"A war with Georgia will be a catastrophe for Russia"Russian National Committee "For the End of the War and the Establishment of Peace in the Chechen Republic"
The stream of martial statements to the address of Georgia has reached
its highest degree. President Putin not only issued a maximally sharp
ultimatum to Russia's southern neighbour - he also publicly commissioned
the power structures to prepare a military operation against a sovereign
state. Not one of the leaders of our country ever allowed himself
anything similar.
We declare that any attempt to invade Georgia will become an absolute
catastrophe for Russia. Georgia isn't simply a weak and impoverished
adjacent state that with great difficulty overcomes ruin and is
strengthening its democratic statehood. The Georgian people is a
century-old friend and spiritual brother of Russia. An attack on Georgia
will be a most grave crime against Russian history and statehood. It
will be an attack on the heart of Russia itself, and its terrible
consequences will be suffered by many generations to come. An aggression
against Georgia will inevitably become the detonator of a new
all-Caucasian war, whose flames will whip not only the territories of
Georgia and other states of the South Caucasus, but will spread to the
Russian North Caucasus as well.
The attempt to move the war to Transcaucasia is the most obvious
acknowledgement of the fact that the military-political leadership of
Russia has realized that the Chechen war is a completely blind alley.
Instead of starting peaceful political negotiations, the need of which
is stated more and more frequently by prominent Russian politicians and
public figures, we see a tendency towards an unrestrained escalation of
the conflict. A similar modus operandi has already been tested: by
France, when it turned the impossibility of a military victory in
Algeria into aggressive actions against Egypt and Tunisia, and by the
USA, when they attempted to solve the impasse of the Vietnam war by an
intrusion into Cambodia. Is it necessary for the Russian authorities
again to step on the customary rakes?
The justifications for the prepared war are primitive, cynical and
deceitful! There isn't and there can't be any comparison between
Shevardnadze's Georgia and Saddam Hussein's Iraq; this is self-evident.
It is also self-evident that if the Russian side hasn't been able to
choke the armed resistance in Chechnya for three years, they'll be even
less able to be victorious after extending the war to the large
territory on the other side of the Caucasian Ridge.
We call the Federation Council not to give permission to an invasion of
Georgia, not to take the most grave historical responsibility for this
adventure upon ourselves.
We call the countries of the West to state clearly and unequivocally to
the government of Russia that an aggression against Georgia is
inadmissible.
We call the Russian and the world community to stand up against a new
Caucasian war, to demand the immediate start of peaceful negotiations
with Maskhadov, since the course of events has shown that the
continuation of the Chechen war inevitably will lead to it being
extended, which will result in a very serious international crisis.
On behalf of the members of the Russian National Committee "For an End
of the War and the Establishment of Peace in the Chechen Republic"
E.G. Bonner, Andrey Sakharov Foundation;
S.A. Gannushkina, Committee "Civil Assistance";
L.D. Gukov, Doctore of Philosophical Sciences;
S.A. Kovalyov, Deputy of the RF State Duma;
O.P. Orlov, Human Rights Centre "Memorial";
L.A. Ponomaryov, All-Russian Movement "For Human Rights";
Yu.V. Samodurov, Andrey Sakharov Museum and Public Centre;
A.P.Tkachenko, Writer, Russian Pen Centre;
A.A. Yaz'kova, Doctor of Historical Sciences;
I.G. Yakovenko, Doctor of Philosophical Sciences.
13 September 2002.
Translated by Norbert Strade (Chechnya Short-list at Yahoogroups). (T) |
