Russia bleeding for Soviet mistakes - Guest Column

The hostage crisis that concluded last week in Middle School No. 1 in Beslan, Russia, during which Chechen separatists killed over 300 people -- mostly children -- should come as no surprise to the rest of the world. While many journalists are referring to the three-day standoff as "Putin's September 11" or "Russia's 9/11," the events in Beslan bear little resemblance to the U.S. tragedy, aside from the fact that both are horrifying acts of political terrorism which will result in massive reprisals.

Ultimately, the analogy is inaccurate; whereas the terrorist attacks of September 11 were, according to analyst Yossi Melman, "a surprise, even if there were clues, assessment and warnings ignored by American intelligence services," the conflict between Chechnya and Russia has deep-seeded roots that extend beyond President Putin and the so-called first Chechen War in 1994.

At the very least, the events of the 10 days leading up to the hostage crisis in Northern Ossetia -- the simultaneous explosion of two Russian planes, which killed 89 people, and the suicide bombing that killed nine people and injured 51 in front of Moscow's Rizhskaya station -- are enough to indicate that these were not isolated incidents.

The conflict between Chechnya and Russia has been raging, in one form or another, for at least the past 300 years. Since the 18th century, Russian (and later, Soviet) authorities have tried to solve the "Chechen problem" by colonization, mass deportation, assassinations, mass murder and even attempting to rewrite the history of the Chechen people. Rarely, however, has Russia been able to destroy the Chechen people's aspiration for full territorial sovereignty and independence, even temporarily. Thus, President Putin's handling of the Chechen conflict should not be framed in a post-Soviet light. Rather, his actions should be understood as part of a long historical conflict between a Chechen people who have defined their modern identity as being "anti-Russian" and a Russian state which fails to take responsibility for its past actions in Chechnya.

While many in the West are often unaware of the long and deeply rooted nature of this conflict, Russians and Chechens have no illusions. Some American commentators have argued that Putin's televised address following the crisis was strikingly similar to that of President Bush after 9/11. He expressed condolences to the victims of the attack and their families, spoke of the threat of modern terrorism as well as the need to modernize Russia to confront the challenges of the future, ordered a full investigation into the events and reiterated the necessity for unity and camaraderie in this time of national tragedy.

Less emphasis has been placed on Putin's reminiscence, perhaps nostalgia, for the way internal and ethnic conflicts were "crushed without mercy" during the Soviet times. In alluding to the Soviet era, Putin is in many respects paying a horrifying tribute to the way Stalin dealt with the Chechens.

Stalin's methods included a largely unjustified mass deportation in which over 500,000 Chechens were exiled to Siberia, and a genocidal campaign during which hundreds, if not thousands, of Chechens were simply thrown into barns and burned alive if their villages were inconveniently located. While these veiled threats may go unheralded by Westerners, the Russo-Chechen conflict is so ingrained in the psyches of both Russian and Chechens that any allusion to Soviet era policy towards Chechens, especially by a former KGB agent, is bound in threatening military innuendo.

In his address, Putin tried to present Russia's new "democracy" as an extension of the leviathan that was the Soviet Union, when he stated bluntly: "Despite all the difficulties, we have managed to preserve the core of this giant, the Soviet Union. And we called the new country the Russian Federation."

Until Russia realizes that in the modern era semantics cannot hide the true nature of what Russia is -- a country lacking basic moral, humanitarian and legal solidarity -- the horror of the Russo-Chechen conflict will continue. Russia is now a "democracy," and its leadership should react accordingly by ending Soviet-style aggression policies in favor of diplomacy. As Zbigniew Brzezinski, former U.S. National Security Advisor for President Carter, concluded, "The most obnoxious aspect of Russian policy towards Chechnya is its highly Soviet style; the object of that policy is demonized and slandered; mendacity characterizes public communiqu??s about what is happening and brutality is ruthlessly applied irrespective of its consequence for human rights."

Unfortunately, the recent brutal killing of innocent children leaves the Russian government with no choice but to reply with force.

While the actions of the terrorist hostage takers are shocking, appalling and must be condemned and fought, Putin's implied threats of mass deportation and genocide should not go unnoticed.

Finding a balanced response to the heinous crimes committed by Chechen terrorists will not be easy, but given Russia's historical predisposition to dealing with the "Chechen problem" militarily rather then diplomatically, the reaction is likely to be severe and ruthless.