There are times when Realpolitik runs counter the politics of reality and thus leads to greater complications.
A case in point is the shift in the attitude of the United States and the European Union toward the war that Russia is waging against the Chechen people. Until a few months ago, both the US and the EU missed no opportunity to warn Moscow against the long-term consequences of its policy in Chechnya. Since Sept. 11, however, the issue has been pushed aside. Russia has become an ally in the campaign against international terrorism and given a free hand to pursue its destruction of the Chechen nation. It is true that, in the past week, US, French and British officials received envoys from Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov, and on Jan. 18, UN refugee chief Ruud Lubbers rejected Moscow’s official line on the Chechen war by declaring that Maskhadov was “certainly not a terrorist”. But these cannot be taken as a change in attitude because last week the EU, holding a session on the conflict, decided not to recommend sanctions against Russia. Worse still, it claimed that there were “positive developments” in Russian policy in Chechnya.
By coincidence, the EU’s move comes at a time that a special report sheds some light on a part of the tragedy inflicted upon the Chechens. Prepared for the Russian Interior Ministry and conducted by Russian investigators, the report shows that a good part of Russian forces in Chechnya have ran out of all control. It speaks of summary executions carried out by Russian soldiers with no legal authority, of gang raping of Chechen women by Russian troops in uniform, and of organized pillaging of whole villages and districts by gangs of Russian military with no obvious chain of command. The picture is that of an invasion by Jenghis Khan’s “golden horde” rather than a modern, disciplined army that is subject to international law on war and crimes against humanity.
The report also shows that the notorious Russian mafia has gained a foothold in Chechnya and, with help from the military, is turning the tragedy-stricken republic into a base for drug smuggling, prostitution and the training of professional killers. The report presents Chechnya as a festering wound that could infest the whole of the Russian Federation and threaten its hopes of political and economic well-being. As always in history, it is impossible to wage a dirty war without becoming dirty.
The fact that President Vladimir Putin authorized the report is certainly welcome. Also welcome is his decision to allow parts of it to be made public. Putin has built his presidency on his promise of building a state of law in Russia. The best place to start is Chechnya where the rule of law has ceased to exist.
The first step toward the rule of law is the recognition by Moscow of the democratically elected government led by President Aslan Maskhadov. If Putin is sincere about his claim of respect for the rule of law, he should have little difficulty in seeing that Maskhadov could be on his side in the war against both fundamentalism and the Russian mafia.
The US and the EU have every interest in persuading Putin to open talks with Maskhadov as part of the global campaign against terror.
