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From: Alex <wohnung_wien@yahoo.com>
Subject: {ASSM} FROM CHECHNYA WITH LOVE (MF, rom, slow, inter-cultural)
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Date: Wed, 20 Jul 2011 21:10:03 -0400
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FROM CHECHNYA WITH LOVE (MF, rom, slow, inter-cultural)

by Anonymus 


Preface

To those of you who have little or no knowledge of Chechnya and
its history this story might seem like a fairy tale or a fable
that is full of unprecedented bravery, tragedy and distinguished
heroism. Indeed one could be forgiven for believing this was a
myth written by someone with an imaginative mind, yet it isn't.

If you are not scared off by descriptions of warfare and bloodshed    
or offended by an erotic element I invite you to follow me into the 
land of the "Noxchii" as the Chechens call themselves.

Brief History, Culture, Geography

Chechnya is situated in the Caucasus about a thousand miles south
of Moscow. It is surrounded by Dagestan in the east, Georgia and 
South Ossetia in the south, again Dagestan and Russia in the north, 
and North Ossetia in the west. Chechnya's size is barely a hundred 
miles from north to south and some sixt across.

The Caucasus itself is a mountain range which divides Europe from
Asia. The highest peaks in Europe are here, compared to which the
Alps seem like the merest pimples. There are spectacular
prospects which are made still more forbidding by the vertiginous
steepness of the slopes and cliffs, dropping in places more than
five thousand feet into icy torrents that seem to dissect the
landscape into sheer blocks of stone.

Stretching for 650 miles from the Caspian to the Black Sea, their
average height is over 10,000 feet. The highest peak is Mount
Elburz (18,481 feet).

The region is one of the most complex ethno-religious regions in
the world and has been a battle ground since the time of the
Medes and Persians. Three millennia of more or less documented
ethnic history of the Caucasus have been filled with virtually
incessant wars fought between tribes, kingdoms, principalities,
clans, fiefs, warlords, barons, bishops, highland communities and
other groups.

The very impenetrability of the Caucasus, and the difficulty of
internal communication, has allowed countless different peoples
and tribes to dwell here. More than 50 distinct ethnic groups can
be found within this theater. The historian Pliny tells that the
Romans employed a hundred and thirty-four interpreters in their
dealings with the warlike Caucasian clans.

All these nationalities used to preserve their languages,
cultures, and their ethnic self-consciousness. And never in the
history of the Caucasus has the stronger nation conquered the
territory of a nation lesser in size.

The mountainous region of modern day Chechnya reveals sites of
early humans who lived there since prehistoric times. The harsh
climate and impossible terrain have imposed an ascetic lifestyle
on the inhabitants. In this isolated region they have remained
ethnically the same for thousands of years and with some
exceptions, their way of life didn't change during all the time.

The best evidence of the region's isolation is the Chechen
language (Nakh) which seems to be a linguistic fossil surviving
from the Stone Age. It is considered one of the most difficult
and oldest languages in the world. This tongue is unrelated to
the other great language groups of Europe and Asia today and
apparently descends from the language spoken before the invasion
of the Indo-European mother tongue between 3,000 and 4,000 years
ago.

Its roots can be traced most closely to the ancient Mesopotamians
with a cuneiform-style of writing evident on some of the stone
inscriptions. Linguistic influences from invaders and traders
over the centuries, including Mongolian and Arabic, are evident
in many words. The language has a complicated grammar and
peculiar sounds unlike any other Caucasian tongue.

The territory of present Chechnya is composed of three distinct
parts: mountains, piedmont and plain. However, the Chechens are
not 'plain people' or plainsmen but mountaineers. Yet, little
agriculture is possible on the dizzying slopes, and only on the
highest plateaus can sheep be husbanded with any success. The
economy of the mountains is based on breeding. The life in this
zone is developed in high valleys. The breeding in the mountains
is done in the framework of bi-annual migration and the pastures
are divided into winter and summer pastures.

The country is characterized by great forests, beautiful hills
and desolate mountains. The Chechens even had regulations to
protect old trees and most of the land was forest until the 19th
century, when Russians destroyed big part of the woods in
connection with their war efforts.

Since ancient times the Chechens lived in small villages (auls)
fortified with stone blockhouses and sheer walls to keep out
bears, pumas, and wolves, as well as enemy tribes. Built in the
most inaccessible positions atop needle-thin peaks, the only
route to these stubborn hamlets lay along footpaths which clung
to the cliff face, providing no place for rest, but only dizzying
views of surrounding peaks, eagles circling far below and the
glacier-riven heights.

Each village had anywhere from 10-50 families. The village names
typically ended in "-Aul" (fortress); if the village had been
attacked, the name would end in "-Martan" (battlefield). Then, as
now, everything centers around this village and the clan where
elders rule.

The clans (taips) consist of several villages with a common
ancestor. The clans form strong units which defend homes, land
and extended family. These clans are composed of several big
families that, without exception, declare their common origin to
be the same mythical ancestor.

The clans share a common history, language, religion and culture,
and have their own elder council, court of justice, cemetery,
customs, traditions and laws. Each clan is self sufficient and
self contained. The unity of clans, despite blood feuds, has
traditionally been strong and remains strongest in the mountain
regions.

Women didn't have the right to participate in the life of the
clan and they were deprived of the right to vote during the
general meetings. Every clan had its name, received from its
founder, occupied a territory, possessed an eponymous mountain, a
tower, erected by the founder, its own divinity with a particular
religious cult and a cemetery, reserved for members of the same
clan.

The clans had civilian chiefs (kh'alkhancha or tkh'amada) and
military chiefs (biacha). The civilian chief chaired the Counsel
of the Elders of the clan and managed daily life, whereas the
military chief entered in his functions only during military
operations. Membership was by election.

These clans played an important role in the preservation of
Chechen ethnos, which for example, created the forces to maintain
the first Caucasus war, in the face of one of the strongest
armies in the world, the Russian army. The ethnology proves that
the clan organization didn't just appear from nowhere, but was
formed during thousands of years in the course of history.

There is a legend, saying that the first clan (about 20 people)
formed and lived in the Nashkha area in the Caucasian mountains
and from them other clans formed and came to the whole Chechen
territory. These clans were called the "pure clans". And those
clans, in which the members of other tribes have come from, were
called the "impure clans".

According to Chechen folklore members of the "pure clans" had
stored, for thousands of years, a sacred relic, a huge copper
boiler; on its sides was the ancient designation of names of the
"impure clans". During the first Russian-Caucasian war, the
preserved Chechen relic was sunk in the mountain lake,
'Kezen-Am', by Imam Shamil, the leader of the Caucasian tribes in
order to consolidate the Chechen nation in their struggle against
the Russian invasion.

In all, there have been as many as 135 Chechen clans. All clans
were obliged to write chronicles. These manuscripts were
constantly rewritten depending on their physical conditions. They
contained invaluable information on the history of the Chechen
people. The elder of each clan was obligated to save these
historical documents in a solemn secret. It was explained by the
fact that the secrets of centuries can become the subject of a
boast or quarrel between the Chechen groups.

Use of these documents was admitted only by the judicial
executors of a prime-power organization named 'Mekhk Khell'
during the settlement of disputes between the ethnic groups.
Sadly, a large number of these manuscripts were destroyed by the
Russians when they deported the whole nation to Siberia and
Kazakhstan.

All clans are categorized by a specific tribe (tukum). There are
9 tribes among the Chechens. Legend has it that they all share a
common family ancestry of 9 brothers. That is the reason for the
9 stars on the Chechen flag. Within each tribe are numerous
clans, although tribes vary in size.

Chechens are marked by extreme pride, fierce independence, and
persistence of ancient traditions. Common to all Chechens is
their love for freedom and emphasis on equality. Every Chechen
considered himself first of all a freeman (uzden). "Come at
liberty" is the oldest of the greetings in actual use in
Chechnya. They have a particularly strong self-identity and
people say their stubbornness is unlimited. They are the
traditional leaders of the Caucasus.

In their tribes (tukums), clans (taips) and villages (auls) the
Chechens lived according to their own customary law (adat) which
was in force until the twenty century in all mountain societies.
The 'adats' included the 23 articles regulating the clans life in
all spheres of life: inside the family, among members and in
relations with members of another clan. Norms of behaviour in
daily life were set and enforced very well in detail.

For example, from his younger age a Chechen knew how it was
necessary to speak with his wife inside the family and in
presence of other people, how to speak with children, how to
behave at home and outside, what to do when he met an adult or a
young man, how to help an elder to climb up and to alight from
horseback, how to behave and what to speak about with a guest,
for whom to give a place on the right hand during the meal, how
to be seated at table and how to eat at home and elsewhere.

All these rules were observed by all members of the clan and
supervised by elders or adults. Although supplanted officially by
soviet laws the 'adats' continued to play a very important role
in the internal relations of the Chechen society. Even at the
Soviet time an important part of daily behavior's norms was
systematically set by the 'adats' e.g. the woman's exclusion from
the social life, the respect for the elders, the leading role of
the clan's chief and the attachment to the historic lands.

Chechen and in general Caucasian life was dominated by the
blood-vendetta (kanli) which ensured that no wrong, however
slight, could go unavenged by the relatives of a victim. Tales
abound in the Chechen epic literature of centuries-long conflicts
which began with the simple theft of a chicken, and ended with
the death of an entire clan.

The vendetta is explained very well in the customary law (adat)
according to which the council of elders of the clan met every
time after the death of a member, to take the decision to avenge
the victim. Generally, only close relatives and members of the
family of the dead had the right to take part in the vendetta,
whereas all the members of the clan discredited the murderer.
During the Soviet Union the murderer was pursued on the whole
territory of the Soviet Union. Often, neutral clans acted as
intermediaries to settle the conflict. And even today this blood
feud continues to be in force in the remote regions of the
Caucasus.

An interesting set of circumstances existed in the entire
Caucasus for centuries. There weren't any boundaries. It simply
was not necessary. Unlike Slavs, Asians or Europeans, there was a
code of hospitality and respect regarding boundaries. If an Avar
from Daghestan wanted to cross onto land owned by Chechen people,
the Chechens would allow it. And vice versa.

When foreign invaders would try to conquer the Caucasus, many
tribes would come together to protect their homelands. Boundaries
of what makes up the land of the Chechens were undefined and
unclear until the nineteenth century. It was not until Soviet
rule that borders were defined. Stalin's order to erase Chechen
boundaries from maps during the deportation of the nation to
Siberia and Kazakhstan has left the actual modern-day boundaries
unclear.

