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Friday, October 14, 2005
Russians, Irishmen & the Dutch
What do you call Ireland with vodka instead of ale?
Wait. First, I need a minute to cackle gleefully: Karl Rove is testifying before the Plame case Grand Jury even as I type. Couldn't happen to a more deserving fella.
Right, that was fun. Now: Ireland with vodka instead of ale is: the Caucasus!
I haven't read much about Thursday's raid on Nalchik. Americans are notoriously unconcerned with anywhere in far-east fringes of Europe. Unless Dracula lived there. To be fair, even the Russians don't pay much attention to Nalchik: it's the official capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, but all the real work is done in Tyrnyauz. All Nalchik has to recommend it is a totally bitchin' coat of arms (left). Yet I wish people were paying more attention to the dozens of rebels killed in gun battles with Russian security forces over the last two days. It seems worthy of note.
The news is garbled. The Russians claim to have killed 72 rebels. A rebel web site says 11 are dead, four missing. The last rebel hold-outs were captured Friday afternoon. (Thanks to the magic of time zones, I can write that sentence on Friday morning without being insane and/or a time traveler.) Chechen separatists claim to have worked with local rebels on the assault. (Nalchik is in Russia, but less than a hundred miles from Chechnya.) Vladmir Putin claims the fighters were all outsiders, and that he is going to kick their ass, and also that he is on the verge of being able to bend space and time to his will through the dark arts.
So what was that odd joke about Ireland? Well, most commentators discuss Chechnya in the context of Islamic fundamentalism. Fair enough: Chechen rebels are Muslim, get support and training from Saudis, Al Quaeda, others. But we should remember that the rank-and-file of the Chechen fighters are fighting for the Independent Republic of Chechnya, or to topple the oppressive Russians, or because they have no jobs and live in the bloody Caucasus. Few consider themselves to be on a Jihad the way bin Laden, al-Zarqawi, and Fred Phelps do. So: while the situation is not the same as Ireland circa 1980 (the year of the Monkey, the Gipper, and doom), that analogy is much more useful than a al Qaeda comparison.
Just some food for thought.
Wait. First, I need a minute to cackle gleefully: Karl Rove is testifying before the Plame case Grand Jury even as I type. Couldn't happen to a more deserving fella.
Right, that was fun. Now: Ireland with vodka instead of ale is: the Caucasus!
I haven't read much about Thursday's raid on Nalchik. Americans are notoriously unconcerned with anywhere in far-east fringes of Europe. Unless Dracula lived there. To be fair, even the Russians don't pay much attention to Nalchik: it's the official capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, but all the real work is done in Tyrnyauz. All Nalchik has to recommend it is a totally bitchin' coat of arms (left). Yet I wish people were paying more attention to the dozens of rebels killed in gun battles with Russian security forces over the last two days. It seems worthy of note.The news is garbled. The Russians claim to have killed 72 rebels. A rebel web site says 11 are dead, four missing. The last rebel hold-outs were captured Friday afternoon. (Thanks to the magic of time zones, I can write that sentence on Friday morning without being insane and/or a time traveler.) Chechen separatists claim to have worked with local rebels on the assault. (Nalchik is in Russia, but less than a hundred miles from Chechnya.) Vladmir Putin claims the fighters were all outsiders, and that he is going to kick their ass, and also that he is on the verge of being able to bend space and time to his will through the dark arts.
So what was that odd joke about Ireland? Well, most commentators discuss Chechnya in the context of Islamic fundamentalism. Fair enough: Chechen rebels are Muslim, get support and training from Saudis, Al Quaeda, others. But we should remember that the rank-and-file of the Chechen fighters are fighting for the Independent Republic of Chechnya, or to topple the oppressive Russians, or because they have no jobs and live in the bloody Caucasus. Few consider themselves to be on a Jihad the way bin Laden, al-Zarqawi, and Fred Phelps do. So: while the situation is not the same as Ireland circa 1980 (the year of the Monkey, the Gipper, and doom), that analogy is much more useful than a al Qaeda comparison.
Just some food for thought.
