Into the Ninth Year of War

Moscow yesterday mourned the victims of the terrorist explosions at the Tushino Saturday open-air rock concert, killing thirteen, among them two women suicide bombers who blew themselves up at the entrance, and wounding 59. Once again one wonders about what is being paid for with human lives and precisely how much the life of an ordinary Russian citizen costs in the leadership’s eyes. President Vladimir Putin said at a cabinet meeting that it is useless to attempt any preventive measures with regard to those operating in Chechnya and being part of an international terrorist network. “They must be smoked out of their hiding places in basements and caves and destroyed. Their main objective is wrecking the political regulation process,” the Russian head of state declared in his characteristic manner. Leaders of many countries forwarded messages of condolences to Moscow. What happened that Saturday not only further evidence the Russian security problem is not a political trick, but also that the Russian government’s responsibility for the safety of its citizens (including those in Chechnya) is far from a minor issue. Remarkably, none of the top Russian functionaries has thus far publicly assumed this responsibility. Acts of terrorism are becoming part of Russian daily life and it is increasingly obvious that violence can only beget violence in response, meaning that someone, on both sides, should muster the courage to be the first to try to put an end to it, even if only for awhile.

According to media coverage and eyewitness accounts, two kamikaze women wearing so-called Jihad explosive belts under their dresses, containing plastique, metal balls, cut wire, and nails, attempted to enter the airfield hosting the rock concert. There was a metal detector at the entrance and one of the women detonated her explosive charge before passing through. A passport found on her body identified her as Zalikhan Elikhadzhiyeva, a Chechen born in 1983. Ten minutes later, another explosive charge went off, killing eleven persons standing in line for tickets. Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Rashid Nurgaliyev said one of the kamikazes had connections with “the illegal armed bands operating on the territory of Chechnya.” The other suicide bomber appears to have arrived to Moscow from Georgia, Interfax reported yesterday. Georgian authorities adamantly denied the allegation.

The Chechen lead seems the only one uppermost on the investigators’ minds and no one has assumed responsibility for the explosions. The Russian secret police, FSB, and the Prosecutor General’s Office is convinced that the notorious Chechen field commanders Shamil Basayev and Abu al Valid Basayev are involved. Last year Basayev announced the existence of squads of suicide bombers to carry out missions all over Russia.

The Russian special services and law enforcement agencies state that Abu al Valid had been able to secure financing to form, train, and equip this kamikaze unit, and that training had been carried out by the same specialists who work with the Palestinian suicide bombers. In any case, the modus operandi (being prepared to die for holy cause) appears strikingly similar in both cases.

The Russian secret police has been making repeated statements to this effect in the Russian media in the last few days, maintaining that what happened Saturday could stem from the antiterrorist mission in the North Caucasus being placed under the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and taken from the Federal Security Service. Also, it was on Friday that President Putin announced that the presidential elections would be held in Chechnya this October.

Note that the passport found on what was left of one of the suicide bombers allowed the investigators to trace her affiliation with a terrorist group extremely quickly. Moreover, a television film crew managed to prepare and broadcast a special report from that woman’s neighborhood. It seems like a fairy tale. One cannot help but remember that Pres. Putin came to power on the crest of the wave of Chechen War, promising “rub out” the terrorists on their toilets. Ever since, however, the hostilities in Chechnya have taken on a different color.

Speaker of the Russian State Duma Gennady Selezniov believes that the federal government’s attempts to settle the situation in the North Caucasus peacefully, including the appointment of the presidential elections, will bring forth a violent response from forces that do not want peace in that region. True, many have expressed doubts about his version. Putin’s order became public knowledge last Friday. Could the terrorists have arranged for the explosions overnight? The more so that one of the suicide women bombers had arrived in Moscow that same Friday (according to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs). It seems that this is not the only discrepancy connected with the last terrorist act. Why would a woman take her passport with her to carry out a terrorist bombing?

It is possible that the Russian president will be able to rally his fellow citizens this time around his person, although Russian society seems to have been greatly disappointed with the Kremlin’s recent attempts to solve the Chechen problem. For this reason, it serves the Russian leadership’s interest to settle the conflict once and for all. The smoking-them-out-and-kill- them approach is obviously ineffective. Russian political analysts believe that Russian society has begun to tire of the endless hostilities.

Parallels between the Middle East and Chechnya are seen not only in groups that put their money on terror. Whole generations are growing up in Palestine and Chechnya, born and bred to hate and kill, totally unaccustomed to peace. They are unable to assess human life other than a target for their guns and bombs, often after seeing their parents killed. All they know is how to handle weapons and kill most efficiently. They are ruthless and trust no one. They are products of the policy for which the people had voted, an easy and quick victory. Nobody today has a recipe for victory over terrorism, for terrorism has always stemmed from faulty politics — and the cost has always been human lives.