Further more Stalin also transferred a lot of Chechen territory
to the Georgians and other peoples. Today, boundary disputes
continue as the Chechen people try to recapture what was once
their traditional land.

Chechnya was and is a society of military democracy. This means
that Chechnya never had any kings, khans, barons or princes of
their own. There was no land-tied serfdom or feudalism. They
lived as people unaware of class distinctions; they had never
experienced either class antagonism or despotic government.
Chechens thought they were all equal; in fact, legal equality was
an ancient law in their society.

Thus foreign invaders who would usually give grants and lure the
local elite over to its side were stuck in the case of Chechnya.
In consequence foreign invaders (especially Russia) were forced
to create a local pro-invader upper class which was seldom
successfully.

Chechnya if it was ever governed at all as a distinct entity, it
was done by a council of elders on the basis of consensus. But
like any other military democracy, such as the Iroquois in
America or the Zulu in southern Africa, Chechens retained an
institution of a supreme military chief. In peacetime, that chief
had no power at all. However, in time of danger, when confronted
with aggression, the rival clans would unite and elect a military
leader.

The traditional Chechen culture of personal contact is based on
the principal of equality for all people; on the basis, that
nobody should use or underline his superiority. The ancient
Chechen wisdom says that if you are a rider, you could possibly
lose your horse in time, but if you are on foot, you can possibly
become a horse rider tomorrow.

Another characteristic of Chechens is that they have no sense of
fatality. This compared with their traditional belligerence made
them tough enough to resist all foreign invaders. A shocked
Russian acquaintance of me once said, "Chechens don't fear
death nor pain; they are worse than animals." Chechens have
constantly fought against foreign rule and they were often
overrun but never really conquered.

According to tradition, the Chechen man must restrain himself
from expressing his sorrow or joy. They are convinced that
mourning shouldn't be expressed openly. As the Chechens believe,
your today's sorrow could be a repeat of yesterday's sorrow of
others. It is possible, that tomorrow you'll face an even deeper
sorrow, and today's sorrow will seem to you only like a child's
play.

Fighting and resistance against foreign invaders are national
virtues for Chechens. All male Chechens have, since times
immemorial, been brought up as protectors and trained to bear
arms. Since warfare was constant, as was the training for it; and
young men prided themselves in their horsemanship, wrestling, and
sharpshooting.

This strong military culture makes much of the population willing
to engage in warfare. Their prestige rests not on riches or
knowledge, and not even their belonging to a certain clan, but
above all on personal military valiance. Even small children are
allowed and even encouraged to play with weapons. Their ultimate
goal is to become strong warriors like their fathers and
grand-fathers.

One could say fighting is in the Chechen blood. They have an
unquenchable desire for freedom and any attempt to impose a
totalitarian rule on them cause's automatically natural
resistance. Here lies the reason why that small lease of Chechen
land till now did not surrender, whatever weapon was used to this
purpose.

The traditional Chechen culture attaches great importance to
music. With the sounds of music, the Chechen people cured
illnesses, expressed the words of love and hate, reconciled and
embroiled, and told the mysteries of life. For example, the use
of 'Chungur' (a sort of string musical instrument) was associated
with crop production: This instrument was played in the field in
order to speed the growth of the grain crop and during the
sheep's mating season. The singers and chungur players were a
highly respected group in Chechen society.

Speaking about the musical instruments, one must tell the legend
about the terrible devastator of Chechnya, Timur. When the battle
of the day was over, Timur asked his commanders:

"Have you taken away their 'pondar'?" (A musical string
instrument) The answer was negative. Then he said: "If you
haven't taken away the 'pondar,' you only destroyed their army,
but you didn't subjugate them. So we must make them our allies. I
welcome them, and I wish as a sign of my respect to their
steadfastness and for their edification, to grant them my sabre,
which I haven't given to anyone yet."

His men didn't find the fighting men; they were all killed. They
brought the storyteller, who was prohibited from taking part in
the battle and had to observe from a distance, so that he could
tell the story to the future generation. The storyteller,
Illancha, took the sabre of the Iron Lame and gave it to nine
pregnant women, who passed it on to nine young boys. Later, Timur
ordered freedom for all the Chechen prisoners.

The Chechen elders told that this sabre, together with other
presents and many Chechen relics were saved up until February,
1944, when the Chechen people were robbed of all their
possessions during Stalin's deportation. The main part of the
Chechen treasures was taken to Moscow.

Except for the Arab missionaries who began converting the
Chechens to Islam about the year 1000 Chechens had scant contact
with the rest of the world. Yet, Muslims have never conquered the
Caucasus, even the Sahaba, who swept before them the legions of
Byzantium and Persia, stopped short at these forbidding cliffs
while the Muslims of neighbouring Iran regarded it with terror,
believing that the Shah of all the Jinn had his capital amid its
snowy peaks.

Archaeological evidence and modern day practices suggest that
their religion was based on cycles of nature and astronomy, with
many gods and complex rituals. For centuries, its people
continued in their pagan beliefs like many ancient cultures and
civilizations.

However, Islam was slowly introduced over a period of centuries.
Where Muslim armies could not penetrate, peaceful Muslim
missionaries slowly ventured. Many achieved martyrdom at the
hands of the wild, native tribesmen, but slowly the remote
valleys and even the high villages converted to the new religion.
Some tribes adopted Islam earlier than others, while some tribes
emphasized their traditional way of life. Today they are
predominantly Sunni Muslims. However, only that traveller, who
spends a significant period in the mountains of Chechnya, can
understand the Chechen character and their religion.


Russo-Chechen Relations

In the fifteenth century the Ottoman Empire extended its sphere
of influence over the western half of the entire Caucasus while
Persia extended its sphere over the eastern half. Yet, the
Chechens were left alone for the most part.

In the sixteenth century, Russia's annexation of the Tartar
Khanate's capital of Astrakhan marked the beginning of their
interest in the Caucasus. In consequence, Russia, the Ottoman
Empire and Persia began to vie for the area for strategic and
trade reasons.

The very first documents on contacts between the Russians and the
Chechens date back to the early sixteenth century. At that time,
the Russians did not know the word "Chechen", and called them
differently; one of the names was "Shibuts people." The term
"Chechen" was coined by the Russians after the name of the
village Chechen-aul where they first encountered them. The word
'Chechen' is derived from the Turkish term for "ungovernable."

At the beginning of the seventeenth century the Czar launched a
series of major military campaigns to control territories of
modern day Chechnya. Using the Cossacks north of the Terek River,
they tried to gain a foothold in the North Caucasus. They were
interested in this region as a military and trade route to
Persian territories. But they were defeated by locals and Ottoman
Turks, and abandoned all their forts.

In the eighteenth century Peter the Great decided to conquer the
Caspian basin region, which had been under Persian control, for
its natural riches and strategic location as a trade route. He
transported a large army across the Sea to the coast of
Daghestan. Yet, he could not defeat the Chechens. Russian
expansion in the Caucasus was renewed under Catherine II.

However, in the fast and dark forests, the Chechens were fighting
on their own ground. Shooting from the branches of the giant
beech trees, constructing traps and pitfalls for the stoical but
disoriented Russians, they methodically picked off the enemy
officers, and captured many of the bewildered foot-soldiers. In
this twilight world of vast beech trees and tangled undergrowth,
the lumbering Russian column, led by priests bearing icons and
huge crosses, and burdened with oxcarts carrying five-foot
samovars and cases of champagne for the officers, found itself
slowly eroded and scattered.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century Czar Aleksandr I
instructed his chief commander: "Carry on the war with the
mountain people as before: maintain proper vigilance to repel
their outrages, but keep punishment commensurate with their
crimes, because war is their way of life."

And the Russian chief commander wrote: "The Chechen are a people
that, by reason of ferocious inclinations, can never remain quiet
and on the contrary renew at the first opportunity insolent
hostile actions. The only way to stop them from committing [these
actions] is either to wipe them out entirely, in sacrificing a
considerable part of Russian troops, or to seize the plain that
they need for breeding or agriculture."

Soon General Yermolov, the Russian hero of the Napoleonic wars,
was appointed head of military in the Caucasus. He said of the
hechens: "Freedom is their God and war is their love. They repay
good for good and blood for blood."

He built a series of forts and linked them, trying to shut off
the conquered areas. One of these forts was Fort Grozny, which
means 'terrible' or 'fearsome' in Russian. Later this fort
evolved into a town and eventually became the capital of
Chechnya.

From there on, Yermolov carried out a campaign of terror: he
burned villages, murdered civilians including women and children,
cut down vast forests, tried to rid of the livestock and crops of
those Chechens who lived along the plains and foothills and he
forbade them any contact with the mountain Chechens. The Russian
strategy was to starve the mountain Chechens by cutting off the
flow of foodstuffs from the fertile lowland areas.

In one fight, when the Russians were unable to dislodge a group
of Chechens barricaded in row of huts, they set them afire, and
then invited the Chechens to give themselves up. Not until the
buildings were blazing briskly did a lone Chechen emerge, black
from the smoke, bearing a white flag. He told the Russians that
he and his comrades preferred death to surrender, but had one
request: Would the Russians kindly inform their families that
they had died bravely? He then turned and strode back into the
flames.

While fighting the Russians the Chechens often sang chants; the
most familiar to the Russians was the Death Song, heard when a
Russian victory seemed imminent and the Chechens tied themselves
to each other, and prepared to fight to the end.

The Czar heard about the brutalities of Yermolov's campaign. Yet,
Yermolov justified his campaigns by informing the Czar that the
Chechens were barbarians and bandits which had to be destroyed.
And he added: "Gentleness is a sign of weakness in the eyes of
Asians [...] and I'm inexorably severe. The execution of a
mountaineer saves the lives of hundreds of Russians and prevents
thousands of Moslems from betrayal."

It appears that the general took pride in the fact that the
Chechen mothers invoked his name to scare their disobedient
children. Although the ruthless use of force by Yermolov and
other talented generals ensured some military triumphs to Russia
these victories did not subjugate the Chechens. In fact the only
result was to arouse a universal desire for revenge among them
and to unite them.

