VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, [6] ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 18:42:07 09/10/04 Fri
Author: pre-emptive strikes
Subject: Moscow declares war and right to launch


SEPT 11, 2004
Putin lifts page from Bush doctrine

Moscow declares war and right to launch pre-emptive strikes against terrorists, but the move avoids real issues at home

By Jonathan Eyal

LONDON - Three years ago today, the terrorists who struck at the United States changed America forever.

Now, a similarly profound change is taking place in another country: Russia.

Immediately after the massacre of schoolchildren in Beslan last Friday - and directly copying the original US response to terrorism - President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia is 'at war'.

Shortly thereafter, the Russians also announced a large financial bounty for the head of the top Chechen terrorist accused of masterminding the school atrocity.

And, in a most important repetition of the American response to terrorism, General Yuri Baluevsky, the Russian Chief of General Staff, announced this week that the country's military now reserved for itself the right to 'launch pre-emptive strikes on terrorist bases - in any region of the world'.

There is no doubt that in coming to terms with the horrific terrorist murders and in seeking to punish the culprits, the Russian government deserves continued support.

But if taken to its logical conclusion, the Russian response to terrorism can only create a much wider disruption to international law and order, and may actually end up encouraging further terrorist attacks.

In theory, the terrorist attacks on the US and on Russia bear some similarities. Both were massive and designed to kill as many innocent people as possible. Both were also perpetrated by organisations which have adopted terror as their only method of operation, as an aim in itself.

There is nothing to negotiate with Al-Qaeda and there is nothing which can be reasoned out with people who last week slaughtered young children, wholesale.

But, in reality, America's war against global terrorism is not similar to Russia's current terrorist challenge. And the solution to the Chechen crisis requires something more than just copying the current US model of warfare, as the Russians now seem to be doing.

The people who struck at the US on this day three years ago rejected everything America stood for: Its economic prowess, its technological advances, its notions of society.

For Osama bin Laden and his acolytes in the Middle East and Asia, the war is an apocalyptic clash of civilisations, a global confrontation between religions.

However, the terrorism which faces Russia today is of a different variety. It was born out of a classic ethnic war - for the liberation of one ethnic group.

All of those who struck at the US were foreign nationals; all of those who struck at Russia were, at least nominally, its own nationals.

Furthermore, Al-Qaeda rejects the entire developed world. But the Chechens want to join this world, albeit as a separate nation. Nor are the Chechens fighting in the name of Islam; they happen to be Muslim, but they are fighting for the rather traditional nationalist aspiration of independence.

Nothing can excuse the school murders, and its perpetrators must be hunted down. Yet to suggest that the long-term answer to the Chechen problem should be similar to the fight against Al-Qaeda is to commit a grave historical error.

There is nothing which can be negotiated with Al-Qaeda and its allies, even if they were to give up violence. But, at least in theory, there is an answer to the Chechen problem: That of granting independence to this Russian province.

In essence, the Russian government's threat to deploy its armed forces around the world in search of terrorists represents nothing more than an attempt to avoid discussing the real issue - which remains that of the future of the Chechen nation.

Ironically, when the US announced, in what came to be known as the Bush Doctrine, that it reserved for itself the right to pre-empt terrorist attacks by hitting anywhere and at a time of its own choosing, Russia criticised this move as illegal.

The legality of the American military doctrine of pre-emption continues to be a highly controversial matter to this day but, at least when President Bush unveiled the concept, it made some sense.

For, after all, there was Afghanistan, a country which not only provided refuge for the Al-Qaeda terrorists, but also refused to hand them over to face justice. In such situations, customary international law does allow the use of force; America's war in Afghanistan duly obtained full United Nations' authority.

But what is the situation with Russia today? The claim that the Chechens enjoy a worldwide network of supporters has often been made by the Russian government, but never proven.

Immediately after the terrorist attacks on a theatre building in Moscow two years ago, the Russians asserted that Arab fighters were involved in that act. Not a single Arab was subsequently produced as evidence; all turned out to be local Chechens.

The same claim was made last week, after the horrific massacre in the Beslan school. Even before all the bodies of the murdered children were identified, Moscow mysteriously claimed to know that 10 of the attackers were Arabs. And, yet again, the evidence is not forthcoming.

The reality is rather simple. Although some links with other terrorist organisations may exist, the bulk of Chechen terrorism has always been home-grown.

And, most importantly, there is no government in the world which actively shields Chechen terrorists. In short, whatever justification the US has for its doctrine, there is neither the need, nor the legal justification, for Russia's threat to strike at other countries.

The real reason for the change in Russian military policy is actually not connected to terrorism at all, but to much older strategic interests. Ever since the end of the Soviet Union, the Russians have wanted to maintain control over the oil-rich and strategically important Caucasus region, and especially over the neighbouring republic of Georgia.

The Georgian government, now assisted by the presence of some US military personnel, has always resisted these Russian advances. Under the guise of fighting terrorism, the Russians now hope to re-impose control over Georgia, and it is rather convenient that they can do so by using the same justification which the Americans are using elsewhere in the world.

And, behind the scenes, a more sinister development is taking place. For years, the Russian government had demanded the extradition of Chechen political leaders who sought asylum in other countries, claiming that they were terrorists.

Without exception, courts in Western countries had rejected these claims as unfounded. Well before the school massacre, however, the Russian security services adopted a new technique: that of simply assassinating such people. The former Chechen president was assassinated in the Gulf state of Qatar this February, and further assassinations are now sure to follow.

Yet again, the Russian authorities will claim that they are doing nothing different from what the US has done. In practice, however, the Russians are targeting all those Chechens with whom a peaceful solution to the crisis can still be negotiated; far from eliminating terrorism, they are eliminating the chances for any political settlement.

The terrorists who struck at the US three years ago today rejected international norms and legality. The fight against them must remain global.

But this does not mean that the answer should always be the same, or that military force - on its own - is the only solution. By joining the US and Australia in granting itself the unilateral right to strike anywhere, and at any time, Russia is doing little to strengthen this fight against international terrorism.

It would be a rather sad and perverse outcome that, on the third anniversary of the worst single terrorist attack in modern history, more countries around the world are beginning to see respect for international law as a luxury, rather than a necessity.

The writer is Director of Studies at the Royal United Services Institute in London and a regular contributor to The Straits Times

------------------------------------------------------------------------


SEPTEMBER 2001

The terror attacks prompted the Bush Doctrine, which reserves for the US the right to pre-empt terrorist attacks by hitting anywhere and anytime - a declaration that made some sense when it was first announced.

------------------------------------------------------------------------


SEPTEMBER 2004


President Putin's attempt to adopt Washington's stance after the Beslan school attack seems to miss the point as it had nothing to do with international terrorism and may actually encourage more terrorist attacks.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-8
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.