"The Chechens knew there was no escape for them, and to avoid any temptation to run, they had strapped themselves together, knee to knee, and had their guns ready, and were singing their death song." So wrote Tolstoy in his 1863 novel, The Cossacks, wherein a young Russian officer travels to the Caucasus to take part in his country's long, fruitless effort to subdue Chechnya.
Last week, Russia's Chechen conflict flared again in similar fashion. On Oct. 23, heavily armed Chechen militants stormed a Moscow theater and held hundreds hostage, demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya and threatening to blow up the building if their demands were not met. Three days later, Russian commandos freed the hostages in a raid, but not before 117 of them were killed by a toxic gas pumped into the building to subdue the attackers.
Russia's conduct last week was irresponsible, but by no means exceptional in an ongoing conflict that has, by government statistics, claimed over 4,000 Russian lives. Since Russian President Vladimir Putin re-opened fighting in 1999, the Chechen war has produced appalling destruction with no clear victories and it is high time Russia sought a negotiated solution to the conflict. If Putin is to stop the cycle of reckless violence and establish Russia's reputation as a humane nation, he must put aside his pride and seek a prompt end to the Chechen conflict.
Russia's motives and actions in the theater standoff were typical of its conduct throughout the Chechen war. Russia's primary objective is to project an image of strength and competence and this goal has produced in Russian authorities a tendency to pursue forcible solutions and disregard the human costs of their operations. In resolving last week's hostage crisis, Russia quickly abandoned the possibility of a peaceful solution in favor of a dramatic commando raid which resulted in a large loss of life. Authorities afterward even declined to identify the gas used by security forces, which doctors say was responsible for most of the deaths.
Although the raid may have saved more lives than negotiations could have, the security forces' indiscriminant use of poison gas shows that saving lives was not the primary goal of the operation. By conducting the raid in such brutal fashion and later refusing to assist in the treatment of poisoned hostages, Russian authorities made clear that their first goal was to kill the rebels before the world could question Russia's ability to resolve the situation. In a televised address after the raid, Putin confirmed this sentiment, stating that the operation "proved that Russia cannot be brought down to its knees."
Putin's desire for a decisive military victory is understandable, but largely irrelevant in a time when Russia's international credibility is no longer based on its military strength. In the post-Cold War world, Russia will not win respect by subduing Chechnya, but rather by becoming a responsible, democratic nation that respects human rights and the will of its people. Russia's conduct in Chechnya is a hindrance to all of these and if Putin is serious about improving Russia's reputation, he should abandon Chechnya and focus instead on these domestic priorities.
Putin was elected president in 2000 largely on his promise to put a forceful end to the Chechen conflict. But since then, public support for the war has fallen dramatically. According to the All-Russian Public Opinion Center, support fell from 70 percent in February to 34 percent last month. In the same period, support for peace talks rose from 22 percent to 57 percent. Given this broad shift in public opinion of the Chechen conflict, Putin should consider opening peace talks with the rebels. Democratic governments are responsive to the will of their people and Putin can best establish Russia's democratic credentials by heeding his peoples' opinion and ending the Chechen conflict.
The war also has been a humanitarian disaster, with major violations on both sides. Many of these have occurred in the course of Russia's raids on Chechen villages. According to the State Department, these "are swiftly followed by new reports of serious human rights abuses, such as summary execution, arbitrary detention, torture, beatings or extortion." This will do more damage to Russia's credibility than any appearance of weakness and Putin should put a stop to it.
Russia's desire to appear strong in the face of Chechen threats is understandable, but after 150 years of intermittent conflict, there is, perhaps, greater glory in finding the wisdom to give up. Putin's reckless handling of the war, both in Chechnya and last week in his own capital, has served only to show that Russia remains trapped in its cold war mindset, where credibility comes from strength and the human costs of strength are irrelevant. If Putin is to establish Russia's reputation as a responsible, democratic nation of the first rank, he must dispense with thuggish violence and seek a prompt, negotiated solution to the Chechen conflict.
(Alec Solotorovsky's column appears on Fridays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at asolotorovsky@cavalierdaily.com.)
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