A Russian historian described the Chechen people, as the "most
rebellious" and said: "The Chechen men and women are a very
handsome nation. They are tall, very slender, their faces are
expressive, especially the eyes; their motions are quick and
adroit; their characters are impressionable, cheerful and
humorous, they are called "the Caucasus Frenchmen", but at the
same time, they are suspicious, hot tempered, perfidious, crafty
and vindictive. While striving for their aims they use all
possible means. But the Chechen people are indomitable, of great
endurance, brave in the attack, defiant and pursuit. They are
very rare among the mountain knights of the Caucasus, and they
are proud of their character, choosing the wolf for their ideal
symbol among all animals."

The Russians realized that their enemy could only be defeated on
open ground. Thus they deputed a hundred thousand men to cut down
the great beech trees of the region. Some were so vast that axes
were inadequate, and explosives had to be used instead. The
Chechens could only watch from the secure heights as their
forests slowly disappeared.

At that time, the Russian made huge military campaigns against
the Ottoman Turks to the west and the Persians to the south,
bringing nearly all the Transcaucasus under their control. The
exceptions, which remained independent territories, were
mountainous Chechnya, Ingushetia, Daghestan, and
Circassian-Abkhazia.

Georges Dumezil described the life of the Caucasus peoples as
followed: "The raids practiced, the boisterous activity of young
men constantly on horseback, the mortal risks of daily life in
the auls (mountain villages) or villages, the moral based on rich
archaic legends and maintained by songs of praise and on mockery
have exalted everywhere the liking for excentric and paradoxical
behaviors. All that, added to the economic conditions, doesn't
favour mountaineers seeking prestige in paraded and stabilized
wealth, or in the luxury of dwellings: they offer enormous
feasts, perpetual hospitality, a generous munificence indeed
without limit, they are brave in fighting and speak skillfully
about the quality of arms and about the beauty of horses (and
wives) to satisfy all the appearance-consciousness of the great
men. While the Caucasus remained isolated, this ideal, exactly
realized, could maintain. The anarchy got on well with the
independence."

And Daniel Zimmermann wrote in the book, "Alexandre Dumas the
Great", using the recollections of the French writer himself who
visited the Caucasus at that time:

"What is the cost of human life amidst that wild nature? A
handful of coins, at the best. On the way to Chervlennaya,
Aleksandr's convoy was attacked by a small group of Chechens. The
Cossacks rushed at them. All Chechens retreated, with the
exception of one abrek, who had pledged never to run away. The
abrek offered a duel. Aleksandr's unconquerable inquisitiveness
makes him promise 20 roubles to the one who takes up the
challenge. A Cossack sends his horse galloping. He and the abrek
exchange shots and take out their sabers, and the abrek holds the
Cossack's head aloft, challenging anyone else to continue the
duel.

Another Cossack, who was smoking a pipe, inhales for the last
time, throws his pipe away, and rushes at the abrek. His rifle on
his shoulder, he fires but there is only a little smoke, as if
the fuse is burning. The abrek approaches, he fires, but the
Cossack manoeuvres and shoots again. The abrek falls down. The
Cossack cuts off his head. His comrades undress the body. The
victor is asked how he managed to shoot twice from a
single-barrel rifle. It turns out he exhaled the first smoke."

The Chechens were always incredibly tough fighters who gave no
quarter and asked none. Several times, when a Chechen village was
hopelessly surrounded by Russians, the Chechens cut the throats
of their wives and their children before shooting themselves,
rather than let them be taken prisoner. As Lesley Blanch aptly
described in his book "Sabres of Paradies": "Vengeance was their
credo, and violence was their climate."

During the nineteenth century there lived one native man, an Imam
called Shamil who strived to convert the still semi-pagan
mountain Chechens into orthodox Muslims. He tried to stop the use
of tobacco and drinking, as well as rid of the old adats
(customary law).

Imam Shamil rallied most of the Caucasian tribes under his
banners to fight the Russians. Yet, the Russians were determined
to conquer the last two remaining regions of the Caucasus: the
Circassian region to the west and the Chechen-Dagestan region to
the east. The war which followed between Shamil and the Russians
in the is known as the First Caucasian War.

Shamil quickly realized the impossibility of winning pitched
battles against the large and well-equipped Russian army, and the
need for sophisticated techniques for dividing the enemy and
luring him into remote mountains and forests, there to be
dispatched by quick, elusive guerilla attacks.

The Czar dispatched nearly 200,000 soldiers to fight in the
Caucasus which was the second largest military campaign after
Russia's Napoleonic war. On the contrary Shamil's men, at their
height, never numbered more than 28,000, yet he was able to
resist for 38 years.

An early Russian dissident, Ivan Golovin, wrote from his French
exile in 1845: "The war in the Caucasus is under prevalent
circumstances a truly fruitless war and the stubbornness, with
which the Russian government insists on its continuation, will
have nothing but useless bloodshed and increased hate as its
consequence, and make every lasting rapprochement impossible.
Russia should, first of all, declare war on its own officials who
are its greatest enemies, and who, after calling forth the
quarrel themselves, make it in its continuance pernicious, by
robbing and stealing without mercy. They sacrifice the interest
of the country to their own interests and sell enemies even
weapons and gunpowder. They conceal the number of the killed
ones..."

In 1852, Leo Tolstoy, then a young Russian officer serving in the
Caucasus war, described the attitude of Chechen villagers whose
homes had just been destroyed by czarist soldiers, he could just 
as easily have been describing 1995:

"No one spoke of hatred for the Russians. The feeling which all
Chechens felt, both young and old, was stronger than hatred. It
was not hatred but a refusal to recognize these Russian dogs as
people and such a revulsion, disgust and bewilderment at the
senseless cruelty of these beings, that the desire to destroy them,
like a desire to destroy rats, poisonous spiders and wolves, was 
as natural as the instinct of self-preservation."

It is recorded that during that era no Chechen girl would consent
to marry a man unless he had killed at least one Russian. On the
other hand, the Russian General Neidhardt, promised to exchange
Shamyl's head for its weight in gold to anyone who could capture
him, yet this bounty was in vain.

The Caucasian war finally ended when the active Russian army in
the Caucasus was increased to 300,000 men. In the summer of that
year the new supreme commander Prince Bariatinskii, had at his
disposal a large concentration of fresh forces and modern
military technology which enabled him to defeat Shamils army.

In the last battle Shamyl retreated to the most inaccessible aoul
of Gounib. Here, with three hundred devoted fighters, he
determined to make a last stand. The Russians were driven back
time and again but finally, after Beriatinsky's threat to
slaughter his entire family if he was not captured alive, Shamil
agreed to lay down his arms.

He was taken prisoner and sent to the court of Czar Aleksandr II,
who had distinguished himself as a young officer in the Caucasian
War. The Russian emperor was gracious in settling the Imam
comfortably in Kaluga and granting him a considerable
remuneration. Shortly before his death Shamil asked to be allowed
to make his pilgrimage for Mecca which was allowed; Shamil died
in Mecca and was buried there.

Historians have written that the Chechens suffered the most
during the Caucasian War of all ethnic groups, losing half of
their population and their entire economy. According to historian
Volkova there were only 116,000 Chechen people left and most of
them were cripples, whose symbol of recalcitrance was the famous
commander Beno, who had one leg, one arm and one eye and
continued the resistance for another two years.

The Russians, fearing new revolts in the Caucasus decided to
exile large groups of Chechens, Daghestanis, Ossetians and
Cherkess to Turkey. Russia deported nearly 500,000 North
Caucasians to Turkey. The procedure was harsh and there were many
victims.

After the First Caucasian War the Chechen 'volcano' went to a
short sleep although small eruptions did happen now and then.
Just a couple of years later a revolt flared up. The ceaseless
efforts of fifty years and the immense sacrifice made by Russia
to subdue the North Caucasus seemed to be reduced to naught. Yet,
an immense concentration of military force in this small
territory could quell the uprising after a year of warfare.

The leaders of the revolt Ali-Bek Haji, aged twenty-three, and
Uma Zumsoevski, aged seventy, were court-martialled. The
presiding general asked if they considered themselves guilty
under the laws of the Russian empire. Ali-Bek Haji replied: "It
is only before God and the Chechen people that we consider
ourselves guilty because, in spite of all the sacrifices, we were
not able to reconquer the freedom that God gave us!"

They were sentenced to death by hanging. Before the execution the
condemned were allowed to express their last wish. Uma Zumsoevski
said: "It is hard for an old wolf to witness the slaughter of his
puppy. I ask to be hanged before my son." But the Czar's court
wouldn't grant this favour to the old man.

The struggle of the Mountaineers for freedom and independence
became an issue in philosophical debates in Europe. Marx and
Engels wrote in their famous Communist Manifesto: "People of
Europe! Learn to fight for freedom and independence from the
heroic example of the Caucasian Mountaineers."

And the celebrated Russian writers Alexander Pushkin, Leo Tolstoy
and Michael Lermontov who had visited the Caucasus immortalized
the land in their literature, while condemning the cruel and
inhumane methods of their fellow people.

However the ordinary Russian people were ever since brainwashed
into believing that the Chechens were barbaric and dangerous and
had to be destroyed to insure the safety of the Russian people.
Likewise the communist rulers depicted the Chechens as
untrustworthy and as agents of the capitalist west trying to
destabilize the communist empire.

Ever since their forced annexation to the Russian empire the
Chechens have never willingly accepted Russian rule. There was a
more of less continual resistance movement of Chechens against
Russian domination. Rebellions would characteristically flame up
whenever the Russian state faced a period of internal
uncertainty.

At the end of the nineteenth century oil was found in Chechnya.
Russians sent in thousands of oil workers to drill it. Oil
refineries sprang up yet the Chechens remained excluded from the
oil extraction industry activities.

The Chechens and the whole North Caucasus declared independence
when the central power was weakened by the 1917 revolution and
the ensuing Civil War between the Bolshevik 'Reds' (later
Soviets) and Czarist 'Whites.' Each party vied for power and
control in the Caucasus. The "White" armies invaded Chechnya and
fought a brutal war which they eventually lost.

Soon after the Czarists were defeated, the Red Army entered
Chechnya and a new rebellion erupted, this time against the
Bolsheviks. This revolt was led by great grandson of Imam Shamil,
Said-Bek. Stalin personally met with the heads of the North
Caucasus and offered amnesty to all in the Said-Bek rebellion if
they would recognize the Bolshevik government.

