Oh my god Igor, here I was listening to Svoloch where he said that pro western reporting was biased now here you are telling me something else. The last thing I remember and believed was that the majority of the militants weren't even Chechens. Hell, one of their leaders is a Jordanian for pete's sake.

The propaganda wheels just keep on turning and it's only tuesday night here in the west!

I think I need a time out.

Igor,

What homes?

"refugees as they pass donate food for their army- the latest offering two geese caught beside the river."

"the fervour with which[they]have embraced Islam is clear in this army- it is part of their identity. Part of what it means to be Chechen for a generation whose parents were born in Stalin's icy exile camps after being packed into railway carriages one bad weekend in 1946 and decamped to Kazakstan" -Maggie O'Kane- in the Guardian.

A chechen businessman is on the phone in a building at the Chechen border. At the Kremlin's
behest he is trying to persuade the more moderate Chechen leaders to surrender. -BBC News

Russia today tested its latest nuclear deterent, detonating ...
-Channel 4 news.

Let's at least have both sides of this disinformation campaign- so we can try to work out who is lying to whom.

Possibly the guy filmed on the phone by the BBC was just the local butcher trying to sell british beef to the Chechens.According to some he would probably have more success getting the rebels to surrender. (Naming no nationalities, you know who you are you vile amphibians)

Don't you find it disturbing that we may all be the victims of propaganda?

Kim (a lifelong vegetarian thankfully)

bones, what is the point that you are trying to make? the same question to Kim and the rest.
criticism is great but only to a certain degree.
what do you think the russians should do?

John,

It's not "what the Russians should do?" but what their plans are already. It's been reported some time ago that the Russian military plans on ridding Chechnya of all militants and then setting up a military base there. They believe having a military presence in the area is the key when it's already been demonstrated that the Chechens wish for BOTH combatants to leave the province. But heck, they only reside there so who cares what they want. It's a "Catch-22" situation where only the civilians are the losers. And how ironic a phrase to use as to the author just passing away.

This land has never known peace so what should be done you ask, flip a coin.

imho

John,

At the moment this idea that somehow the west is victim to a disinformation campaign is bugging me
-you may have noticed.

1 - if this is true it would seem to turn alot of things up side down for me,maybe this is why I am resisting.

2 - same could be said for the Russians, I think.
ideas that go against what you have been led to believe are the hardest to accept.

This is a new experience for me,access to so much conflicting information, from so many different people, most of whom very interesting. If I seem critical then that is not to be nasty, but to work out why people think and believe what they do. Equally the critism I receive from others is helping me to test and question my own beliefs.

I don't really know what Russia should do, and I would hope the Russian authorities wouldn't be intersted in what an undergraduate student thinks they should do.
As far as the people who contribute to this site are concerned- I wish we could treat each other with respect and a little less suspicion.

What do you think Russia should do,or not do?
What do think the West should do,or not do?

Kim

Kissie,

Interesting Website, thanks.

As to the rest of your post, it was either too obscure to know what you actually meant, or too bitchy to do You or I credit.

You don't need to be a professor in anything to work out,that it is the Serbian stuff that bugs you most.Why?

Ever tried T.A.?

Kim

Boring!

Russia should put a base there because Chechnya is Russia and pro west reporting is biased ,we saw proof of that during Kosovo.Acording to NATO video NATO blew up so many tanks and pc's but instead the Serbs left pretty well intact. I beleive it was around 12 tanks that were destroyed.

Russia needs base to protect interests in Caspian region. Kosovo was first part of US stratagy. Checkout: http://www.emperors-clothes.com/articles/gervasi/why.htm

BONES ,KIM ARX the last one is good reading for you. Suleyman I would be interested in your views on this.

In fact the http I left would be good for every one to read to get a better understanding .It was written in 1996

www.antiwar.com is another interesting site.

Dear Readers,
Do you see that you have the wrong idea about Islam? You think you don’t? Please everyone; do you know that 1/5 of the world population are Muslims, and still growing? Did you ask yourself why is that? I think that all that you know is the political issues that are happening to Muslims, am I right? All that I want is; Just do a little research about Islam in an Islamic trusted resource. Thank you everyone for allowing me to take your time.
http://www.islam-online.net/
http://www.al-islam.com/

ohaya, kim-chan.
your 11:22 post i can well relate to. same thing
also happened to me in yugoslavia (ohaya,
kissie-san!)
i've been bombarded by both sides until i'm
purt-near paralyzed...
i know whom i try to follow here as far as picking
up information, but the mess remains a mess.
the west has no business having tangible
involvement here; bad enough they've supplied most
of the firepower.
could chechnya survive completely on their own?
who's kidding who?
what do i think of this situation? all the
elements have been on display here. not incredibly
different from what is spouted or sprayed in every
other analogous situation you'd care to name. "did
so//nuh-uh, did not//nuh-uh, DID SO// etc etc etc.

and if and when the dust ever settles...
it'll all be the same to the worms.