Russian Treaty Thing Essays - North Caucasus, Chechen People

Russian Treaty Thing To most students and a good part of the rest of American society, the issues which have come to surface and shed blood over miles of terrain are intricate and internal, issues which can't be put to rest by signing a piece of paper or so called treaty. The internal structure of Russia has been weakened time and time again for the past decade and the problems and disgruntled begin to lash out as the lack of concern becomes more and more obvious. Since the recent assignation attempt, the fourth on the life of Aslan Maskhadov and the first in his capacity as President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria on July 23, 1998, combined with the vast scale of organized crime, abductions and seemingly unrestricted terrorism over the last 18 months, the unquestioned, taken for granted rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, begin to become a question of validity. For one to try and fathom the fright felt by the Chechen civilians' or begin to wonder why this is happening would be imposs ible, but by taking a closer look at the parties involved in this crisis can help us to understand the issues at place. Amongst all of this horror lies the participants involved, whether a political, ethnic, interest or religious group, each has its own reasons and goals. One participant, the President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov, has only been in office since January of 1997, but remains unbowed in his determination to restore law and order. Unfortunately, attempts on his life have been made before and will most likely be made again. If it is the case that Maskhadov is killed or removed from power, the likelihood for a civil war would grow, resulting in the ultimate consequence of which could become a catastrophe, not only for Chechnya, the North Caucasus and the ?independent' republics of the Transcaucasus, but ultimately for Russia as a whole. A second participant, the President of Russia, has had a huge impact in the progress of this conflict. Mr. Yeltsin is determined to wipe out the entire opposition, rebels, guerrillas, even regular plain clothed civilians refusing to ab andon their homes. This has been stressed time and time again as his men have repeatedly bombed Chechynan land and city's relentlessly, including the capital, Groznyy, which his men plan to fully encircle by mid December. A third participant in this ongoing turmoil is Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Putin, a former intelligence officer and head of the Federal Security Service and the main successor to the KGB, was promoted from intelligence chief to Prime Minister. Due to his dedication and similarities, Mr. Yeltsin exonerates Vladimir as the man he'd like to see as President. It is nice to know that Mr. Yeltsin admires Vladimir Putin but it sure doesn't thrill me knowing that the Russian Duma voted to confirm Putin as the countries new premier. A fourth participant is the Senior Russian Commander, General Valery Manilov. Manilov is the Russian army's first deputy chief of staff and main Chechnya mouthpiece and recently announced the launch of a new phase in the campaign, saying troops would now pursue the rebels into the mountains. Though the Russians' have proved wise up to now, they have yet to fight the Chechens one on one where the sniper filled streets of Groznyy and Guerrilla warfare methods of the mountains have proved deadly for the Russians. Though Manilov hasn't suffered huge casualties as of yet, he should be wise and cautious about how he decides to take Groznyy. A fifth participant in this ordeal is the British Government though nothing has been spoken about interference of assistance to Chechnya, Russia has been told that they better watch what they do. This is all that has been said for now but if the bloodshed massacre continues more may come. A sixth participant involved in this issue is The Federation Coun cil. The Federation Council is the weaker half of the legislature, but still has been vested with considerable authority under the 1993 constitution. Deputies have the power to confirm border changes within the federation, approve the introduction of martial law or a state of emergency by the president