Article

2003-07-26 Britain

Zakayevâs defence delivers unexpected blow

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Posted by Fred Pruitt 2003-07-26 00:36|| || Front Page|| [3 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 He was either tortured and/or intimidated into giving testimony against Zakaev by the Russers

We really don't know the Chechens all that well. But the Russians are a known quantity - they deposited toy-like mines in Afghanistan to maim Afghan children. People who are capable of that magnitude of evil are capable of anything. Bush's intuition notwithstanding, the Russians are a bunch of ruthless thugs.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2003-7-26 10:54:50 AM|| 2003-7-26 10:54:50 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 On the mine thing - everytime I hear something like that from a muslim country I automatically round file it. They have zero credibility.

Why spend money destroying non military targets (kids) and alienating your support? Sounds very bogus to me.

Posted by flash91 2003-7-26 11:14:01 AM|| 2003-7-26 11:14:01 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 It's not entirely bullshit, Flash. I've seen the items in question. As for "why alienate..."?

At that time, the Soviet government was using the "nits" theory. That is, "nits grow up to become lice." You can't become a terrorist if you die before you grow up, eh what?

A significant minority in the Soviet Union really wanted to "ethnically cleanse" Afghanistan, then resettle it with Russians. It's something of an obsession with them, really.. they've wanted to expand to the south (and gain a warm water port that can't closed by a choke point) since the days of the Czars.

Ed.

Posted by Ed Becerra 2003-7-26 1:01:28 PM|| 2003-7-26 1:01:28 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 Why spend money destroying non military targets (kids) and alienating your support? Sounds very bogus to me.

You're thinking of this in the American way - pacify the country and leave. The Russians think in terms of expelling the natives to neighboring countries and populating the land with Russians. This is pretty much what the Chinese are doing in East Turkistan (Xinjiang), which is almost 25% of China's total land area. From an ethnic cleansing perspective, killing kids is no different from killing insect larvae.

It's something of an obsession with them, really.. they've wanted to expand to the south (and gain a warm water port that can't closed by a choke point) since the days of the Czars.

That was the whole point of the Great Game - the competition between the British and Russian Empires for South Asia. That was why the British got involved in Afghanistan, godforsaken wasteland though it is - to prevent the Russians from threatening the Jewel of the Crown, India.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2003-7-26 3:26:31 PM|| 2003-7-26 3:26:31 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 On the mine thing - everytime I hear something like that from a muslim country I automatically round file it. They have zero credibility.

Several dozens of them turned up in Western Europe, once they were rendered harmless by weapons techs. Handled a couple of them myself. They look harmless, but when activated, had the equivalent of about four ounces of C4 in them, with a contact trigger. Pick one up, lose an arm (at least). Kick one, lose a foot up to the knee. Lot of kids in Afghanistan with only one arm, or only one leg. There was a spot on the Web somewhere (do a google search) showing both the mines and the result. Use Afghanistan +"land mine" +amputation. I'm sure you'll get results. Don't look unless you've got a strong stomach, and put a puke shield over your keyboard.

Posted by Old Patriot 2003-7-26 5:30:58 PM|| [http://users.codenet.net/mweather/default.htm] 2003-7-26 5:30:58 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 Worse, there's the old "Project Teabag" mines that both Russians and Americans used in Vietnam, and the Russians spread extensively over Afghanistan. A simple explosive that self-activated chemically (dropped soaking wet, it became explosive when it dried), it looked rather like a Lipton's tea bag. Nasty little thing, designed to tear off a foot.

Ed Becerra

Posted by Ed Becerra 2003-7-26 11:40:05 PM|| 2003-7-26 11:40:05 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 Why spend money destroying non military targets (kids) and alienating your support? Sounds very bogus to me.

Here's an example, Flash..

http://www.icbl.org/country/afghanistan/survivors.html

Scroll down and read an account of a child who thought he found a pen to play with, and it went off in his hands.

Ed.

Posted by Ed Becerra 2003-7-26 11:45:32 PM|| 2003-7-26 11:45:32 PM|| Front Page Top

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