RUSSIANS CHARGE U.S. WITH SUPPORTING CHECHENS January 15, 2000 Fox News reported: Russia accused the United States today of supporting terrorism and complicating the situation in the Caucasus by receiving an envoy from breakaway Chechnya. We have more than once announced that this type of action implies support for terrorists and separatists, and not only in Russia, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said. He was referring to a visit to the United States this week by Ilyas Akhmadov, who acts as Chechnya's foreign minister. Russia says Akhmadov has no right to hold such a title, and alleges that some foreign countries confer undue legitimacy on the rebels by receiving their representatives. Moscow has rejected foreign criticism of its months-long offensive, claiming the military campaign is an internal affair. In particular, it has waved away allegations that it has used excessive force in the region and killed many civilians. The United States has said Russia's military strategy will not bring peace to Chechnya, where a 1994-96 war won rebels de facto independence. A wave of kidnappings and other violent crimes swept the region following the war, and Russia has accused Chechen political leaders of harboring bandits and international terrorists. Akhmadov arrived in Washington on Wednesday, made several public speeches and met with some State Department officials. U.S. officials insisted that they had received Akhmadov as a private citizen, not as an envoy of the Chechen government. But Ivanov said that argument was unacceptable..."

-- Johnny (jljtm@bellsouth.net), January 15, 2000

Answers

CNN reported today: "The Russian military says its stepped-up attacks are taking a toll on Chechen rebels and its campaign has regained momentum after it stalled early this week in the face of fierce rebel resistance. Russia has conducted 180 air raids over the past 24 hours, including Saturday bombings over Grozny, Argun and Vedeno in the southern mountains, where rebel bases are located. The military said that the capital of Grozny and the southern part of the rebel republic have borne the brunt of the latest attacks. ITAR-Tass, the official Russian news agency, quoted Russian military officials as saying that 58 Chechen fighters were killed as they fled Grozny toward the mountains under heavy Russian artillery and air attacks. Russia has captured most of the northern Chechen lowlands since its campaign to rout the rebels began in September, but the rebels still have strongholds in the mountains and have recently mounted strong resistance in Grozny and surrounding areas. The Interfax news agency said that a Russian military spokesman, Lt. Col. Konstantin Kukharenko, reported federal troops had captured the towns of Sharoi and Simoi. He said 61 rebels were killed as they tried to escape the area dressed as civilians, and that rebels had abandoned their ammunition. Sharoi and Simoi are on the route from the capital to the mountains..."

How long till they nuke Grozny?

-- Johnny (jljtm@bellsouth.net), January 15, 2000.

If Russia uses the *real stuff*, shockwaves will travel around the world, and the UN will issue all sorts of *official* warnings, which will be totally ineffective as usual...

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), January 15, 2000.

Who says the Ruskies don't have a sense of humor?

Imagine that -- *they're* whining about some *other* country allegedly supporting terrorists? Those bastards wrote the damn BOOK on state-sponsored terrorism!

Oh, and, "61 rebels were killed as they tried to escape the area dressed as civilians" -- yeah, right.

That wins the prize as lamest excuse of the day for war crimes.

Hey, Ivan -- sometimes a civilian is just a civilian.

-- Ron Schwarz (rs@clubvb.com.delete.this), January 15, 2000.

http://hv.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=002JZz

Coulpled with that is what I'm getting worried about.

-- Johnny (jljtm@bellsouth.net), January 15, 2000.

The Klintoon Administration proves itself again blind to the nuances involved with dealing with the Russians. The people we have running our foreign policy must believe that *everyone* in the world thinks and acts just like themselves. Cause they sure have made a record of tripping over themselves when it comes to cultural perceptions.

Do they announce "informal talks aimed at bringing about a settlement"? Hell no! They *officially recognize* the representative, the dumb b*astards! After the Russians dropped hints just yesterday with their nuclear weapons policy change.

Don't the Klintooners realize that **WE, the USA** are the outsiders they are referring to? Did the State Dept think the Russians were referring to Luxemburg or Lichtenstien interfering in their affairs to the point of posing a interventionist military threat? As if any other nation has near the track record of intervention that the US has under Klintoon!

God knows it's going to take many years to get US foreign policy straightened out after eight years of Klintoon's crap. That's if we haven't been turned into crispy critters on account of foreign policy blunders.

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), January 15, 2000.