Russkii Kurier, March 24, 2005
RUSSIAN HISTORY IS MADE UP OF MYTHS
An interview with Leonid Mlechin [TV host and author of many books on contemporary political figures] Author: Valeria Valtsova; Translated by A. Ignatkin
Question: What do you think is lacking in our leaders? Why are they unable to solve the problem of Chechnya?
Leonid Mlechin: Because of events in our past, and specifically because of what Stalin did, the war in Chechnya is in fact a war Russia is fighting against its own past. That's what makes the whole situation disastrous and unsolvable. It's possible to win a war against some other country, but winning a war fought against one's own people is very difficult. [...]
What really worries me is that I don't see any attempts to solve the problem of Chechnya. I don't know of any state structure or team of consultants devoted solely to considering what our policy with regard to Chechnya should be. Everything is decided by the security and law enforcement agencies, and they are doing whatever they can. Young Chechens don't associate themselves with Russia. They view themselves as people living on occupied territory. [...]
Question: Aslan Maskhadov was killed in Chechnya recently. In media coverage, the public was reminded of his career of an extremist - but the authorities somehow forgot to mention the fact that in the Yeltsin era, Moscow regarded Maskhadov as the only man capable of putting an end to the war. Why are we so forgetful?
Leonid Mlechin: Our history consists of myths. Consider any incident - the actual events are always different from what was announced afterwards. History is a political instrument. As for Maskhadov himself, he was a guerrilla - but he should have been taken alive and put on trial. For many reasons. First, prosecution must be fair. Second, Maskhadov had answers to a lot of questions. Third, the state should not stoop to the level of its enemies. In any case, Maskhadov was killed. [...]
Question: What is your opinion of the Kremlin's decision to make Ramzan Kadyrov a Hero of Russia?
Leonid Mlechin: I'd say it was a grave error. Such people should not receive state awards. This highest state award has a certain status that must be respected and observed. On the other hand, politics is nothing if not pragmatic. What is happening in Chechnya nowadays reminds me of the Vietnam war. The Americans did their best to make it a war of some Vietnamese against other Vietnamese. That's what I see in Chechnya nowadays. Russia is withdrawing its troops, so as to leave the Chechens themselves fighting each other. Well, somebody probably thinks this is a solution, but it is a solution only if the Chechens are not viewed as a part of our people.
Strategically speaking, it is not a solution at all.
The title of this post is a reference to the unsuccessful US policy of Vietnamization which Mlechin mentioned in the interview. Such a policy is not likely to be any more successful in Chechnya than it was in Vietnam.
5 comments:
Interesting. I assume that this is a "liberal" russian perspective?
I have a limited understanding of the Chechen conflict but I can understand the point about Russia fighting it's own past. However, doesn't the interview also highlight the essential misapprehension of the conflict; the Russans see this as an internal Russian conflict (" a war fought against ones own people") whereas the Chechens do not view themselves as a "russian" people?
Oops, also meant to say have linked to this article.Hope thats ok?
There are certainly Russian perspectives more "liberal" than this one.
I really liked the comparison to Vietnam - consider how much more unwinnable that war would have been if it had taken place within US borders and the fighting had been on and off for the past 200 years. One of Mlechin's points is that these factors make "Chechenization" of the conflict even less likely to succeed.
You raise an interesting question. I think it all depends on your interpretation of the word "people." Clearly Mlechin is not talking about ethnicity. What he means, I think, is that the Chechens are citizens of Russia, and that deporting them en masse to Kazakhstan (as Stalin did), bombing them back into the stone age (as occurred in 1994-97 and to a lesser extent from 1999 to the present), and allowing your troops to wage a terroristic campaign complete with kidnappings and the targeting of civilians (as has occurred in both Chechen wars), all amount to a country waging war on its own citizens - not the best strategy if your goal is to pacify people or keep them from wanting to secede.
But you are correct that it seems Mlechin would rather somehow convince the Chechen rebels that they should want to remain a part of Russia than acknowledge their right to a sovereign nation. Not that they necessarily have that right, mind you. This is a swamp I would rather not wade into at 4:30 in the morning... Suffice it to say, much has been written about this by people far more intelligent and sensitive than I am to the issues involved, and no one's come up with a way to either fully explain or stop the fighting yet; therefore, I'll not take it upon myself to try to accomplish that here.
Link away, my friend. The more, the merrier.
I have used "Chechenization" in my comments at Siberian Light, if I am not mistaken. I wouldn't say Vietnamization was a failure because it made it possible for the US troops to leave. There is, however, no natural barrier separating Chechnya from the rest of the North Caucasus, so whenever there is chaos in Chechnya, expect a spillover effect. Independence is apparently not a major concern for most Chechens now; normalization must be.
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