The Chechens accepted on condition that sharia would be
officially accepted as constitutional law and that Soviets would
not intervene in internal affairs of mountain peoples. Stalin
accepted the conditions.

Yet shortly afterwards the Soviets changed their mind and brought
troops to Chechnya and tried to break up the Mountain Republic in
which they finally succeeded.

A brief period of relative tranquility was cut short by the
introduction of the collectivization campaign. Socially,
economically and psychologically the Chechens were the least
prepared among the population of the Soviet Union to face the
onslaught of compulsory collectivization. When the Soviets
started to seize possessions that were to be turned over to the
'kolkhoz' the whole of Chechnya exploded and rose as one.

Chechens wanted their land back, as well as traditions and
religious practices which were promised by Stalin. Soon regular
detachments of the Red Army began to arrive in Chechnya. The
insurgent centers were conquered but the losses of the Red Army
were heavy. It was only with great pains and suffering that
Soviet power was established there. Yet, resistance continued
throughout the whole Soviet era.

During World War II the Chechens again rose up against Soviet
rule, which prompted Stalin to deport the entire nation to
Siberia and Kazakhstan, resulting in the estimated death of half
of the population. Yet, their pride and the dream of freedom were
impossible to be vanquished by the ruthless atrocity of
communism. Even in the Gulag cams (like concentration camps of
the Nazis) the Chechens never submitted to tyranny; they were any
time more ready to face death than slavery.

The Russian dissident and Literary Nobel Prize winner Alexander
Solzhenitsyn witnessed the Chechens in the Gulag camps where he
too was detained. He wrote in his book "The Gulag Archipelago":
"But there was one nation, who didn't yield to psychology of
obedience, - not lone persons, not insurgents, but the whole
nation. They are the Chechen people..."

The Chechens spent more than a decade in isolated work camps in
Siberia and Kazakhstan while Stalin ordered the removal of all
references to the Chechen nation from maps, history books and
more. After Stalin's death during the de-Stalinization under
Nikita Khrushchev the Chechens were eventually proclaimed
'rehabilitated' and finally allowed to return to their homeland
albeit some were not granted this permission before the 70's and
80's.

When they returned they found that their land had been
'russified' - hundreds of thousands of Russian farmers had been
brought in to work the land during their absence and had become
permanent residents. They had moved to houses owned by Chechens,
and had taken their land. The Soviets had also destroyed Chechen
national monuments such as ancient watchtowers and tombstones as
well as their churches.

The Chechens had to build their existence from the scratch on.
But even during these dark years of Stalinism, their homeland was
never destroyed entirely. The mysterious Highland was the only
land that stayed untouched by the Russian invaders, hiding many
secrets and holy places known in ancient tales. Throughout the
Soviet era, a small part of the Chechens, who had managed to hide
in the mountains, had guarded the Highlands and their sacraments.
The Russians were afraid of the many avengers guarding these
Highlands, and the desolate mountain nature protected this land
from the Soviets.

In this contradiction-ridden area, the iron rule of the communist
regime maintained just for barely 70 years a shaky, forced and
superficial peace. Historians argue that no people anywhere on
earth fought so long or hard against tyranny and colonialism as
the Chechens - and none has suffered so much.

The collapse of the Soviet Union gave rise to a new independence
movement. The Chechens held elections which were won by a Chechen
of great renown, Dzhokhar Dudaev, a former Soviet Air Force
General who became famous when he ignored communist orders to
attack Estonia at the end of the Soviet era. After his election
as President he proclaimed Chechnya's independence.

However the only nations to recognize Chechnya's declaration of
independence were little Estonia and Afghanistan, both of which
know full well the terror of Russian occupation. While western
nations recognized the other newly declared nations that had been
Soviets because they had been occupied by the Soviet Union,
Chechnya was denied recognition as it had already been occupied
by the Czars.

As expected the Russians didn't recognize Chechen independence.
They had two important reasons for not granting the Chechens
their beloved independence. First, Chechnya lies at a major
chokepoint in the oil-infrastructure of Russia and hence would
hurt the country's economy and control of oil resources. Second,
other ethnic groups inside Russia - there are dozens of ethnic
groups in Russia - could join the Chechens and strive to secede
from Russia as well. 

However some cynics theory is that the Russian President was just 
looking for a 'victorious little war' to boost his poll standings, 
or that it was a falling out of organized crime syndicats with men
in the highest ranks of both countries, or even that it was a kind 
of slow-motion coup by the Russian military against the nominally
democratic government. 

The Chechens argued that Russia needs to control non-Russian
populations because virtually all of the natural wealth in the
Russian Federation is in non-Russian territories, like the oil of
them. They think that Russia is only following the policy of the
old Czars that the peoples and nations of the Empire have no
right to self-determination or independence and that to declare
their sovereignty is to risk war with Moscow.

After the declaration of Chechen independence Russian hardliners
vowed to "exterminate the Chechen bandits." The governor of
Kursk, Alexandr Rutskoi said: "In a week Grozny and the whole of
Chechnya should be turned into a Gobi desert." The minister for
defence, Pavel Grachev, an Afghanistan veteran, stated that he
could capture Grozny with "one airborne regiment within two
hours." And the supreme commander of the Russian forces in the
Caucasus, Vladimir Kazantsiev declared: "I am capable of
finishing the whole issue in one week and I am ready to wipe out
everything in Chechnya with bombs."

No one in the Kremlin apparently had an end state in mind or
conceived a conflict resolution or termination strategy. The war
planners ignored experience of Russia's annexation of the
Caucasus, neglected historical, cultural and religious
peculiarities characteristic to Chechens: their traditional
belligerency, hostility to any supreme authority, defiance of
death in combat, tight bonds of blood relationship, strong
tradition of vendetta, and so forth.

On December 11, 1994, Russian armed forces invaded Chechnya in a
three-pronged attack, from north, west, and south. The Russians
considered President Dudaev and his army as a criminal,
disorganized gang of rebels, who would be intimidated at the
first sign of a Russian tank.

Yet, when the Russian Army advanced through the neighboring
provinces towards Chechnya they were already attacked by local
tribes. They hadn't yet set foot on Chechen territory. When they
entered Chechnya they found most rises and bends in roads turned
into fortresses, bridges closed off with reinforced concrete
blocs, and some bridges mined. Local inhabitants passed along
Russian troop locations and actions via ham radios. Initial
skirmishes took place and snipers fired at the columns.

The Chechen Foreign Minister Shamsedin Yusef said: "They cannot 
kill every Chechen. There are one million of us and every one of 
us will fight." The supreme commander of the Chechens, Aslan 
Maskhadov declared: "Our salvation is in fighting, and we will 
fight to the end. The whole world should know that the Chechens 
will emerge from this war victorious." And his field commander 
Shamyl Basayev stated: "We want to prove to the world and the 
Russians that despite the size, power or technology of any enemy, 
there is no way they could defeat the people of belief, principal 
and land."

The Chechens defense strategy focused on the capital Grozny and
the area approximately 15-20 miles out of the capital. Here
Chechen fighters offered real resistance, to include Grad (MLRS)
rocket attacks and offensive assaults on Russian positions.
However, they had no helicopters, tanks, planes or heavy
artillery. Still the Russian army needed weeks to fight down
Chechen resistance in the area surrounding Grozny.

Before the main attack on Grozny, Russian SU-25, SU-27, Mig-31
jets attacked the city, destroying all infrastructure; strangely
that included schools, hospitals, orphanages, libraries, and the 
university. During the war the Russian Air Force was continuously 
in the air bombing the whole Chechen territory.

The Russian military commanders offered a blunt ultimatum to the
tens of thousands of civilians - mainly elderly and disabled
people - who remained in Grozny: "There will be no more talks.
Everyone who fails to leave the city will be destroyed." Although
relentless bombing by Russian planes had made it almost
impossible for refugees to leave Grozny safely, Russian
commanders warned that "those staying in the city will be
regarded as terrorists and bandits."

In Grozny, the large Russian army of 50,000 men faced about 
5,000 lightly armed Chechen fighters of whom only a small 
minority were considered well-trained soldiers. Yet the Chechen 
defenders had put up firm resistance in the capital with their main 
stronghold being the Presidential Palace - a large, concrete 
structure built in Soviet times as the local Communist Party of 
the Soviet Union headquarters, including a blast shelter underneath. 

The fierce battle for the Chechen capital which followed between
Russia's finest, it's airborne and marines and the chiselled,
wily, and experienced Chechen fighters shocked the whole world
and even the hard-boiled Russians.

A western elite soldier described it as followed: "I've been a
combat soldier and have covered 12 high-intensity wars from the
front, but I have never seen anything that equals the heroism and
boundless courage of the Chechen mujahedin. For the past four
months, 5,000 lightly-armed Chechen warriors fighting on flat,
open terrain that favours air, armour and artillery, have held
off 50,000 Russian troops, backed by regiments of heavy guns and
rockets, helicopter gunships, ground attack aircraft, and
thousands of tanks and armoured vehicles. Chechen mujahedin, most
without any formal military training, have no heavy weapons and
are chronically short of radios, anti-tank rockets and even
small-arms ammunition. There is almost no medicine or morphine
for their wounded, and no shelter from massive Russian
bombardment that includes banned fuel-air explosives, toxic gas
and napalm."

Grozny was more or less obliterated by massive bombing; its
streets were a wasteland of bombed-out buildings and huge piles
of rubble. Within twenty days, the Russians had dropped more
artillery shells than had fallen on the besieged city of Sarajevo
in two years. Military observers noted that the battle for Grozny
was the heaviest artillery bombardment on a popoluation center since 
the fall of Berlin in World War II and that the destruction was even 
worse than in Stalingrad. 

The American journalist Owen Matthews wrote: "Wherever you are in
Chechnya, you can hear the distant thunder of the bombardment of
Grozny. The percussion of the falling bombs shakes the whole
devastated land, as though Chechnya has become a giant drum
reverberating to the sound of a punishing beating being meted out
by its new masters."

Another war journalist, Scott Anderson described the artillery 
bombardment as following: "After a time it no longer even seems
like a sound but like something animate. It travels trough the
ground, and you first feel the ache in your knees, then in your
upper chest, and before long you can start imagining that it is 
inside you and will not leave. I wonder if this is why people go
mad during bombardments; not the fear of a quick death, of a shell 
finding you, but the fear of a slow one, the sense that the 
constant thrumming through your body is inflicting violence from
within."  

