A Step At A Time

Reflections on the world post-9/11, by a British writer, translator and musician who engaged for many years in the debates of the Cold War, and who tends to see the world's present troubles as a continuation of the old common struggle with tyranny and oppression. The blog can also be accessed here

Saturday, January 03, 2009

Chechnya and Gaza

Those critics of Israel who like to accuse the country's leadership of using the threat from Islamist radicals of the Hamas type as an excuse for "disproportionate" military responses need to take some lessons from Russia's treatment of its North Caucasus populations. At Z-Word, Ben Cohen shows what a disproportionate response really looks like - in the hands of the Russian government and military:

Oleg goes on to explain in his broken Hebrew that if Russian soldiers were sent into Gaza they would take care of things in three or four days. “They know what war is.” (My emphasis - BC)
Igor is slightly taken aback by his friend’s comments and explains that Oleg is still hung-over from New Year’s Eve.
Whether or not he was suffering from the after effects of too much partying, Oleg - notwithstanding his repellent racist comments - is right about Russian military strategy. When they invaded Chechnya, in 1994 and 1999, the Russians deployed a scorched earth policy. Grozny was burned to a cinder, with complete disregard for the lives of civilians and for the laws of war.

Labels: Chechnya, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Middle East, North Caucasus, Russia