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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| NY Post Op-Ed on Russian photos from recent Rantburg post. |
| 2008-08-18 |
| OVER the weekend, photographic proof emerged that the Russians used murderous Chechen mercenaries to do their dirtiest dirty work in Georgia: The ragtag unit in question is so vicious that, last April, Chechnya's Russian-installed "president" demanded it be disbanded. War snaps taken by Russian photojournalist Arkady Babchenko have been circulating among intelligence personnel. The shots reveal far more to the West than Babchenko realized. Amid photos of the horrors of war, grateful South Ossetians and triumphant Russian troops, one series leapt out at me as a former intel officer: Bearded irregulars riding atop Russian-built armored vehicles (old BMPs, for the military-hardware buffs). The vehicles had been splashed with white lettering. What did the scrawls announce to the world? These thugs proudly proclaimed that they're Chechens serving in the Vostok ("East") Battalion commanded by Badrudin Yamadaev - who shares a reputation for gangland violence with his brother, Ruslan. Last spring, mercenaries from the Vostok Battalion indulged in a bloody gangland shoot-'em-up in the city of Gudermes, near their home turf. The mafia-on-steroids brutality was too much even for the Chechens (which is quite a standard). The province's puppet president publicly begged the Kremlin and its generals to disband the unit. The generals refused. At the time, their stubborn support for the outlaw Yamadaev Brothers seemed baffling - a quiet Chechnya was a longstanding Russian goal. But last week, it all made sense: Putin's military, which had been planning the invasion of Georgia for many months, intended to unleash the worst criminals in uniform it had on the Georgian people. Why? Two reasons: First, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin wants the Georgians to suffer - to really suffer. And Chechens are the world's subject-matter experts in atrocities. Second, this gives the Russian army itself a veil of deniability: When Putin's spokesmen insist that the Russian military isn't involved in the worst savagery in Georgia, they're technically telling the truth (if we don't count air attacks and artillery bombardments), since the Chechen thugs on their payroll are on the job. But why would those Chechens paint up their armored vehicles to tell the world they'd arrived in Georgia? First, they're proud of their fearsome reputation. Second, they didn't want Russian regulars to mistake them for the enemy and pull the trigger. The result? Contrary to Russian claims that "volunteers" from the North Caucasus rushed in to aid their South Ossetian brethren, we now have proof that the Kremlin sent in hired guns. It's no accident that Putin's code-name for this operation is "Scorched Earth." And there's plenty else to be outraged about - not all of it Russia's fault. Images of dead and disfigured Georgian soldiers show them wearing US-surplus canteens, boots and helmets, or equipped with antique US anti-tank weapons. After the Georgians did all their tiny country could to support us in Iraq, all we gave them was cast-off junk - thanks to Congress and the State Department. Our military was only allowed to train the Georgians for peacekeeping, anti-terrorism and small-unit tactics. The Georgians gave us all they had, and we gave them crap. The Bush administration should hang its wobbly head in shame. Meanwhile, Chechen rapists and butchers are celebrating - and picking over the US gear the Russians captured and didn't even want. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #5 If Russia had invaded the breakaway provinces, pushed the ethnic georgians out but did not themselves cross the border they would have gotten everything they wanted and avoided the worst of the world's anger. Much like Saddam. If he had grabbed the Kuwaiti oil fields and not the city of Kuwait both General Powell and Schwarzkopf said they would have fought the administration about going to war. Dictators seem to overextend sometimes. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2008-08-18 19:28 |
| #4 one series leapt out at me as a former intel officer... I think that the same series would have leapt out at anyone who knows Cyrillic & can - by some prodigious mental effort - read the words 'Chechnya' & 'Vostok' on the sides of those APCs. This fellow should really check his facts before letting rip like this. If the Russian press is to be believed (hmmmm...) Badrudi has been out of loop since April, hunted as a fugitive by Kadyrov's people. The commander of the Vostok (East) Battalion, Sulim Yamadaev, was apparently purged just before this whole thing kicked off. I'm not sure that Vostok are any more brutal than any other group of Chechens 'soldiers' (not that you'd ever want to meet them in the dark), the campaign for their disbandment is orchestrated by Ramzan Kadyrov & has nothing to do (AIUI) with their cruelty, instead it has a lot to do with the fact that they supposedly answer to the GRU, not a certain Mr Kadyrov. As for the confront in Gudermes even the St Petersburg Times was blaming that on provocation by Kadyrov's people, despite Ramzy being strongly backed by Pooty. |
| Posted by: Unuth Platypus4219 2008-08-18 18:05 |
| #3 I think we did let them down. But it happens, nobody expected the Russians to go on a rip like they did. The good part is now Germany, Ukraine, and other nations are standing up and taking some part in this too, not just us. The other good thing is that even though they made a hell of a mess out of the place, it wasn't a total massacre, apartments and bridges can be rebuilt, the port is already operating again, the bulk of the people will be returning to their homes. And its never too late to do what we should have done in the first place and temper their actions to their military abilities. |
| Posted by: Slolurong Bonaparte1000 2008-08-18 16:56 |
| #2 Our military was only allowed to train the Georgians for peacekeeping, anti-terrorism and small-unit tactics. The Georgians gave us all they had, and we gave them crap. The Bush administration should hang its wobbly head in shame. Weapons cost money and you have to prioritize. Sure we could have given them heavy tanks and $100k javelins but could they or we afford to do it while we're spending billions on our own wars. I saw a LAW photographed, it's still a deadly weapon. I don't know why the US is to blame, it wasn't their intention to fight the Russian Army, but to fight the separatists or terrorist. I saw plenty of fresh m16/m4 that the Russians captured too. Let's blame America again for everything! |
| Posted by: Spike Cheatle4034 2008-08-18 15:07 |
| #1 Georgia is set to profit handsomely from this Russian disaster. Had the Russians acted slowly, and with any degree of finesse (Russians? Hah!), they might have infiltrated Georgia and migrated it back into their sphere of influence. But now everyone around every border with Russia is on alert, fully remembering all the brutalities and rapine inflicted on them over the years. And Georgia is now their leader--the first to fight the bear. A hero to all, and an ally as fast as it can be arranged. Georgia will thus remain free. But it will also soon have real arms delivered to it. Peoples they know little about will soon be giving aid and support to their country. They have had all obstacles in their path to join NATO stripped away, and other alliances are waiting in line to approach them for membership. Georgia will have lost both Ossetia and Abkhazia, but they have both be gone in a de facto manner for years. This makes their loss de jure. And like Germany and its stolen East, they may now mourn their loss, and retrieve grand compensation for it. Ukraine, especially, is now in love with Georgia, for it is their spiritual twin. But North Europe, the Baltic States, eastern Europe and Ukraine, Armenia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, other ex-Soviet states, and Mongolia, all have cause to join with Georgia in any way they can. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-08-18 11:02 |