I believe that Russia should be allowed to finish its operation without official criticism from the West. After control of the country has been established the Chechens should be allowed to vote on whether they wish to remain in the Russian federation. And by the way don't assume that they all wish independence. If they do choose independence then Moscow should establish a buffer zone north of the Tereck river. And UN and all countries in the region should impose a strict ban on import of any weapons into that country. Western world should then provide aid and work to establish democratic institutions and market economy. Positive forces in Chechnya need to be identified and promoted (and I don't think that a convicted embezzler qualifies). Terrorist elements need to be identified and eliminated with the help of Western intelligence services. When Chechnya can demonstrate that it is capable of policing it self only then should it be allowed to join the family of nations.

BTW on Kosovo, I think it was wrong for us to interfere and I think that a vast majority of Americans disagreed with Clinton on this issue. Unfortunately the press and the American public were manipulated and deceived. I think its very indicative of the tremendous cynicism of our political leaders, how quickly the KLA went from being on the State Departments list of Terrorist organizations to being a bunch of freedom fighters.

I know that in my first paragraph I might come across as being naive, but what I'm presenting is an ideal and I'm not sure if it's practical.

George Silver Why was U.S sending in army uniforms to Tsbilisi,3000 of them and calling them mens suits. Shipment went from Atlanta to U.S military attache in Tsbilisi. Sounds like they were covertly aiding bandits

Thank you,Anti-Racist. It's a good thing that you
have appreciated the truth in my statements.

Mr. Sulayman, Kemal Ataturk was the greatest Moslem to be born in the last 1500 years, save for probably the Kurdish hero Saladin.

I believe your mediation is very necessary.

Anti-Racist is factually incorrect. The EU is about to admit Turkiye very soon as a full member.

Mr. Suleyman

I understand your explanation. I do think that there are many people on this board that have serious emotional issues.

I'm interested in finding out your views as to what the solution in Chechnya should be. I welcome your comments on my ideas.

Ichthyosaurus

Please become extinct, like your namesake.

And thank you for a nice prediction for Islam
and Muslims. I think, despite all the crusaders'
lies that you espouse, such as that Islam was
spread by the sword, there are enough people
coming to Islam after seeing the light for them-
selves, willingly. Wait till you see a majority
of Muslims convert from W.A.S.P. origin!!! It
has already started, by the will of Allah!!!

As for my original post about 17th Ramadan (Dec 25)
WOW - the soldiers of Allah did us proud in
Chechnya - read their posts in www.qoqaz.net
to see how bullets THAT WERE NOT THEIRS found a
mark amongst their enemy. O Muslims - witness
that MIRACLES ARE STILL HAPPENING!!!

As for you Suleyman - you do not deserve to carry
such an honored name. Please call yourself Stalin
or Marx something...

Chechnya is not a part of Russia. Being overrun
by Russians does not mean it is conquered.

The Mujahideen in Afghanistan caused the Soviet
Union to wilt and die. By God's Will, I hope to
see the Mujahideen of Chechnya, Ingushetiya, and
Ossetia liberate the rest of greater russia in
the same way, no matter how much economic aid
is poured in from the west.

A Muslim

it's a ball-room all of a sudden..allrighty then..thank you everyone for concentrating on the ACTUAL subject..Kim Arx woulda been proud of us, you know

A MUSLIM Go put your head back in the sand box

Anti-racist,
Thank you for the optimistic viewpoint relating to Turkey (this is sarcastic, hint, hint). I have never been a supporter of Turkish politics, so please refrain from making such hasty generalizations when referring to the politics of the state and my own beliefs.
Ichthysaurus,
I feel a great deal of compassion for you. This is because I have also been tormented by religious zealots. These fanatics came in the form of Christians. I have nothing against Christians as a whole. However, my experience in the United States and the public education system has been horrid. Every day I went through an ordeal with adolescent brimstone preachers. They told me my parents were going to Hell along with my sister and everything associated with me was deemed "EVIL". I resented this and realized that Americans can violate the boundaries of freedom of religion. I feel empathy and a unique facet of understanding to the origins of your sentiment. Perhaps some common attributes can correspond between us. However, I am fortunate that these Christians did not assemble and incite a mob against me and my family. In some countries, this is commonplace.

Igor

I'm not familiar with the issue that you raised. But let me assure you that I disagree with any unjust action even if it comes from my government. By the way that is the beauty of this country that I could freely express my disagreement with the government.

