By Atlas Al

At the moment, the North Caucasus is one of the most dangerous regions in the world. Chechen rebel leader, Doku Umarov, the self-proclaimed 1^st Emir of the Caucasus Emirate (comprising of Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, North Ossetia and other smaller territories), claimed responsibility for the March 29, 2010 Moscow subway terror attacks.

Whether Umarov is directly or indirectly involved, Russia has been plagued by continued terrorism:

–March 31, 2010: back-to-back bombs kill many civilians and police officers near government buildings in the neighboring province of Dagestan.

–April 5, 2010: in Ingushetia, a suicide bomber kills police officers outside a police station, followed by a nearby car bomb.

–April 5, 2010: explosion derails a train in North Caucasus.

It’s unfortunate that Russia indirectly created the very suicide bombers that killed 40 people and wounded 60 others in the Moscow subway attack – think of the tens of thousands of men who died during the First and Second Chechen wars.

The Shahidka (aka Black Widows) is a group of Islamist Chechen women, many of whom lost their husbands during the Chechen wars. Umarov must lack the resources – either in manpower or funds – to launch a third Russo-Chechen war if he’s employing female suicide bombers in a terror campaign against the Russian people. Umarov said in an online video, “The war will come to your streets, and you feel it for yourselves and with your own lives.”

For over one hundred years, Chechnya has been trying to replicate their own revolution from the hands of the USSR and then later the Russian Federation. If actions speak louder than words, Chechnya is screaming at Russia to let them govern themselves.

Russia is in a tough situation. They don’t want to grant Chechen independence because other regions will demand theirs as well, plus Chechnya has a role in Russia’s oil production and distribution.

During the 1990s, Russian President Boris Yeltsin told Chechnya they were ineligible to become a separate country because they were never sovereign (i.e. never conquered) like the other 14 states that separated from the USSR in 1991. Russia considers Chechnya a part of their homeland, just like the United States considers North Dakota a part of its homeland despite the fact it was actually the Sioux tribe’s land for centuries before.

One sure way to end the terrorism is to let the Chechen people vote if they want to stay with Russia or become an independent state. Results of the vote could go either way. France, for example, will allow its citizens from the Pacific island of New Caledonia to vote in an independence referendum beginning in 2014.

A vote to stay with Russia would quell the violence. However, if Russia hasn’t yet offered a vote for independence, it’s because Russia believes they’ll lose. The population of Russians in Chechnya has dwindled over the years creating a Chechen majority – over 90%, meaning most of those Chechens will probably vote in favor of independence.

I’m all for independence movements, but the way forward is not with suicide bombers. Only with the help of sympathetic sovereign states will Chechnya achieve its goal. They should woo the international community for support.

To anyone attempting to lay claim to the Chechen flag: check yo self! Chechnya is not independent; they’re required to speak Russian, they have Russian passports, they’re a province of greater Russia.

Shag someone from Chechnya, you get the Russian flag.

Flags of the World, European flags, Russian flag

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