The Russian rage over the terrorists’ slaughter of innocents in Beslan is still fresh. The world still stands in disbelief.
And now, Russians wait for the response from President Vladimir Putin. Russian officials have said they will strike pre-emptively against terrorists wherever they find them. Russia has offered a $10 million reward for information that leads to the capture of the top Chechen separatist leaders. The tragedy in Beslan may yet lead to a higher level of international cooperation in the war on terror.
Actions all justified, all welcome, all necessary.
And yet, even if all that is accomplished, if Russia manages to lop off the head of the snake, Russia will still be left with a deep and abiding problem. Russia will still be left with the people of Chechnya.
Russia has attempted to pummel Chechnya into submission. It has attempted to give the land a form of semi-autonomy. All efforts have failed to bring peace and order there.
Russia seems to be fresh out of ideas on how to deal with Chechnya.
At times, Russia’s response to the Chechen separatist movement has been reminiscent of the Soviet era. The capital Grozny has been nearly pulverized by military campaigns launched by Putin and former President Boris Yeltsin. It has become a dead zone with little housing left, no jobs, schools, electricity, phones or even the most basic services.
Campaigns of revenge against Chechnya–going back to the time of Stalin–have fed on their own venom and further escalated the violence. The systematic destruction of Chechnya has left the ground barren, unwelcome except as a breeding ground for native and foreign terrorists.
Installation of puppet regimes controlled by Russia have failed. The head of one such rump government was killed in May by a terrorist bomb. A new president has been installed in a dubious election.
Putin needs to respond forcefully against those who perpetrated the horror in Beslan. He also, however, has to respond to Chechnya–and to the building animosity toward Moscow in neighboring Muslim republics–so the Chechen people will calculate that it is not in their interest to harbor Islamic fundamentalist terror.
Russia needs to undertake the reconstruction of Grozny, to create an economy where none exists and to lure back the tens of thousands of Chechens who fled to the countryside. The ruins of the capital symbolize failed Russian policies.
Russia is not flush with money, yet rebuilding Grozny has to be infinitely cheaper than continued warfare and terrorism.
Independence is not in Chechnya’s future. It is not prepared to stand on its own and Russia is not prepared to jettison a part of the nation. The terrorists will not achieve their aims there.
But rebuilding the capital and the trust of the Chechen people will accomplish two key goals for Russia–instilling credibility in a new generation of leaders and bringing a reduced risk of terrorism to the rest of the land. That will be a long and tedious process, but a worthwhile one.
