DATE=2/9/2000
TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP
TITLE=RUSSIA TAKES GROZNY
NUMBER=6-11674
BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS
TELEPHONE=619-3335
CONTENT=
INTRO: Many American newspapers published a stunning
photograph from Chechnya this week on their front
pages. The picture, taken by (a Russian photographer,
Dmitry Belyakov, for) the Associated Press, shows the
utter destruction of the Chechen capital, Grozny. The
photo, which portrays a terrible scene framed in
artful proportions and dramatic atmosphere, has been
described as a pastel from hell.
The Russian military boasted that it finally captured
Grozny after driving out the last remaining Chechen
rebels, scattering them into the surrounding hills.
But the photo showed better than any words could, the
devastation of what was once a thriving Caucasus
center. The picture was reminiscent of scenes from
Dresden, Germany, after the allied bombing of World
War Two.
In several editorial columns, the U-S press is
commenting on what The New York Times is calling
Russia's "Empty Victory' in the breakaway province.
We get a sampling now from ________ in today's U- S
Opinion Roundup.
TEXT: We begin our sampling in the Pacific Ocean, on
the peaceful shores of Hawaii, where the Honolulu
Star-Bulletin urges the West to press for a peace
agreement. If not, the newspaper fears, the civil war
will move into the Chechen countryside.
VOICE: After five months of intense fighting,
Russians hoisted their flag above the Chechen
capital ... but the celebration hardly signifies
the end of the civil war in the breakaway
republic. Most of the rebels have fled to the
mountains, much as they did four years ago
before recapturing Grozny. However, Kremlin
control of Grozny may reduce the Russian
casualty rate and temporarily maintain political
acceptability, which is what the war has been
mostly about.
Acting Russian President Vladimir Putin owes
much of his popularity among voters to his tough
support for troops in Chechnya when he was prime
minister under Boris Yeltsin. His most serious
potential challengers in next month's
presidential elections have dropped out, making
Putin a likely shoo-in for president. However,
a recent increase in Russian casualties during
the battle for Grozny had begun to weaken the
war's popularity. ... Still, Russia faces a
guerrilla war that could continue for months or
years. Progress toward a peaceful resolution of
the war will have to await the presidential
election. After that, the West should be poised
to apply pressure for a negotiated settlement.
TEXT: The Washington Post took the unusual step of
reprinting the Associated Press photo of downtown
Grozny in its editorial column, and then wrote its
commentary on the Russian "victory" around the
picture.
VOICE: Russian leaders announced with pride
Sunday that their armed forces had captured
Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, five months
into their war to subdue that rebellious
province. Reports from the battle zone
suggested that the Russians had not so much
liberated the city as destroyed it. ... Grozny
resembles nothing so much as Stalingrad, reduced
to rubble by Hitler's troops before the Red Army
inflicted a key defeat that Russian
schoolchildren still celebrate. ... All in all,
this is not likely to be a victory that Russian
schoolchildren will celebrate generations hence.
TEXT: The Post's view is repeated almost verbatim in
The New York Times, which then suggests:
VOICE: It did not have to be this way. ... The
Kremlin at one point said it would work with
moderate Chechen leaders to strengthen the
uneasy peace that followed the 1994-1996
conflict ... a peace that gave Chechnya near-
autonomy. But it is clear that preventing
Chechen terrorism was never the Kremlin's
primary purpose. ... The central aims were to
avenge Russia's military defeat in 1996 and to
lift the political fortunes of Vladimir Putin,
the prime minister who became acting president
when Boris Yeltsin resigned...
TEXT: In New England, The Boston Globe agrees with
U-S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who warned
acting President Putin last week that his nation is,
as she put it, riding a tiger in the Caucasus.
VOICE: The tiger in this figure of speech is
Moscow's current offensive against Chechnya.
[Ms.] Albright's meaning is that the rider is
fated to lose control of the tiger: that the
war, if not stopped soon, will devour the ruling
group in the Kremlin. [Ms.] Albright's warning
to [Mr.] Putin makes sense only as a reminder
that the war is unwinnable. As recent events in
Chechnya suggest, the Kremlin has once again
launched its bedraggled army into a counter-
insurgency struggle with no sensible exit
strategy ... Nevertheless, [Ms.] Albright's
lament misses the mark if taken as an
explanation of the war. It should be clearer
than ever that the motives for the Russian
assault on Chechnya are rooted in domestic
politics.
The war made possible the ascent of [Mr.] Putin
as Boris Yeltsin's successor. In turn, [Acting
President] Putin's accession to the concentrated
powers of the Russian presidency assures the
"family" -- the powerful clique behind [Mr.]
Yeltsin's throne -- that its members will retain
their assets and influence. [Mr.] Putin is the
tiger. If [Ms.] Albright truly wants to help
end the Chechen bloodletting, she should cease
pretending that [Mr.] Putin misunderstands his
self-interest. America should oppose the war
because it is cruel and destabilizing, not
because it is a Russian blunder.
TEXT: On that note, we conclude this sampling of
comment from the U-S press about the capture of Grozny
by Russian forces, and the future of the Chechen
conflict.
NEB/ANG/WTW
09-Feb-2000 15:14 PM EDT (09-Feb-2000 2014 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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