Chechens were fighting to the death against impossible odds,
defending every ruined building and mined street while some
40,000 civilians cowered in cellars under non-stop Russian
shelling. The Chechen President, his deputy, and the supreme
commander held out inside the Presidential Palace for almost two
months under massive shelling and only 150 feet away from the
Russian tanks which blockaded the area.

The black fog from burning oil refineries mixed with the dust of
collapsing buildings as shells rained down at a rate of one per
second. With any venture outside almost a suicidal risk, many
residents simply huddled in basements until they slowly starved
or froze to death. No one knows how many exactely died for so
intense was the bombardment that many victims were simply obliterated
buried beneath leveled buildings, or consumed by packs of dogs that
roamed the shattered streets. 

During the ferocious battle an English journalist made it through
heavy fighting to Chechen supreme commander Aslan Maskhadov in
his headquarter. When asked about the fight the Chechen defender
said: "I can only wonder at the strength with which my men fight.
The Russians attack us with planes, then artillery, then tanks,
leveling the houses before them. Yet still my men emerge from the
rubble to fight on. But we cannot match the Russian weaponry, and
we will have to fight a different type of war. All we can do is
fight on, to show that not only that we want our independence,
but that we are willing to die for it."

When asked about his personal feelings he added: "The worst thing
is to lose your friends: nineteen of mine have died here. The
next worst thing is when some men start to panic under fire. I
did not go to Russia to fight the Russians. I am fighting in my
country, for my country: for my village, my people, and my God."

The elite of the Chechen forces was the 'Abkhaz' battalion, a
group of five hundred reckless fighters led by Commander Shamyl
Basayev who had already fought the Russians in Abkhazia (Georgia)
and Nagorno-Karabkh (Azerbaijan). The French war photographer
Patrick Chauvel, who accompanied these daunting warriors said:
"As soon as they went in all hell would let loose, the fight would 
suddenly escalate. They were like firemen. Then they would
move to the other place."

Yet despite the cruel war, Chechen defenders did not react with
the same cruelty against the captured low grade Russian soldiers. 
All foreign observers, paid particular attention to the noble 
attitudes of the Chechen fighters towards the defeated enemy 
prisoners and wounded Russian soldiers. The most amazing thing was 
that they were often released to Russian mothers without any 
conditions or ransom. It seemed that the Chechen mujahedin released 
them out of pity knowing that they were ill-fated pawns in the 
murderous war game of the Kremlin. 

After months of savage fighting there emerged what seemed to be a
final message from the Chechen defenders out of the burning ruins
of besieged Grozny: "At a time when the world has left us entirely, 
we ask Muslims around the world not to forget the ordeal of their
brothers in Chechnya fighting the jihad (holy war) against
Russian oppression."

Yet only a handful of Muslim fighters came to support their
Chechen brothers. The Muslim world in general failed to recognize
their suffering. The Islamic countries didn't ask Moscow
officially to stop its massive military assault on the small
republic because no one dared to anger Moscow by supporting tiny
Chechnya. Actually important Muslim nations - like Egypt,
Malaysia, and Iran - were negotiating arms and aircraft deals
with Russia.

Except for this small number of foreign fighters (the most famous
was Khattab who was killed by Russia's secret service with a
poisoned letter) there was virtually no one to stand by the
Chechens. The UN didn't interfere and even the Red Cross left
Chechnya after more of their workers had been murdered than in
any other war zone in the international organization's hundred-
and-thirty-seven-year history.

The western countries response to the war had been shameful and
hypocritical. They basically argued that this was an "internal
matter" of Russia. Worse, western loans of the IMF for the
corrupt economy of Russia made it possible for them to pay the
costs of the war. The world seemed to watch silently as Russia,
which knew neither shame nor mercy crushed the life out of this
tiny but heroic people who refused to bend their knees to
Moscow's rule.

Nonetheless the whole world wondered why the third largest army
of the world (1.7 million) was struggling for months to take a
single, small city? Why they couldn't defeat a few thousand 
guerrillas who had no tanks, planes or heavy artillery? Why the
tattered flag of rebel Chechnya still remained atop the Presidental
Palace, as a taunting symbol of their unyielding defiance.

Soon the Russian forces launched a massive air and artillery attack; 
by Chechen estimation, a rocket was hitting the palace at a rate of 
one per second. Sukhoi Su-25 fighter aircraft dropped two bunker 
busters into the Palace. The bombs fell through all 11 floors and 
fell into the reinforced bunker below the building; one landed 20 
meters from the HQ of General Maskhadov, miraculously not exploding.

However, in the end overwhelming Russian numbers and firepower
eventually prevailed albeit they paid a high price, - about four
Russians were killed for one Chechen. The Russian army had lost
more tanks in the battle for Grozny than in the battle for Berlin, 
1945.

After several months of intense house to house fighting the Russian 
military was finally able to occupy Grozny and raise the Russian flag 
over the burned out shell of the Presidential Palace. The commander 
of the Russian Rapid Reaction Unit (SOBR) said: "They fought like lions." 
The entire world could clearly see that the Chechens hated to surrender 
to the great power that humiliated them over centuries.

However the war was not over. The Chechen fighters had retreated
to the mountainous regions of their home country taking the war
with them. President Dzhokhar Dudaev, whose fighters were backed
by no outside force vowed to continue to resist Russian occupation 
until the bitter end.

Outnumbered 20-1, the Chechens' defense of mountain passes
vividly recalled the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae. The principle
means of the Russians were massive, indiscriminate bombardment,
massive mobilization of troops to enter towns and villages after
air raids and ground bombardment and collective punishment to the
Chechen civilians when collaboration with the Chechen fighters
was suspected.

The Chechens on the other hand installed suicide battalions in
which even women conducted kamikaze style attacks on Russian
military facilities as well as hostages e.g. Moscow theatre,
Budyonnovsk hospital and the Beslan school siege. For centuries
of fighting, women have always been a part of the resistance and
Chechen folklore is full of songs and stories about various
heroic acts by Chechen women. This war was no difference; more
than one war widow has blown herself up taking some Russians with
them into their grave.

The journalist Anna Politkovskaya interviewed one Chechen
hostage-taker in the Moscow theatre before the Russians
discharged gas into the auditorium killing most of the
hostages-takers and their hostages. The man named Abubaker told
her: "We don't want anything; we do not intend to survive. We
don't need it. We have come to die. And we are going to die in
battle."

In the course of the war the Russians killed hundred thousand
Chechens, razed much of the small country and scattered 17
million anti-personnel land mines across the tiny nation.
Anti-insurgent techniques perfected in Afghanistan, where the
Soviets slaughtered 1.5 million people, were being used again in
Chechnya.

The United Nations declared Chechnya to be the most heavily mined
area on the planet. Mines were planted carefully and thoughtfully
by the Russian army in inhabited, agricultural, animal grazing
areas and near vital water resources. And the worst part was that
the mines were deviously designed in the forms of toys and
household tools so as to make the children the largest portion of
victims.

Nevertheless the Russians were not able to force the Chechens
into submission even thought there was not a single family who
had not lost a loved one. Sill the Chechens declared proudly: "We
don't consider ourselves conquered and we'll never do. We are a
people who would rather live in rubble than live in slavery." It
is unlikely that Russia can fully succeed in Chechnya where
generations of harsh, repressive rule and even abortive genocide
have failed.

One western observer noted: "What's going on right now in
Chechnya is not war. War is a confrontation between two armies.
That's not the case right now in Chechnya. Without the capacity
to take on the Chechen guerrillas in hand-to-hand combat in the
mountains, Russian forces instead try to bring about the outright
destruction of the Chechen country with carpet bombing, massed
artillery strikes on civilian targets and the deliberate destruction 
of the economy, infrastructure and environment of Chechnya."

Fred Cuny, a courageous American humanitarian who experienced 
firsthand 30 armed conflicts including Rwanda, Somalia and Bosnia in 
a quarter of a century said of Chechnya: "This is the most terrible
place I have ever been. There are no rules at all. It is a total
war. Sarajevo, compared to Chechnya, will look like a Sunday
stroll. In terms of horror, terror and unpredictability the war
in Chechnya can be compared to no other war in the history." Fred 
Cuny did never return from Chechnya; he vanished into the war-
rocked highlands never to be seen again albeit there were great 
efforts from the American government to find him. 

The "fight against terrorism" that Moscow claims to be leading
against "Chechen bandits" has every appearance of genocide. The
Russian Federal Security Service FSB (former KGB) and the GRU
(Military Intelligence) have build 'filtration centers' in the 
cities of Mozdok, Khankala, Urus-Martan,... where suspected Chechen
rebels were being raped, tortured, interrogated and sometimes even
killed, usually by OMON units, a special task force of the Interior 
Ministry. Actually the Russians frequently videotapped these 
humiliating beatings and rapes to blackmail the Chechens afterwards. 
The dead bodies were routinely sold to the relatives for money, vodka 
and weapons. However, some corpse were burned in vats hidden in the 
inner rooms of these detention centers. 

The Chechen President Dudaev commented this as followed: "They
understand perfectly that the only way you can bring us to our
knees is by the complete annihilation of our nation."

Subsequently the President himself was killed when a Russian 
Ilyushin-76 aircraft (Russia's version of the more sophisticated 
US AWACS aircraft) locked onto Dudaev's portable satellite phone 
signal and detected his exact location. Only seconds later a Sukhoi 
Su-25 jet, armed with air-to-surface missiles, received his coordinates
and fired two 250 kg laser-guided missiles. President Dudaev died
almost immediately in the arms of his bodyguards and his wife Alla.

Doctors Without Borders labelled the Chechen war "the world's
cruellest war." For the foreign journalists who had been in
Chechnya the courage of these small mountain people was almost
beyond comprehension. Unfortunately media attention to this war
which was violating all norms of warfare and numerous
international conventions had been limited by Russia's blockade
on journalists and even aid workers who were prevented from
entering the war-torn state.

The journalist Anna Politkovskaya said: "It is not law that rules
Russia today. There is no person and no organization to which you
can turn and be certain that the laws have any force. People who
were my witnesses and informants in Chechnya have died for that
reason, and that reason alone, as soon as I left their homes."

