Chechnya: A model for Syria?

(Baonghean) - Chechnya is a small Muslim country in the south of Russia with only 1.3 million people. The remnants of two wars against Russia are a devastated country, with no resources, no resources to revive. When mentioning Chechnya today, people only remember the "warrior wolves" that were "exported" all over the world, from Ukraine to Iraq and Syria.

Chechens have contributed to many "achievements" of the group "Islamic State in Iraq and Syria" (ISIS).

Driven out of the Caucasus by Russia’s relentless repression, hundreds of Chechen fighters with radical Wahhabi Islam have joined the ranks of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria. In an article published in Le Nouvel Observateur, Jean-Baptiste Naudet has analyzed the origins of the IS Chechen army. According to him, the Chechen fighters initially joined the fight against the government of Bashar al-Assad as an act of revenge against Russian President Vladimir Putin, Assad’s main source of political and military support. According to estimates by historian and political analyst Malrbek Vatchagaev, the number of Chechen fighters in the ranks of IS is about 1,500. This group includes veterans of the Russo-Chechen war, refugees in the West and descendants of the previous generation of Chechens settled in the Middle East.

However, very quickly, the influence of the Chechen army surpassed the number. Sowing terror with brutality and recklessness, many Chechen fighters held important positions in the ranks of the jihadists. Omar al-Chichani (Omar Chechen, real name Tarkhan Batirashvili), 28 years old, leader of IS military operations. Omar is considered an excellent campaign planner, the core element of the attack on Mosul. This second largest city of Iraq fell to IS in less than 1 week in early June. Omar's mother is a Georgian Catholic, his father is a Chechen Muslim, Omar grew up in the Pankissi valley - a supply route and logistical base for Chechen fighters in 2 wars against the Russian army. Trained in the Georgian army, Omar al-Chichani was radicalized during his time in a Georgian prison for illegal possession of weapons. In 2012, Omar was released from prison and immediately went to Türkiye, then Syria. Although he did not directly participate in the fighting, Omar was clearly a byproduct of the Chechen war.

Also a "son" of the Chechen war, Ramzan Kadyrov chose a completely different path from Omar. Ramzan is the son of Akhmad Kadyrov, a Chechen citizen. In 2000, Akhmad gathered the pro-Moscow faction and was elected President of Chechnya in 2003. In 2004, he was assassinated. His son Ramzan headed the pro-Kadyrov armed wing (the Kadyrovtsi) consisting of pro-Russian independence veterans. Ramzan spread terror in this small country before taking power as President from 2007 until now. As a hard-line nationalist and Islamist, Ramzan has the unconditional support of the Kremlin for the sole reason of his unwavering loyalty to the Russian protectorate. This loyal "servant" was awarded the Hero of Russia, the highest award of the White Birch country. In return, Ramzan also knew how to "pay back" by sending hundreds, even thousands of Chechen fighters to Eastern Ukraine right from the beginning of the war started by pro-Russian separatists. Once again, the Chechens made both allies and enemies wary of their strategic planning and combat capabilities during the fiercest fighting in August. In total, hundreds of fighters who went to Donetsk were killed and were brought back to Chechnya for burial.

However, in parallel with the pro-Russian forces, in Ukraine people have recorded the appearance of a new Chechen paramilitary unit, but supporting the Kiev government. That is the "Djokhar Doudaiev Battalion", named after the first president of independent Chechnya, killed by the Russians in 1996. The leader of this unit is Issa Mounaiev, he declared that he was fighting in Ukraine "against the Russian tyranny".

So, on the surface, Chechnya appears to be a peaceful country, but in reality, the Chechen war continues beyond its borders. It seems to be an immutable law of war: killing breeds profiteers or terrorists. The lesson learned from the Chechen war is perhaps also an experiment for Vladimir Putin's political and military ideology and method of "self-fulfilling prophecy". The judgments about our enemies will come true: whoever opposes us is labeled "terrorist". If that is not necessarily true at first, in the end, we will turn our enemies into real terrorists. President Bashar al-Assad seems to have copied this idea exactly in Syria. Not only that, if in Chechnya, Russia bombs the entire city of Grozny; If he created militias (the Kadyrovtsi) and punished communities suspected of supporting the opposition, Bashar did the same in Syria. Bombing Homs and Aleppo to destroy the seeds of revolutionary rebellion; setting up militias; thousands of people being arrested or mysteriously disappearing. All of these tactics were used by Putin in the Second Chechen War, whose horrors continued until 2006. That was long after the military operations had ended.

As a test case for Russia’s “awakening,” Muslim Chechnya paid an unimaginable price for its independence. Between 100,000 and 300,000 people were killed, or between 7% and 23% of Chechnya’s population. The fighters who survived that hell either became fanatics or extrajudicial profiteers. Europe and the United States—in the name of post-9/11 terrorism and swayed by Putin’s promise of cheap gas—turned a blind eye to the tragedy. Given what is happening in Syria today, what will be left in 10, 20 years? Perhaps a Chechnya raised to the power of 10?

Ganoderma lucidum

According to Le monde