Remember how RFE/RL distanced themselves from Andrei Babitsky, their staff member who interviewed Shamil Basayev then sold the story to ABC? What a staff member does when they are on holiday, said RFE/RL, is no concern of ours.
Isn’t it odd, then, to see that RFE/RL were quite happy to print another interview that Babitsky held while on his ‘vacation’. This interview is with Chechen Field Commander Doku Umarov who has opposed Russia since 1995 and continues to do so. Umarov, however, does make it clear that he is not a terrorist, and that he doesn’t approve of Basayev’s actions. He isn’t able, of course, to resist the opportunity to shift some of the blame for Beslan onto the Russian government. Nor, it seems, is Babitsky.
RFE/RL: Let’s talk about terrorism. Your commander Shamil Basaev planned and carried out several terrorist acts. To justify himself, he wrote in one letter that Allah gives one the right to take away from someone what he has taken from you.
Umarov: In any case, we do not have that right today. If we were to use those methods, then I think not one of us would be able to return as normal humans.
RFE/RL: There were terrorist acts in Beslan, in Moscow, and the responsibility for that blood lies both with the Russian authorities and with the entire Chechen resistance. Does that mean that such acts have been acknowledged, have been granted moral legitimacy by the Chechen resistance?
Umarov: No, in the eyes of the resistance such operations have no legitimacy. We ourselves were horrified by what they did in Beslan. Because we know the concrete facts of what our people hoped for, how it all began.
The section of the interview that I found most interesting was this - an observation by Babitsky which, if it can be applied to Chechnya generally, rather than this one clearing in the forest, demonstrates that the Russian military is either unable or unwilling to put any serious military pressure on their opponents:
I was really surprised how freely, without looking around, without taking any apparent precautions, the Chechen fighters moved through the forest. Two years ago when I was here, the atmosphere was completely different. Every second the Chechens expected an attack, prepared for them for days on end. There were trenches and lookouts guarding the camps around the clock in any weather. Now there is nothing like that. It seems more like an encampment of hunters taking a break. Only the distant roar of reconnaissance planes remind one that a war is going on. "Now we move around relatively freely," Umarov told me. It often happens that two groups — Russian and Chechen — will encounter one another in the forest and move away without engaging. No one needs extra casualties.
Whatever your opinion on the rights or wrongs of Babitsky’s, ABC’s and RFE/RL’s actions, the interview is fascinating, and I’d thoroughly recommend giving it a read.
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