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The Chechen John Brown?
World Conflicts Today
In July 2005, Russia's public enemy number one, Shamil Basayev, appeared on the ABC news program Nightline and called himself "a bad guy, a bandit, [and] a terrorist." Viewers that night no doubt agreed with this candid self-assessment.
But is it conceivable that people will one day talk about the late Chechen warlord -- the self-described mastermind of the Beslan atrocity in 2004 -- in the kind of benign language now typically used to describe John Brown?
Who knows? It's possible. But there are some major differences between John Brown's campaign to free America's slaves and Shamil Basayev's
campaign to free the Russian republic of Chechnya.
First, John Brown was dedicated to a goal -- ending slavery -- that in retrospect almost everyone regards as just. Basayev, by contrast, was dedicated
to a goal -- the separation of Chechnya from Russia -- that many observers now regard as a violation of the international law guaranteeing a country's
territorial integrity.
Second, both the objective and scope of Brown's raid were clearly circumscribed. The objective and scope of Basayev's multiple attacks were much less
focused and far more ambitious. Over the years, as his objective widened from independence for Chechnya to the creation of an Islamic state
incorporating Chechnya and her neighbors, Basayev raided a hospital and ordered the downing of two passenger planes, multiple attacks on towns
outside Chechnya, and the kidnapping of hundreds of school children.
Basayev (1965-2006) -- for years Russia's most wanted man
World Conflicts Today
© MOSNEWS
Third, Brown led the violent raid on Harper's Ferry only after he had worked for years trying to achieve his objective peacefully. Basayev, on the other
hand, while reportedly pragmatic and even affable in person, had a long history of violence. He increasingly made ordinary Russians pay the price for
what he regarded as the criminal intransigence of their government.
Activity
Read through the Chechen text of World Conflicts Today, focusing on the raid of a Budyonnovsk hospital in 1995, the attack on a Dagestani town in
1999, and the siege of the Beslan school in 2004.
Describe the impact on the cause of Chechen independence of each of these attacks.
Do you think that Basayev might one day be regarded as a Chechen John Brown? Why or why not?
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