Like I said before I think that the criticism coming from the West is misguided. We should look for positive solutions to the problem while recognizing the fundamental truths about this conflict. Which are that there were plenty of reasons for Russia to enter Chechnya and that Russia had no choice, Basayev vowed to expand the war to include all republics in the Caucuses regardless of whether they wanted to be "Liberated" by him or not.

To: S. Clause, Ichthyosarus, Wasp :

Abusing and shouting at other religions and the messengers are not a solution at all. Cool down.
"The wrong you do will ride on you like demons on horses".
Let us discuss the truth.
You know how the soviet union was formed by Peter, Catherine?(you know her well?), Zar,.. Lenin, Staline etc.. History tells 20 million people were butchered just for the establishment of communism alone. Can you show me any other genocied of this magnitude in human history?. Communism was a masonic invention. Marx was a member-grade 33. Eastern Europe and Soviet Union were the victims of communism. Did the state finally 'whither away'. What happened to the Class war? theory. Now what is going on is gang/thug war!.

Read your own Andre Sakhrovs memoirs. There is not a single family who didn't loose a memeber during the establishment of communism. Read the chapter "Hypnotic Power of Mass Ideology". And how did it end up?.

Do you find any purpose for your life?. Do you think that death ends up into complete silence?.

Is the death of Vladimir Lenin and a fly equal?.

Hitler/Stalin and their victims - are they equal?

Can this world punish the mass killers like Chengis Khan, Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, Pol pot proportionate to their attrocities?.

Understand that death opens a door to an eternal life where right and wrong will be judged.
THE JUDGEMENT DAY IS TRUE.

Understand and believe that:
"THERE IS NO GOD BUT ALLAH AND MOHAMMAD IS HIS MESSENGER"
AND THE JUDGEMENT DAY IS TRUE.
"NO ONE WILL BEAR THE BURDON OF OTHER"
"WE BELONG TO GOD, AND TO HIM IS OUR RETURN".

All sorts of materialisms (dialectical, Nihilism, Communism, existentialism, epicurianism etc) are philosophies of meaninglessness.

Understand that life is neither futile nor absurd as Sartre and Camus wrote. Life is for meaningful purposes.

There is a Creator behind all these settings. He is One and Only One. And there is a resurruction day or the Judgement day where all your deeds will be sorted out and judged. For good deed you will be rewarded and bad will be punished. No one will bear the burden of other. Death opens a door to an eternal life. Death doesn't end up into ultimate silence. One day will come when you have to answer for each and every thing you do.
"Death and life are created to test you who is right in deed".

What differentiates you from other creations. Is it that special intelligence?. Intelligent man some times behaves worse than an animal.

It is the FEEDOM OF CHOICE bestowed on man makes him RESPONSIBLE. You are given a special soul with a limited 'free will'. How you use this freedom is what is judged. This freedom of choice is not given to any other creation. This freedom of choice is the corner stone of responsibility.

You better use it in the right way before you die.

(.. will continue with the subject Chechnia soon..)
Thank you

Asalam

MR Silver Iwould like you opinion on some of these postings in particular the one by Gervasi http://emperors-clothes.com/index.htm

I agree with Dimitri. Anti-Racist is indulging the classic "crocodile tears" syndrome! He/She (Anti-
Racist) is a laugh riot! Hyuck!

I agree with Mr. Silver broadly, though I believe that the Chechens should never be given independence. If that happens, we will have many such mini-Chechnyas cropping up all over the world!

NO FREEDOM, EXCEPT THE FREEDOM OF THE CAUCASIAN REGION FROM THE CHECHENS!!

Asalam,

truly, my friend - that was..ehh..for the lack of a better word - boring..seriousely - very boring and kinda of the subject(AGAIN). Churches and message boards aren't the same. See where I'm gettin'at?

Asalam, as per my last post - I meant ""off" the subject", of course.

"... my first paragraph I might come across as being naive..."

Here's a pessimistic thought. I suspect there's no possible and acceptable solution there. I am afraid the core of the ethnic group called Chechens is really poisoned with hate and violence. We know the things like this have happened in history, take Germany of late 30th. We know the Chechens cannot handle independence - they had it de facto for three years - everybody knows the results, we also know they are totally set on the idea of independence. The possible scenarios are sad...