on Novaya Zemlya. MOSCOW, September 16 (Itar-Tass) -- The Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy on Thursday refuted U.S. media reports of nuclear tests on Novaya Zemlya, an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean between the Barents and Kara seas. "The U.S. Washington Times newspaper on Wednesday reported that Russia had held low-yield nuclear tests on Novaya Zemlya, citing unnamed analysts," a spokesman for the ministry told Itar-Tass. "This information is not true. The Novaya Zemlya firing range holds only so-called subcritical tests, which are effected by conventional blasts, not prohibited by international agreements. But such tests have not been held there this year," the spokesman stressed. According to the Washington Times, U.S. intelligence agencies registered a subterranean explosion on Novaya Zemlya on September 8. It quoted unnamed analysts as saying the explosion had been a low-yield nuclear test. The newspaper claimed that such tests were challenging a Russian-U.S. treaty banning all nuclear tests, which awaits ratification by the U.S. Senate. The test is also a blow to the Clinton administration which is just about to begin pushing for ratification of this treaty, the Washington Times added.
#6 Russia: Complexities Make State Of Emergency Almost Impossible By Sophie Lambroschini As Russia's wave of bombings continues, the country's political circles are rife with speculation that the Kremlin may be contemplating declaring a general state of emergency. But while authorities have been able to put some strict security measures into effect, both legal and political considerations make it close to impossible for President Boris Yeltsin to legally declare a state of emergency. RFE/RL's correspondent in Moscow, Sophie Lambroschini, explores the legal complexities of Russia's fight against terrorism. Moscow, 16 September 1999 (RFE/RL) -- In the past two weeks, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has pledged that no general state of emergency would be proclaimed in response to a series of deadly bombings in Russia. But three months before scheduled parliamentary elections and less than a year before a presidential vote, rumors to that effect remain quite hard to quash. Yesterday, the Russian daily "Segodnya" said the panic sown by the bombs, which have killed some 285 people since August 31, has created an atmosphere in which the public would look favorably on a state of emergency. The paper said, too, that such a measure would be politically profitable for the currently unpopular president, Boris Yeltsin. In particular, "Segodnya" noted, emergency measures would give Yeltsin the possibility of canceling the coming elections, limiting the activities of political parties, and introducing strict censorship in the media. Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov said earlier this week that he had seen presidential administration documents that could impose a state of emergency throughout the country. But Russian legislators say the present situation does not provide Yeltsin with either the possibility or the right to declare a general emergency. The legislators say that's because the conditions and limits of a state of emergency are all spelled out in a draft law that has not been adopted by the State Duma (lower house). And to fill the legal vacuum left by the unpassed law, the country's 1993 constitution says Russia must abide by Soviet-era laws. The last Soviet law on a state of emergency was passed in 1991. It allows for the suspension of many basic rights and freedoms. The law provides for canceling elections, introducing censorship, and allowing the suspension of media. It also makes possible a ban on demonstrations, strikes and political parties, and allows for the expulsion of people disrupting public order. Duma deputy Aleksei Popov, a lawyer specializing in public law, says the Soviet law treats a state of emergency as a last resort to be imposed only when other measures are not sufficient. Popov calls the 1991 text "quite clear" in allowing for a state of emergency to be declared in several cases that resemble the present situation in Russia's North Caucasus. He cites as examples attempts to overthrow constitutional order, conflicts among national minorities, and threats to people's safety. But Popov stresses that under the 1991 law the state of emergency would apply only to that part of Russia where such threats are present. He says that means that today "a state of emergency in the regions bordering Chechnya could be imposed. But in the rest of the country," he adds, "it would not apply--not even in Moscow." According to Popov, therefore, Yeltsin does not have the legal right to cancel or postpone the upcoming Duma elections. Under the Russian Constitution, Yeltsin is allowed to introduce a state of emergency in the whole country or in certain parts of it. But he has to ask the governors and heads of regional parliaments of the Federation Council, Russia's upper house, to confirm it. Popov says: "The atmosphere in Russia would really have to be extreme for the senators to accept measures that would limit their own powers." Yet some politicians warn that the 1991 Soviet law may not be valid anymore, an interpretation which would create a legal vacuum on emergency measures. Former Security Council Secretary and Duma deputy Ivan Rybkin says the legitimacy of the Soviet state of emergency law is disputable because it was abrogated by new Russian legislation that partially contradicts it. Whatever the validity of the Soviet state of emergency law may be, other Russian politicians note that the government could legally introduce extreme measures that partially resemble a state of emergency by using other legislation. Senator Sergei Sobyanin, deputy chairman of the Federation Council's legal affairs committee, says that a law on fighting terrorism that was adopted last year does allow authorities to "limit citizens' freedom of movement and to introduce limits on the press." Moreover, he says, this is possible without any parliamentary or other institutional authorization. According to "Segodnya," Putin has referred to the 1998 law as a text that could be used by the government. The paper said the prime minister believed it made the proclamation of a state of emergency unnecessary. Senator Sobyanin said the security measures announced by Moscow Mayor Yurii Luzhkov in the past few days "seem to be inspired by this law." He was apparently referring to the mayor's order making the city off-limits to people who don't have an official authorization of residence. Others say, however, that by imposing the limitations permitted in last year's law on fighting terrorism, the authorities might actually be bending the law. Popov, for one, says that "any reference to the [1998] law on terrorism is completely ridiculous. That law, for example, applies to a building or a street where terrorists may be hiding. But it does not apply to a whole city or the whole country."