Nonetheless some reporters made it inside Chechnya. One of them
spoke with the relatives of a killed Chechen. The dependants told
him: "When your heart and everything inside you is burning like
fire, you don't pour water on it but you quench the fire with the
blood of your enemy." The next one said, "If it be death I shall 
die forever unconquered, if it be life I shall rise strong in my 
pride and free." And another one quoted a Chechen proverb: "He who 
thinks of what will come of his moves is not a brave man." 

Russia has been waging war on the Caucasus since five centuries,
and today - having the most perfect weapons and a capable army -
it has not changed the situation. The war is prolonged and will
keep, even in spite of the fact that the Chechens, as against
Russia, have neither a stable army, nor high technologies, nor
military industry. The Chechen resistance is seasoned and
motivated by a religious zeal that is not limited by ideology or
self-interests. This war, to the Chechens, is a matter of
survival as a people and race. All these circumstances indicate
that there is no military solution of the Russian-Chechen
conflict.

The continual bombing, - especially the use of ground-to-ground
missiles which were launched from bases far away and which stroke
without warning - forced many inhabitants of villages to live in
the forests. They hid during the daytime in makeshift shelters
constructed out of tarpaulins and branches and only came out at
night to hunt for provisions in their houses and look after the
animals. The burials were also carried out at night.

For Chechens there was no difference between Timur, Genghis Khan,
Catherine the Great, Stalin and Putin. They all came to conquer
their home country and subjugate them. Today's Chechens know who
fought beside them in the last war, but they also know their
ancestors and their clans, deported by Stalin or who took up the
sword against Genghis Khan.

In the course of the war even some Russians spoke out against it.
Former General Alexander Lebed said: "People are fighting to
avenge their killed relatives and ruined homes. No military
leader, no matter how brilliant he may be, has ever won a war
against the people... That is why I reject all the talk of
Russia's integrity and indivisibility. Is it possible to ensure
the integrity of Russia by killing hundreds and maiming thousands
of people every day? I am often asked if I know who is
responsible for this war. Yes, I know all of them by name. I am
also sure that this war has economic roots camouflaged in
politics. Now is not the time to name these people, because
chances are rather high that the war may resume with fresh force
and on an even larger scale."

It seems that the war has outplayed those who started it, that
neither side is strong enough to resist its momentum. The legacy
of Russia's brutality is scorching a terrible image into the
minds of those Chechens who survived and they will continue the
war.

The war prompted many Chechens to flee their home country because
there was virtually no region inside Chechnya where civilians
could shelter from Russian attacks. The refugees said: "We could
no longer live like that, hidden away like rats, waiting for
death to strike us from the sky."

The people who fled travelled only during night. Only a few had
cars and if they had one, one would always keep his head out of
the window, listening for Russian planes. They took out their
seats to make the car lighter and to get through the damaged
parts of the road and those areas more prone to attack, easier
and faster. However, the last miles across the border to Georgia
had to be made by foot anyway.

The majority of the refugees stayed in the neighboring countries
and provinces. Yet some Chechens who had money or relatives to
pay the brazen refugee smugglers made it to Europe, North America
and other regions. After a dangerous journey of more than
thousand miles, a number of them even arrived in my home-country.


Elina

It was still dark when I arrived at the refugee camp. The guards
were sleepily nodding to me as I entered the camp through the
main gate. I headed to the staff's building where all my things
and equipment were. My two colleagues from the nightshift were
already awaiting me. For them my arrival meant that they could
leave the camp and get sleep.

They showed me the journal book in which every incident has to be
noted for the day shift. They mentioned that nothing special had
happened, and said Goodbye. I took my walkie-talkie, the keys and
my clipboard with all the lists of the houses, rooms and refugees
and stepped outside into the cool air. In front of the building
the workers (one Afghan and one Yugoslavian) who would accompany
me had already gathered.

They were refugees who were selected because of various skills.
We greeted and then marched on towards the women's refuge, a
building, guarded by security service and surrounded by a fence.
Only a few men from the staff are allowed to enter; it is mainly
operated by female social workers.

It was there that I noticed her first. Initially I considered her
Persian because of her exceptional beautiful eyes; it's typical
for Iranians to have such stunning dark, expressive eyes.

Yet, much to my own astonishment I found out she wasn't Persian.
My first thought, upon hearing that she was from Chechnya was, 'I
didn't know Chechnya has such fine women.' However, I was so
happy to have found such a delicate woman in this place that I
didn't mind from which country she came.

It was not only her eyes, and her well shaped figure, that were
appealing to me. There was something about how she walked. It was
just a dirty corridor in a refugee camp but hell that woman walked
with such pride and self-confidence as if she was strolling on
Fifth Avenue from shop to shop.

She moved like a woman who was aware of her stunning beauty and
the effect she has on men. This made her appearance so
irresistible for me. There was a certain arrogance in it but that
stirred my desire even more to conquer her. Part of her
confidence probably stemmed from the fact that she was a Moslem 
and she knew nobody was allowed to touch her.

In her home country a man would face death for doing so. Now as
she finally fled into a free, western country, where she felt
completely secure she was proud to show off her lovely body in
western style clothes which she hadn't been allowed before in her
young life. She certainly never made love to someone else than
her husband. I was completely aroused and enthralled by the lure
of this strange, foreign woman, her exotic beauty, the danger to
chase a Moslem and the prospect of conquering her wild but
pure heart as well as her delicious body.

One day she was walking on the corridor while I was working in
the building. Luckily no one was present at the time. I observed
her as she disappeared in one of the rooms. This woman made me
really nervous; I was excited and even caught myself licking my
lips unconsciously while I gazed at her loveliness. I thought
nobody else was in her room, so I decided it was time to follow
her.

I found her room and stepped inside. There she was, standing in
the middle of the room, starring at me. I smiled at her and
asked,

"Are you all-right?"

"Yes," she stammered, obviously a little bit frightened that a
foreign man had just entered her room, the only place which
provided little privacy for her in the big camp.

"Where are you from?" I proceeded to ask her.

"Chechnya," she replied, fixing me with the most alluring eyes.

Having learned some Russian in the camp I asked her,

"Wi gawaritje pa ruski?"

"Da," she answered.

Suddenly she seemed to loosen her reserve. Moreover, she made the
impression of being curious. I proceeded to speak with her in my
broken Russian as well as English. She noted that her English was
'not very good' but that she wanted to improve her skills. She
said that she had just come home from an English class that we
offer for refugees in another building of the camp. That was my
chance and I quickly took it,

"If you want, I'll help you to learn English," I proudly stated.

"Really?!" she asked questioning, examining me with her dark,
expressive eyes.

"But you have to teach me Russian," I responded with a twinkle in
my eye.

"OK, I will teach you Russian," she merely answered.

"You are welcome!" I happily replied.

Her vivid eyes brightened up and she smiled at me. I also smiled
because I was glad that I had found such a convenient
introduction to start her seduction. Whenever she and I had a
little time left I sneaked into her room and sat down beside her
on the old military bed and started to teach her English. It was
a funny time because Chechens have a great sense of humor; and 
although Elina had not much education, she was endowed with exceptional 
intelligence and sensitivity.

Occasionally I would allow my hand to stroke her back. At first
she would tense up when I did so, but later she would look into
my eyes and smile at me. She was an apt pupil and I was happy to
be with her and teach her. Both of us kept a small sheet of paper
and we would write down the new-learned words, she the English
words and me the Russian words. One time I wrote on her paper,

'You are very sweet.'

She starred trustfully into my eyes and asked curiously,

"What does this mean?"

"Ty otchen mylaya"

She jumped of the bed and blushed. 

"Thank you very much." 

Then she sat down again. I would embrace her with my right
arm and stroke her back. A smile would wash over her face
whenever I did so. She was proud that she attracted me. It would
have been a nice sight for my colleagues if they could have seen
us together. It is forbidden to start a romance with a female
refugee, strictly forbidden. So it was a dangerous adventure; I
always kept an eye on the door, so that I could get up fast if
someone would enter the room. Fortunately it didn't happen.

Once I asked her, "I have heard that Chechens like to dance, is
it true?"

"Yes, Chechens like to dance. We have various special dances like
the 'Lezginka' dance which is accompanied by the demonstration of
life stories, military deeds, men's daring, and women's grace."

"Please tell me more?" I pleaded.

"At the beginning of the dance, a young man and a young woman
approach from opposite sides and distant positions, advance into
the circle and begin the movements; each one moves to the right
side in a spiral motion. Then they move to the center of the
circle, as if some strange force leads them, once more, they
untwist the spiral from the center to the periphery, while the
young man in some special movement turns over to 180 degrees and
stays behind his partner. At this stage, he is not allowed to
raise his hand or lead her in her movements. When the spiral
becomes completely untwisted and each have gone away to their
opposite positions, the young man will stand briefly in front of
the men's row, and the young woman in front of women's row. After
these initial movements, the real dance begins, where the young
woman submits to the gestures and movements of her partner."

Another day I asked her, "I have read that your people love
nature, is that true?"

"Of course," Elina stated resolutely. "Chechen proverbs and tales
teach a child to respect all living beings and nature. There is
nothing unimportant in life: As the saying goes, "if you leave a
peg in the ground, you'll have a headache, if you kill a frog, a
cow will die, if you catch a butterfly, your sister will lose her
joy of heart", etc. The Chechen people gather honey without
killing the bees. They milk a cow with one hand, while supporting
her udder with the other hand. It is unthinkable to beat the
cattle."

"Honey, I hope that your people never lose this noble attitude.
And what do Chechens think about other people?"

Elina smiled sweetly and proceeded, "To this day, Chechen people
think that all mankind is united in a blood kinship system, and
the people of many nations are different only in their languages,
confessions, customs and ceremonies. But these are secondary
matters, and only the human essence dominates. All people have
physical needs, sorrow and joy, birth and death, and everybody is
equal before them. The Chechen people have the tradition of not
decorating their cemetery memorials."

Elina told me a lot about Chechnya as we continued with our
English-Russian classes. Further more I read many articles and even
books about Chechnya, Russia and the Caucasus. It wasn't like that I
was only interested in a sexual adventure, no, but that I was truly 
fascinated by this small people. 

Once when we were deeply engaged in our studies, the door suddenly 
broke open. I jumped up but it was only a small boy. As he saw me 
he stopped abruptly, but when Elina said something in Chechen to 
him he came closer and Elina took him by the hand.

"This is my son Shamil," she stated proudly while she straighten
up his clothes.

