Moscow Times

November 9, 1999

Generals Take Revenge

By Yelena Bonner

The main cause of the second Chechen war must be sought in particular features of the current Russian political scene. The first war was needed in order to re-elect President Boris Yeltsin. This war is needed to raise the standing in the polls of the current prime minister, Vladimir Putin, whom Yeltsin has publicly endorsed as his chosen successor.

For the Russian army, the war is attractive because it gives the generals an opportunity to take revenge for their defeats in the Afghan war and in the first f 1994-1996 f Chechen war. They believe that perestroika and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev prevented their victory in Afghanistan, and that in Chechnya, Alexander Lebed, Russia's free press and public opinion were to blame. For the military-industrial complex f which has been in a degraded state since the Soviet Union fell f war means money and new orders. For the presidential administration, government ministers and State Duma politicians, the war is needed to resuscitate patriotic slogans and divert the public's attention from corruption and financial scandals.

The regime hasn't found any way other than war to rally the public, of which one third, or 51 million, lives below the poverty level. The frequent replacement of prime ministers this past year f it is noteworthy that the last three have all had KGB connections f has possibly been the result of a conscious or subconscious search for someone capable of deciding for war.

Putin took former Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin's place, most likely because he recognized the Kremlin's wish for war, not peace. It's worth recalling thatin August, in one of his first interviews as prime minister, he answered a question about his attitude toward his appointment by stating: "I'm a soldier." Later, Putin f not the president f was the first to declare that the Khasavyurt agreement and the peace treaty signed by Yeltsin and Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov were meaningless scraps of paper. Putin falsely claimed that Maskhadov is not a legitimate president, so there is no sense entering into negotiations with him.

Russian public opinion has accepted the notion that the apartment building explosions in Moscow were the responsibility of Chechen terrorists, even though a Chechen connection to these explosions remains unproved.

An unprecedented anti-Chechen campaign has been launched in the mass media, especially on television. Chechens have been banished from Russian cities, with Moscow leading the way.

Between 100,000 and 130,000 people perished during the first Chechen war. Every city in Chechnya, its infrastructure, its institutions of education, medicine, culture and its factories were destroyed. And yet, with incredible effort, after the war ended, people somehow repaired their homes, farmers gathered the harvest and Chechens managed to survive the winter. All this was accomplished without financial help from Russia.

Russia couldn't find any money to ensure peace. But Russia can find the money to make war.

In the current budget, military expenditures have been increased by a billion dollars. Where will this extra money be found? One way is by simply printing more rubles f the resulting inflation will make the poor still more impoverished. Taxes will be raised, which will ruin many small- and medium-sized businesses. And then there will be Western loans and money from the International Monetary Fund and other international agencies, or at least whatever may be left after payment of interest on outstanding loans. The second Chechen war, just like the first war, is being indirectly financed by "the big seven" and other economically advanced countries.

When they began their military action, the Russian generals stated their goal was to create a cordon sanitaire along the border with Chechnya, but since mid-October and after the offensive against Grozny and Gudermes, it has become clear that this announcement was made only to appease public opinion. The rocket attack on the Grozny market, when more than 150 people were killed, including 13 babies in a nearby maternity hospital, signaled the second, even more savage, phase of the war.

It is typical that Russian officials, including Putin, have lied and denied that the incidents took place. Maskhadov, in his Oct. 29 appeal to Pope John Paul II on behalf of Chechnya's civilian population, wrote that 3,600 people, mostly women and children, have been killed and more than 5,500 wounded by Russian bombing and shelling.

That same day, a refugee convoy that included five clearly marked Red Cross vehicles, was attacked by Russian planes, and eyewitnesses said more than 25 people were killed and more than 70 wounded. The number of refugees from Chechnya in neighboring regions has passed the 250,000 mark.

Every day, dozens of people f primarily infants and the elderly f die from cold, disease and wounds. Aid from the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations that has reached the refugees so far is insufficient.

Moreover, part of the assistance has reportedly fallen into the hands of the military. If the flow of assistance is not promptly and substantially increased, countless deaths from epidemics, malnutrition and extremely cold weather can be expected. A humanitarian catastrophe already exists, and only major international aid can prevent its further advance.

The means used to conduct this war demonstrate plainly that this is not a fight against terrorists; the Russian generals are trying to annihilate a large part of the Chechen nation and drive out those who survive from their native land. Their aim is to keepChechnya as part of the Russian Federation f but without the Chechens. This is genocide. And this can no longer be exclusively the internal affair of Russia, no matter how often Yeltsin and Putin try to assert this point of view.

The above is a transcript of Bonner's comments before a Nov. 4 hearing of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee .