Chechnya - A Forgotten War

Living in a time where American politics and mass media are mainly engrossed in the happenings of Iraq and Afghanistan, other international conflicts often seem to fall by the wayside. An example of this oversight is the gruesome conflict in Chechnya. Many of us probably know very little about the issue and some might not have even heard of it before. This truly is a tragedy, for the atrocities taking place there daily equate or possibly even exceed the tribulations occurring in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Along with many others, I myself know a shameful amount of the happenings in this war-torn breakaway republic. However, I was inspired to research the issue after a lengthy conversation with a fellow peer in regards to the political backdrop. Incidentally, upon further research I found myself too astonished by the social repercussions and the lack of public knowledge to be overly concerned with political squabble.

The conflict in Chechnya actually stems back to that 1800's. In the 1830's Czar Nicholas invaded Caucasus where he meet fierce resistance, but it wasn't until 1859 that Russia was able to conquer and incorporate the state into its empire. During the 1917 Russian Revolution, Dagestan, which included Chechnya declared its independence. In 1923, Bolshevik troops occupied Dagestan and divided the region, thus creating the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

It was in 1944 that Stalin deported thousands of Chechens to Siberia and Kazakhstan under the suspicion that they were collaborating with German. However, in 1957, the Chechen-Ingush republic was reestablished sending thousands of Chechens back home. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, allowing 14 regions to become independent nations. Dzhokhar Dudayev was elected president of Chechnya and as president declared Chechnya an independent. However, Russian President Boris Yeltsin refused to recognize Chechnya as an independent nation, sending troops into the region. The troops were met by armed Chechens so they withdrew.

Throughout 1994 Chechnya continued its assertion of independence. Trouble began again when paramilitary bands were accused of widespread kidnappings for ransom. At that point, Russia invaded Chechnya thus beginning one of the bloodiest wars. Just a year later, 10,000 Russian troops occupied Grozny and President Dudayev was killed by a Russian rocket. Though 10,00 troops occupied Grozny, a total force number of Russians reached 45,000. Uncountable numbers of Chechens were taken hostage.

1996 came with retaliation as Chechens launched a major counteroffensive using 5,000 troops in Gronzy. Because of an unwillingness to use the maximum force of Russian troops and destroy Grozny, the Russians agreed to a ceasefire. Yeltsin then ordered troops to withdraw from Chechnya. There were 70,000 people left dead after that conflict alone. The same feeling of rebellion was apparent in 1997 when Chechnya refused to accept Moscow's authority. Aslan Maskhadov was elected the Chechen president and he quickly changed the capital city name from Russian Grozny to Chechen Djohar.

In 1999, Russian troops recaptured breakaway areas of Dagestan and Yeltsin sent 100,000 Russian troops into Chechnya. The Russian occupation of the region resulting in 250,000 Chechen refugees. Despite claims of victory by the Russians a year later, and the new Russian President Vladimir Putin agreeing to human rights investigations, the brutal warfare ensued.

After a major seizure of a Moscow theater by Chechen rebels, and their deaths along with 100 hostages, Chechens voted in a referendum that approved a new regional constitution and thus made Chechnya a separatist republic within Russia. This constitution however, meant that Chechnya was agreeing to give up its claims for independence. This did not stop the violence, as Russia did not actually make clear how much power it would have over the republic. Several suicide bombings followed that year. Russian appointed de facto Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov became the official president of the region. Many Human rights groups, as well as several nations questioned the fairness of the elections.

In 2004, Kadyrov was killed in a bombing and six others were killed with 60 others left wounded. Since then heavy warfare had broken out leaving thousands of dead and wounded and hundreds more without homes.

Engrossed in volumes of this new information, I continued my search and found a first hand account of life in Chechnya. My discovery was the narration of Catherine S. Osgood, a Harvard graduate student of Russian and Eurasian Studies. Osgood disguised herself as a Chechen woman to pass through various checkpoints without being discovered as an American on her visit to the capital of Gronzy. Having spent several years studying the region she is one of the few who desired to experience life as a civilian in Chechnya. Not many are willing to take that chance, simply because the likelihood of returning alive is disturbingly low.

Chechnya itself is considerably small, measuring around the size of Connecticut, however it can seem incredibly large when almost every corner and region of the land is flooded with the blood of its people. As Osgood put it, "It's a place of total lawlessness, where men and guns rule and human life carries little value."

Living in the United States, we are fortunate enough to assume that we won't be killed within the next five hours, let alone the next five minutes. This, however, is far from the case of Chechnya, where the average person walking down the street (knows very well) that it is likely he may never walk back.

The Russian government has assured that the situation is stabilizing; however little proves that, as fear, shootings and kidnappings have become a daily norm.

Regardless of the origins of the disturbance, the Chechen conflict continues to claim the lives of civilians rather than military personnel. As many as 200,000 people have been killed in the Russo-Chechen war, 350,000 displaced from their homes and many others who were forced to flee their villages on account of "cleansing operations" if they were lucky enough to escape from being detained or brutally killed by Russian soldiers. The causalities are not surprising considering the ratio of 100,000 Russian troops to 2,000 to 3,000 Chechen guerillas.

Often times, we in the United States, coming from the privileged security that we do, tend to forget the value of this protection and often times undermine the very entity that provides it. By this I mean that all to often, we, the American people, get overwhelmed in the political aspects of every little happening that we overlook the moral and ethical conflicts that are taking place, not only at home, but around the world. Regardless of who is to blame or who is right and wrong, the number of people dying in Chechnya, even as you read this, is inhumane and intolerable. We as a global community need to look past our political differences, into the morality that is innate within the human heart and mind. We, as a global community, must set forth priorities that ensure that the livelihood of humanity is valued and protected. And, we as the global community need to vow that nothing as grotesque and volatile, as the current situation of Chechnya will go overlooked and under regarded.