"Really?" I exclaimed. I was a little bit shocked. The boy seemed
to be about eight years old and Elina was only twenty-four. It's
a misery, how can such a nice, young man like me always get into
such difficult situations? Elina seemed to be perfect:  a young, 
beautiful, intelligent, open-minded woman and would have
easily found shelter at my home. But with a son?

"Skolka tebia let?" I asked the boy.

"Eight years," he murmured, looking into his mother direction.

"I love him more than anything else," Elina proceeded and gave
him a kiss and tight hug. But Shamil wrenched out of her embrace
and run out.

"That's interesting, you became mother at a very young age," I
asked her.

"Yes, I was sixteen, one year after I married," she said
unconcerned.

"So you married when you were fifteen, an age when some girls in
my country are still playing with dolls. Why were you in such a 
hurry to get married?" I asked intrigued.

"That's not unusual in Chechnya. It's part of our tradition. When
someone takes a fancy to you and the parents agree, you generally
have little opportunity to protest. Although no one will drag a
girl to a man against her will. It's just that girls in my country are 
accustomed to doing what their parents say, so they don't protest 
too much.

My father didn't object and nor did my husband's family. But if
one of the esteemed elders had said I wasn't respectable enough,
there would have been problems. If the worst came to the worst my
fiance would have to abduct me. Or we'd have to give each other
up for good."

"So you don't regret marrying so young?" I asked.

"Not really because an unmarried girl, even if she's thirty,
can't leave the house on her own. There is no leeway. The laws in
Chechnya are very strict. So when I got married I was actually
freeing myself from parental control. Admittedly I came under the
control of my husband, but that is something else. Unfortunately
he mistreated and abused me, and when I came to your beautiful
country I got the chance to leave him and divorce. The police
separated us and brought me to this women's refuge."

"Oh, I am sorry, I hope you are able to divorce."

"Don't worry, I am Chechen, nobody can force me into submission,"
she stated proudly, and her eyes flickered with fervency. For a
split second I could see deep within her an unquenchable desire
for freedom and emancipation which shire intensity truly
astonished me. I knew instantly that this fire could only be
quenched with her death.

"From which region of Chechnya are you?" I changed the subject.

"I am from Grozny, the capital of my country."

"Tell me more about this city?"

"The town evolved from a Russian fortress (Groznaya fortress)
founded as a Russian military outpost. After the pacification of
the region, the military use of the old fortress was obsolete and
it was renamed to Grozny. Today, the city is divided into four
administrative city districts. The city lies on the Sunzha River,
it has a university and is home to FC Terek Grozny. However,
nearly all of Grozny was destroyed or seriously damaged during
the war."

"I have heard that 'Grozny' means 'terrible', 'fearsome' or
'dangerous' in Russian. Is that true?"

"Yes, it's an awful name which was given by our oppressors. Now
we want to rename the city into 'Dzhokhar'- in memory of our
first President Dzhokhar Dudaev.

On the next day I asked her, "I was told that hospitality is
important in Chechen culture?"

"Yes, for us a guest is a sacred person. A story tells about a
driver who accidentally knocked down a woman on the street, and
she died immediately. The driver took her in his arms and rushed
to the nearest house, praying to God for help and mercy, for he
had neither relatives nor friends near by. The man who opened the
door saw his dead mother, and said to the praying driver:

'Keep calm, I've heard your prayer. This dead woman is my mother,
and if you wish, I'll be your brother from this day on. But by
God, if you had only left her at the road and tried to run away,
I would spend all my life looking for you in revenge for my
mother.'"

I was content with our intense conversations because it brought
us closer to each other with every hour we talked. Further more 
I was especially glad that I was able to learn so much about her
peculiar people in which I was honestly interested. She surely
sensed that my curiosity was genuine and my attention sincere.
And my attraction real.

Once I asked her, "I have read in an article that genealogy is 
of great value for Chechens?"

"Yes, where have you learned this? Each Chechen is supposed to
remember the names of his or her ancestors. We are taught from a
young age to name our ancestors back 12 generations or more. For
a Chechen, to be a man means, to remember the names of seven
generations of paternal ancestors. We attach much importance to
heredity on maternal side. The phrase "mother tongue" is used to
indicate decent behavior and "mother milk" - to reprimand for
unseemly behavior.

And not only their names are to be remembered and faithfully
transmitted from generation to generation, but also the basic
circumstances of their lives, their deaths, and the locations of
their tombstones. All together, this constitutes an enormous
depth of historic memory. Naturally, in so many cases the
remembered deaths occurred at the hands of Russian soldiers:
under Catherine the Great, Nicholas I, Stalin, Yeltsin and now
Putin. Thus, for practically every Chechen, a Russian soldier is
considered to be evil incarnate."

"Honey, I am really sorry for the conflict of your people with
Russia and everything which has befallen your people in this war.
I strongly believe that this war is unjust and that Russia
ultimately will have to pay a huge price for her bloodshed," I
stated.

Elina replied, "Unfortunately history teaches that in Russia,
things are often exactly as bad as they are feared to be. This is
not only due to Russians, and due to the lack of democratic
traditions, but due to the same problem that was faced in Western
attitudes at Germany in the 1930s. The outside world did not
believe - and neither did the Germans themselves at that time -
before it was too late for millions of people." 

I answered, "I think that Chechnya will always be 'the burning piece 
of coal resting on the palm of (this) world' (W. Shakespeare), if 
it does not obtain its freedom, and I think that the main undercurrents
operating in this crusade against your people were political and
economic forces and interests of a small but rich and secretive
clique in the Kremlin that in their cumulative scope and scale
far exceed the scope and limits of your tiny nation, which is an
infinitesimally small part of Russia's territory.

Only this can explain the extreme cruelty of this war, the
massiveness of the war effort, and the readiness to ignore all
protests and indignation from the world community and the liberal
and democratic opposition within Russia."

Elina replied, "Every Chechen knows that we were sold out by a few 
powerful, secretive men in the Kremlin, the military and the 
organized crime who made a fortune with this war. These men control
the whole of Russia today; they largely descend from the old Soviet 
secret services of the KGB." 

Tears were running down her cheek and this sight of her made me feel 
miserable. I felt helpless.

I kind of muttered, "You are right, honey. Sadly only a few westerners 
are aware of the truth about Chechnya and Russia. Yet, I am truly 
convinced that the future not only of Chechnya, but also the future 
of Russia to a very significant extent depends on the outcome of your 
people struggle."

"What do you mean by 'the future of Russia'?" Elina inquired.

"My dear, let me describe this to you with the help of a
citation. It was yesterday that I read an interesting passage 
in the 'Book of Mormon' a holy book of The Church of Jesus Christ 
of Latter-day Saints. I was utterly surprised because this part 
seemed to be written especially for the case of Russia today." 

"Please read it to me?" Elina insisted impatiently.

"And it came to pass that they formed a secret combination, even
as they of old; which combination is most abominable and wicked
above all, in the sight of God; and whatsoever nation shall
uphold such secret combinations, to get power and gain, until
they shall spread over the nation, behold, they shall be
destroyed; for the Lord will not suffer that the blood of his
saints, which shall be shed by them, shall always cry unto him
from the ground for vengeance upon them and yet he avenge them
not.

Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things
should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your
sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get
above you, which are built up to get power and gain -- and the
work, yea, even the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even
the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you,
to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things
to be.

Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these
things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your
awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall
be among you; or wo be unto it, because of the blood of them who
have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon
it, and also upon those who built it up."

"Oh my God, does this mean that the organized crime and it's corruption
which are spreading over the whole of Russia will ultimately lead to 
it's destruction?" Elina questioned.

"Yes, that will be the consequence of their murderous deeds. There 
is a vers from the Bible in Matthew which I remember from my
teenage years in which Jesus says to a man, 'Put up again thy sword 
into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the 
sword.'"

After a second of thinking Elina called out emphatically, "You 
are right! The Russians are Christians, yet they have killed my
people since hundreds of years. I want to send this quotation 
to Mr. Putin."

"Oh my lovely, I fear these men will not hear, for they don't 
want to listen. They have already chosen the path of war for the 
last centuries. Yet, soon, the time shall come that they will have
to pay for their murderous actions as it is explained in the verses
I have read you. Keep calm, Honey, the sword of justice is already 
on its way upon them."

Elina said, "Yes, the Russians will continue to kill us but they 
will not succeed in exterminating us totally. We have an old proverb 
that goes, 'Like a whip that fell down from the hands of a horse 
rider, who was overwhelmed by a sand storm, the Chechen nation will 
disappear. But, that same wind will blow in from the other direction, 
and the whip will appear on the surface of the Earth once again.'

That means the Chechen nation will go into non-existence for some
period, like now as the Russians are trying hard to eliminate
our people but our nation will revive from dormancy for the sake
of goodness and justice, and will survive until the judgment
day," Elina announced satisfied.

Elina had tears in her eyes. I was also very touched by our
emotional conversation. She got up and hugged me. I took her face
in my hands and looked into her marvelous eyes. Then I kissed her
gently on her cheeks. Elina smiled. 

I whispered, "I am glad that my home country has granted your people 
asylum so that you have found shelter. And I can assure you that my 
homeland is a wonderful country where you and your son will be safe 
and enjoy freedom. You will be treated correctly."

We hugged tightly and said Good Bye for the time being. 

Did I mention that Elina was one of the most beautiful women at 
our refugee camp. A lot of the male refugees ogled her. We had 
a lot more single men around than single women and the men tried 
in vain to get into their pants. They seemed to be sex starved. 
We had rooms with more than 100 single men.

One can imagine what atmosphere there was with all those sexually
frustrated men. Elina behaved like a little queen. She hardly
spoke with the other refugees except for some close friends. It
was funny to watch her strut through the camp with dozens of men
of all colors and shapes drooling over her without paying
attention to their glances. Yet when it came to me, she was
charming and friendly and gave me small presents.

Some of my friends warned me before a Chechen woman and told me
some bad stories but I just answered them that all depends on the
education and intelligence of the two people involved. I found
Elina to be enough intelligent to cope with the situation. Of
course, I could be wrong and that could have severe consequences
for both of us.

We exchanged our cell phone numbers and sometimes I would call
her in the evening and ask her about how her day was. It was not
possible that we met every single day but I was informed about
every change in her life. Once I suggested we should meet at my
place where we could continue our English class in peace and
silence. She accepted though she didn't know when she would be
able to visit me.