#7
ALLOCATIONS TO DEFENSE ORDER WILL INCREASE 1.5 TIMES IN 2000 - DEPUTY PM
MOSCOW. Sept 15 (Interfax) - Allocations to the state defense order
will be increased 1.5 times in 2000 as compared with 1999, Russian
Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov told journalists on Wednesday.
He said the federal authorities are guaranteeing the allocation of
the necessary resources for purchasing modern weapons.
He also said that the most up-to date individual protection and
security systems for soldiers and officers are available in Russia.
"There are also upgraded fire arms and other types of weapons. Dagestan
does not experience any shortages of modern weapons. They have
helicopters and the most up-to-date aircraft," Klebanov said.
In Dagestan, "the Russian military have been confronted with
international terrorism, not with Chechen terrorists," he said, adding
that the state defense order must be oriented to local conflicts."
He described the federal troops' operations in Dagestan as "good"
in terms of strategy and tactics. "The one-to-ten losses are a good
achievement as compared with what we had in Chechnya. The present-day
tactics have been changed to reduce the loss of life to a minimum," he
said.
He said that priority in 2000 must be given to increasing the state
defense order and to the purchase of the most up-to-date weapons, "with
due account taken of the Chechen factor."
"Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in the State Duma that a
quarantine zone must be created around Chechnya. This zone will be
effective if efficient motion detection systems are made available and
are set up in mountain gorges and valleys. We have such systems," he
said, adding that such means don't need to be purchased abroad.
He said that during his recent meeting with President Boris
Yeltsin, no replacements or appointments were discussed. "Generally
speaking, it is the president's right to make appointments he thinks
proper," said Klebanov.
He denied reports about the dismissal of Rosvooruzheniye general
director Alexei Ogaryov.
He said that, shortly after reports were circulated, Ogaryov
offered his resignation, he got in touch with Ogaryov who denied this
information.
#8
U.S. TO ALLOCATE $2.7 BILLION FOR ELIMINATING ITS OWN, RUSSIAN NUCLEAR
WEAPONS
ARKHANGELSK. Sept 15 (Interfax-Northwest) - The U.S. administration
plans to put $2.7 billion into a program for eliminating its own and
Russian nuclear weapons during the next six years, U.S. Defense
Secretary William Cohen on Tuesday stated in Severodvinsk, Russia's
rkhangelsk region, during a meeting with the workers of the state-run
machine-building enterprise Zvyozdochka.
A delegation of the U.S. Department of Defense has visited this
Russian center for nuclear shipbuilding to get acquainted with methods
of eliminating Russian nuclear submarines and with a program and
prospects for processing solid and liquid radioactive wastes and for the
removal of nuclear fuel from scrapped nuclear submarines.
Cohen told Interfax that the U.S. government had already allocated
$1.7 billion to nuclear arms reduction programs. He said that the
Pentagon is implementing the program for eliminating its strategic
armaments and has already eliminated 23 nuclear submarines and 368
ballistic missiles. However, the American side believes, he said, that
priority must be given to the elimination of sea-based nuclear forces.
Russia insists on a priority elimination of land-based nuclear
armaments, he said.
