[QUOTE=LegioXXXUlpiaVictrix]


1. which conflicts do you think the Chechnya conflict is comparable to in terms of motives?
Kosovo or the Irish independence war in 1919-22.


2. which conflicts do you think the Chechnya conflict is comparable to in death tolls and suffering for civilians?
Bosnia, I think, but rather more brutal.


3. can the Chechnyan combattants be classified as terrorists, or should they be called freedom fighters?
Combatants, but there are the Basayev's followers who used terrorism. The desperate measures employed by desperate men.

4. are the Russian actions in Chechnya war crimes?
Overall yes.



5. should countries with democratic constitutions be proud over seeing democratic countries being guilty of worse civilian massdeath and atrocies than a country that is in western media depicted as a dictatorship? What errors are present in our constitutions to repeatedly allow PMs and Presidents who wish to carry out such actions to win, while more peaceful candidates are ridiculed? Do we have a culture that makes people who have peaceful solutions look weak and violent loose cannons look cool? Or is it the fact that we have two-party systems and the constitutional crises that follow upon that? How can we solve the two-party system problem before it causes more massdeath?
That is strictly political question addressing other issues so I treat it as off-topic and will not answer it.



6. what do you think should be done in Chechnya instead of what is done today?
Talking with the nationalist/independence faction of the rebells would be the best solution. Some sort of autonomy with a government which can be credited with some respect and support of the local population would lead to better future, but here it probably it is too late already - Maskhadov is dead and the men who raplaced him cannot controll the fighters so well, besides he was the democratically elected president of Chechenya and they are not anymore.
The terrorist factions will grow in strenghts, though disorganised for now.
Chechens will swell the ranks of mercenary community further, but it is a question of time before a new generation disgusted with the current situation will start fighting.
Right now we have a band of collaborators led by a real thug Kadyrov ( he is a criminal - a real one) who use Russian federal support and a local police force consisting of often forrmer guerillas blackmailed to join them - 'the Kadyrovcy' are currently the most hated men in that country.

Since the Russian governemtn never really meant any form of compromise they were left only one option - pacification, but it is short time solution.



7. could we (western world) also learn something from the answers we give to question no. 6 above?

Never treat everyone opposing you as a scum to be eradicated - but we already know that.
Never target civilins without hesitation - but we already know that.

In other words - unlikely -to a democratic society with strong respect to human life the war in Chehcenya is everything we do not accept