#9 Russia Lacks Money to Eliminate Chemical Weapons. MOSCOW, September 15 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia's financial difficulties threaten further implementation of the federal programme for elimination of chemical weapons, Zinovy Pak, general director of the Russian ammunition agency, said on Wednesday. Russia currently possesses 40,000 tons of chemical weapons, Pak told a news conference in the Itar-Tass headquarters. The programme, which is to be implemented before the year 2009, envisages two stages of their elimination. First, Russia is to get rid of 7,500 tons of vesicant gases, then of 32,500 tones of phosphorous gases which are used in missiles and ground troops artillery shells and aviation ammunition. The programme envisages spending of 600 million dollars yearly for the elimination of chemical weapons, while only from 320 to 330 million dollars are effectively spent for this purpose, Pak said. However Russia can enhance effectiveness of the programme's implementation in several ways, he went on. It can "change the technology of elimination, conduct scientific and research works and tests, or attract financing from extra-budget sources," Pak said.
#10 Russian Blasts Seen in Context of Terrorism Worldwide Rossiyskaya Gazeta 14 September 1999 [translation for personal use only] Article by Nikolay Paklin under "Sore Spot" rubric: "The World Rebuffs Terrorism. What About Russia?" Paris-Milan -- Reality has proved more terrible than could have been imagined. Terrorism of a merciless, fanatical, base kind has burst into the very heart of Russia -- Moscow. The terrorists struck their blow not at the authorities against which, presumably, they are fighting but at the most ordinary people, who are far removed from war or politics. They caused explosions, separated by short intervals of time, in thoroughly civilian facilities -- an underground shopping mall near the Kremlin and two apartment blocks. There are dozens of dead and hundreds of maimed and wounded. There has been a turning point in people's consciousness. They used to regard the war as going on somewhere far away in the North Caucasus. Now they have seen the war in the center of Russia. Moscow is the battleground today; it may be any other Russian city tomorrow. [passage omitted on history of Russian, Algerian, and Palestinian terrorism] Nowadays, however, terrorist organizations formed deep underground -- not so much on the historical territory of Palestine as in neighboring Islamic countries -- no longer express the Palestinians' national interests. They lead their own internal lives, often acting in the interests of various Muslim billionaires such as Bin-Ladin, the well-known inspirer of international terrorism. Hiding behind the green banner of Islam, they often wage war against their fellow believers, trying to impose their own will on them by force. Events in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of Soviet forces provided graphic confirmation of this. We have witnessed a rare historical event: One Russian Federation component -- Dagestan -- has been subjected to outright aggression by another component -- Chechnya. In both components most of the inhabitants are Muslims. The blame for this aggression lies not only with the leaders of the terrorist units -- Basayev and Khattab -- but also with the Chechen authorities. [passage omitted on terrorism in Ireland, Spain, Italy, and France] Experience shows that combating terrorism, whether "homegrown" or imported, is extremely difficult. As a rule, the law and order organs and the secret services plant agents in terrorist "brigades" and "columns." By obtaining advance information about the terrorists' schemes, they successfully avert crimes and destroy terrorist organizations. Police operations have made it possible to subdue the wave of terrorism in Germany. The terrorists have been pacified in Italy and France. At the same time the authorities are trying to start a dialogue with the terrorists' political organizations. This provides at least a "truce" and so reduces the number of victims. A state cannot coexist with terrorism, be it of a political, religious, criminal, ethnic, or other nature. But it is virtually impossible to eradicate terrorism by means of the power departments alone. Germany's experience has demonstrated that terrorism can be crushed; people will come to realize its danger for all members of society without exception and will give the state effective help in combating terrorists.
#11 Moscow Times September 16, 1999 SEASON OF DISCONTENT: Bombs Offer Russia Slice of Chechen Life By Andrei Piontkovsky Gangster State" -- that was the heading over a recent Newsweek article about Russia. We didn't like it much. "Can you really cast a shadow over a whole people and a whole government on the basis of a few separate and unrelated and not always reliable facts?" our eggheads fairly asked after reading the Newsweek article. For us, eggheads and lunkheads alike, it's much more comfortable to call somebody else a gangster state. Like Chechnya, for instance. Nobody likes the Chechens. The common cry from the pages of newspapers and the screens of televisions concerning Chechnya is to "mercilessly destroy it," to "blow it to bits once and for all," to "plow it over and turn it into a parking lot." Quite typical, and justified, was the recent prodding by Nezavisimaya Gazeta's editor Vitaly Tretyakov for Russians to have a "shocked" and "fighting" reaction to the "insolent and unspeakably inhumane bombing of an apartment building in Moscow." But there are things that we don't want to think about, things that the laws of psychological defense dictate we crowd out of our minds. As I write this, it is still not clear who is responsible for the blasts in Moscow that have brought down two apartment buildings in less that a week. But then we do know who is responsible for the "insolent and unspeakably inhumane bombing" of apartment buildings in the Chechen capital of Grozny from 1994 to 1996. Thousands of innocent people died as a result of aerial bomb raids and artillery shellings. Their deaths were no less terrible than those in Moscow. Bombs are raining on Chechen villages even today. While this conscious and pitiless bombardment continues to kill peaceful citizens of Chechnya, can we really expect to be viewed any differently by the Chechens than we view Shamil Basayev or Khattab? Russia shouldn't kid itself with myths about "surgical strikes at terrorist bases." But to those who would still doubt the nature of the feelings of Chechens toward Russians I would recommend the writings of a Russian officer who was a participant in that eternal war with the Chechens. It is shocking but nonetheless required reading for anyone with the authority to make Russian policy decisions in the Caucasus. One hundred and fifty years ago, this officer wrote the following lines after another cleansing campaign in the mountain villages of the Caucasus: "The elders gathered on the square and, squatting, discussed their circumstances. The sensation experienced by all the Chechens from the smallest to the greatest was stronger than hate. It wasn't hate, but the denial of even calling these Russian dogs people, and such an aversion, disgust and incomprehension of the absurd cruelty of these creatures that the desire to eliminate them, like the desire to eliminate a rat or a poisonous spider, was as natural a sensation as the sense of self-preservation." The officer was Leo Tolstoy and this is from chapter 17 of his "Hadji Murat." There is only one thing that would force the Chechens to become citizens of Russia - the complete destruction of any Chechen capable of holding a gun. Technically, we are capable of grasping such a victory. But are we prepared for such a "final solution" to the Chechen question? We, Russians and Chechens, have veered too far into mutual hatred and mutual atrocities. We have only two ways out. Either we live apart, or we die together in the name of our territorial integrity.
#12 House Banking and Financial Services Committee For Immediate Release: Contact: David Runkel or Tuesday, September 14 , 1999 Andrew Parmentier (202) 226-0471 Leach Announces Hearings on Russian Money Laundering Rep. James A. Leach, Chairman of the House Banking and Financial Services Committee, today announced that the Committee will hold a series of hearings this fall, beginning with two days of testimony on September 21 and 22, to examine Russian corruption and allegations of the laundering of billions of dollars, including the possibility that international aid funds were improperly diverted. "The purposes of these hearings will be to underscore the degree of corruption in Russian and any taint to the US and/or the international financial system," Leach said. "In addition, it is important for the West to adequately respond to the current Russian kleptrocratic situation in a way that assists the Russian people in successfully making the transition from a communist to a democratic free-market society. "Let me emphasis that the Committee’s interest is in putting the facts on the public record in a fair manner," Leach said. "Our goal is not simply to rehash the past, but to look to the future by examining the past. My principal concern isn’t "Who Lost Russia?," but what can be done to save Russian democracy." "These hearings are absolutely essential," said Rep. Marge Roukema, Chairwoman of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee. "The most important thing is to identify the openings in law - statutory and regulatory - which permitted this to occur. We clearly learned in our April Subcommittee hearings that money laundering is a growing menace. Now we know it is occurring both in the United States and internationally. It is our responsibility to develop reforms. It is shocking that IMF funds may have been used. Obviously this requires a complete review of IMF practices." The September 21 and 22 hearings will begin at 10 a.m. in Room 2128 Rayburn House Office Building. A witness list will be released later. The hearings will be the first of a number of Committee hearings this fall on the money laundering and Russian corruption issues.
#13 Excerpt Western Press Review: Terrorism In Russia, New EC Commission By Joel Blocker and Anthony Georgieff Prague, 16 September 1999 (RFE/RL) -- Western press commentary today is much concerned again with the effects of a continuing wave of terrorist bombings in Russia -- capped this morning by a fifth lethal blast, this time in the Rostov region south of Moscow. There is also considerable comment on the European Union's new Executive Commission, confirmed yesterday by the EU Parliament in Strasbourg. WALL STREET JOURNAL EUROPE: Bombing attacks must not obscure need to find new policy for the Caucasus The Wall Street Journal Europe says that the Russian bombings pose two questions: "Can the government deal with the terrorist threat [without impinging] on the rule of law, such as it exists in Russia? And given the instinct to blame Trans-Caucasus Muslims, will Moscow become even more brutal in trying to suppress separatists in Dagestan and Chechnya?" The paper writes: "On the first count, the Kremlin's response has so far been level-headed. The government and Kremlin have denied any plans to use the bomb attacks...as an excuse to declare a state of emergency, much less cancel the December parliamentary elections." But the WSJ adds: "All clarity of thought seems to disappear...when it comes to the Northern Caucasus. ...Whatever the truth [of the assumption that Chechen rebels are directing the bombings], the Kremlin's response has been to step up actions in Chechnya in a way that is bound to further the problem there." The editorial concludes: "Nobody will fault the resolve to be tough on terrorism. But Russia's leaders will not be wise if they let the bombing obscure the need to find a new policy for the Caucasus, one that recognizes the futility of sheer force to resolve the conflict." LOS ANGELES TIMES: Russia must not overreact The Los Angeles Times warns that "Russia must not overreact" to the bombings. Like the WSJ, the California daily notes that "the threat of domestic terrorism always puts the rule of law at some risk." It adds: "The challenge for Russia is to meet this crisis without recourse to regressive measures." The LAT editorial urges that "timetables for the scheduled elections [including a presidential vote next June] should not be changed -- first because postponement isn't warranted, second because Russia urgently needs a parliament more effective than the one it has now and a new president with a broader base of popular support." The paper sums up: "The terrorism danger can be overcome without sacrificing the gains Russia has made toward representative rule." BERLINSKE TIDENDE: Terror attacks have put Russia under new kind of pressure In Denmark, the daily Berlingske Tidende says in an editorial today: "Russia's democracy has not developed much during the decade that has passed since the collapse of communism, and the recent wave of terror attacks has put it under a new kind of pressure. In addition," the paper says, "the series of bombings has also provided new fodder for gossip for the always very active Russian rumor market, where conspiracy theorists are now having a field day." "But," the editorial continues, "nothing so far suggests that either President Boris Yeltsin or the military will use the situation to declare a state of emergency or attempt some kind of coup d'etat. Such a coup," it adds, "could hardly succeed under the present circumstances [while] Yeltsin, despite all the criticism of his rule -- both at home and abroad -- has always stood by his democratic principles in critical situations." The paper also says: "Nothing is certain yet about the bombings, but it is surely possible that there is a relationship between the terrorist attacks and the conflict between Russia and the separatist movements in the Caucasus. ...The Caucasian separatists should understand that the use of terror will not further their independence aims. ...Most Russians opposed the war in Chechnya," the paper concludes. "But now the hatred against the 'Black Faces,' as the Caucasians are called in Moscow...has grown." AFTENPOSTEN: Terror, war in the Caucasus and corruption could provoke countrywide crisis The Norwegian daily Aftenposten runs a commentary by Halvor Tjoern that says: "Collective anxiety has never been so widespread in Russia over the past 10 years as it is now. No one can go to bed and be sure he will wake up alive the next morning. No one knows what sort of weapons the terrorists will use the next time they strike: poison gas, car bombs, or hand grenades." The commentary continues: "While Muscovites continue to be [a major] target for the bombs, a real war is going on in the outer reaches of the country. Every day the media report that this or that portion of the federation has been 'purged of terrorists.' This war [in the Caucasus] has become permanent, something no one, not even the military, can bring to an end." Tjoern also says: "The terrorist crisis has made other major Russian news -- such as the extent of corruption in the Kremlin or the squandering of International Monetary Fund aid -- fade for the moment." He warns in conclusion: "These three phenomena -- widespread terror, the war in the Caucasus and alleged corruption in the Kremlin -- could provoke a countrywide crisis of huge proportions. The more the Russian people realize that the regime that is supposed to govern them is in fact unable to do so, the more the chances of them reacting in an unpredictable manner will grow."