Time went on and some things changed in both of our lives. Elina
was transferred to another city not far away from the camp and my
home place. Again I called her and this time she was able to
fulfil my wish to visit me at my home.

It was a beautiful, sunny day and the birthday of her son Shamil.
He was named after one of the most (in)famous Chechen warlords, -
Shamil Basayev. The man who was responsible for numerous
guerrilla attacks on security forces in and around Chechnya as
well as a terrorist attacks on Russian civilians, including the
Budyonnovsk hospital siege, the Moscow theater siege, the Beslan
school siege and the hijack of an Aeroflot Tu-154 plane.

The Russian government put up a bounty of $10m for information
leading to his capture. Basayev's family was killed during a
Russian air raid on his hometown and he lost a foot when the
rebels withdrew from Grozny after stepping on a landmine while
leading his men through a mine field. The operation to amputate
his foot was videotaped and later televised by Russia's TV,
showing his foot being removed while the shaven-headed Basayev
watched impassively.

Despite this injury, Basayev eluded Russian capture by hiding in
densely wooded mountainous terrain. He was finaly killed in an
explosion of his car, rumours are the Russian security services
had their hands in it. The Chechens on the other hand claim it
was an accidental explosion.

However, it was little Shamil's birthday when I met his handsome
mother at the railway station in my hometown. We walked back to
my place. I took Elina to my room which she liked very much. She
sat down on my bed and found the playboy magazine. She curiously
opened it and started reading or better, viewing the images and
pictures. She seemed to be comfortable with it though I was sure
she hadn't seen many nude magazines before in her life.

She showed me one particular picture of a beauty with very long
hair and told me she didn't like it. I agreed with her though I
found that picture to be the best one in the whole magazine.
After she finished reading the playboy we decided to go shopping
and buy a birthday present for her son Shamil. As we strolled
through the picturesque town, enjoying the fresh air and the sun
rays Elina started to sing softly,

"We were born at night, when the she-wolf whelped.
In the morning, as lions howl, we were given our names.
In eagles nests, our Mothers nursed us,
To tame a stallion, our Fathers taught us.
We were devoted to our Mothers, to people and the Native land,
And if they will need us - we'll respond courageously,
We grew up free, together with the mountain eagles,
Difficulties and obstacles we overcame with dignity.
Granite rocks will sooner fuse like lead,
Than we lose our Nobility in life and struggle.
The Earth will sooner be breached in boiling sun,
Than we appear before the world; losing our honor.
Never will we appear submissive before anyone,
Death or Freedom - we can choose only one way.
Our sisters cure our wounds by their songs,
The eyes of the beloved arouse us to the feat of arms.
If hunger gets us down - we'll gnaw the roots.
If thirst harasses us - we'll drink the grass dew.
We were born at night, when the she-wolf whelped.
God, Nation, and the Native land,
We devote ourselves only to their service."

I was more than curious and asked her, "What was that song?"

"It's a very old Chechen song, it's our national anthem," she
replied, looking deep into my eyes.

"Honey, I like this song," I frankly admitted.

She turned to me and whispered into my ears, "I never sang it
since I came to your country, because I was never quite in the
mood for it, but today I feel really happy with you."

"I love you sweetheart," I said, taking her into my arms.

"So our people love wolves," I chokingly asked her referring to
the songs text.

Elina was seriously responding: "The wolf is our sacred national
animal."

"Really? Why?" I asked.

"To us the wolf is the most respected and famous animal in
nature. It is admired especially because of its perseverance and
unyieldingness. The explanation for this is that the lion and the
eagle are the symbols of strength, but they attack only the weak
animals. The wolf however, is the only beast that dares to attack
a stronger animal. Its lack of strength is compensated for by its
extreme daring, courage and adroitness. If he loses the struggle,
he dies silently, without expression of fear or pain. And he dies
proudly, facing his enemy. Every Chechen man is proud to be
compared with the wolf."

I was speechless. This woman surely made me look like a small boy
in comparisons to her daring, brave people.

Elina wasn't finished yet. She continued, "Even our national flag - 
green, white and red - has a motif of a wolf and a full moon in it. 
A native legend of our folklore tells about the wolf, which, at the
times of the end, is the last living creature to stand unyielding 
against a death-wind rising from the north, and wiping across the 
world, destroying everything. With its perseverance the wolf makes 
God relent and he decides that the world is after all worth of saving."

'So many times the Russian death-wind has already wiped across
Chechnya, and yet the wolf's nation has endured,' I thought to
myself, wondering about the courage of this small nation.

We were walking hand in hand through the narrow streets of my
home town, passing a lot of small, charming shops. Elina is a
very curious girl and she would peek into every petit shop. It
was fun to watch her examine the goods, some of which she had
only seen in TV or books. Elina could not speak my language and
therefore just said "Hello" and "Goodbye" to the shop owners yet
she would proudly walk into every shop however exclusive it may
be as if she was the wife of our venerable mayor. She had no
inhibitions or reserve at all; one cannot say this was a timid
woman. Most other refugees would have not dared to enter such
shops at all.

I always watched the shop keepers to find out if they had
detected that she was a foreigner but many didn't notice it
because she was dressed quite elegantly in western style. It was
fun to observe her confident behavior. Maybe, she didn't know how
precious some of the things were she carefully examined. Even I
couldn't fully interpret her behavior. Chechens are unique; I
have never met anyone like them. And I have met a lot of peoples
in the refugee camp and not only there but also on trips abroad.
I haven't met a girl like Elina before. She is totally different
to European women.

I had promised Elina to buy her a dictionary and so we visited
the local book store. It is run by a friendly, old man. He knows
what kind of dictionaries I look for because I always visit him
with my Russian speaking girlfriends. We bought a pocket
dictionay for her. After we had left the book store Elina told me
that she had to visit a friend of her mother and so I took her to
the railway station. When we were waiting at the station I took
Elina into my arms and kissed her. No, I tried to kiss her.

She was always saying "eta ne krasywaya." This is Russian and in
this context, it means "it's not appropriate to kiss in public."
Chechens are in general very conservative for they are Muslims,
strict Muslims. That makes the thing really dangerous but I
cannot help myself it also attracts me. While we were standing on
the platform Elina whispered into my ears, "Chief Camp." I almost
freaked out. My initial instinct was to hide somewhere or run
away.

Could it really be that the Chief of our refugee camp was here.
How could such a good-natured boy like me have so much bad luck?
No, that wasn't fair. I looked up but I couldn't see anybody.
Probably due to the fact that I didn't wore my glasses. I didn't
have them on because I knew Chechen women detest them. Then my
eyes wandered to the opposite platform. I put on my glasses and
saw him standing over there.

Fortunately it was not the real chief of the camp but just the
Chief of the kitchen! Ha, who cared for the chef de cuisine? He
didn't look into our direction anyway and Elina said that he
hadn't seen us. I still felt a little bit uneasy and went back
into the building where we awaited the arrival of Elina's train.
I kissed her Goodbye but only on her cheeks and soon she was
gone.

After I had told some friends about my new love I became more
insecure about my feelings. The reason was that I couldn't answer
their main question. Why had I fallen in love with a Chechen
woman? Me, a young man from a well educated European family, and
Elina from Chechnya, a war ridden Caucasian republic. These are
two totally different cultures; I didn't know the answer either.

I spend a lot of time asking myself why I was so bewitched by
this woman. There was some hidden reason I could not detect. I
wasn't sure if we could ever be together. One evening, while I
was one my way home from work I was again trying to figure out
why I was so captivated by Elina. Suddenly it hit me, and I knew
the answer. It was like someone was saying to me,

'What fascinates you so much is the ambition to gain the love of
a woman who never before devoted herself freely to a man.'

I knew instantly that this was true. Elina came from a country
where women have almost no rights. Usually the girls got married
at a young age and their parents decided whom they marry. There
was often no real love between husband and wife. This was also
the case with Elina.

She married at the age of 15 and gave birth to a son one year
later. Her husband had been six years older than her. Now she was
in Europe and filled for divorce because her husband had beaten
her. For the very first time in her young life she was in a
secure and stable environment. And she was free to pick every man
she liked and have sex with him.

I called Elina, she was happy and told me that she would soon get
her own apartment together with her son and mother. She asked me
if I could go shopping with her and help her buy a kitchen. She
was so sweet as she tried to explain it in my own language. She
had clearly improved since we had started our lessons in the
refugee camp. We talked in English, Russian and my mother tongue.
Elina was like a child that was trying to tell the parents about
the fascinating adventures of the day.

That night I had a dream, a strange dream which I am sure was not
evoked by my own consciousness or sub-consciousness. The dream
began slowly getting more intense and loud like a song that's
made louder by and by. I heard water splashing, somewhere. It was
like I was standing under a waterfall. But it wasn't a waterfall
at all. It took me some moments to realize where it came from
while the sound of the water got louder and louder. I was in a
shower, right in the middle of a shower all the water splashing
onto me. It felt so real, I could swear I was there at this
particular shower. Everyone knows how real dreams can seem.

The next thing I heard were soft moans. These were the sounds of
a woman and I recognized they came from Elina. I saw it. No, I
rather felt it because it was more than a visual picture of her.
I was present in that very moment. I could feel what she felt.
She was pleasuring herself. And all the while her thoughts were
glued on me. She was fantasizing about me. And it was one of the
most erotic feelings I ever had.

I felt her desire, her lust and her strong sexual energy which
was inevitably thriving her to her climax. I was with her at that
moment. Elina was quickly approaching her climax and when she
reached that peak, a wave of pleasure and desire for me rushed
through her body and mind towards me that seemed to grab me and
pull me out of my body towards her.

This feeling hit me like a storm and it caused an instant
erection with me. Never ever had I experienced such an erotic
dream and I knew it wasn't just a dream, no, it was real. My mind
swirled because of all her passion and lust. She had an
incredible strong desire for me and while she reached her hot,
steamy orgasm she was totally focused on me. I got the impression
of being pulled out of my body towards her. I had to hold myself
back spiritually for I was afraid I would really leave my body
and fly to her and would get sucked into her somehow.

Yes, I wanted to be inside her but with my body. An amazing
feeling though a little bit scary too. After her orgasm had
subsided, I felt the power of the vision vanish and I finally
woke up with my hard on. I thought, 'Wow'. When I regained my
composure, I got up. I was still weak and staggered through my
bedroom. Then I looked at the clock, realizing it was just 11
p.m. And that's surely not too late for an evening shower, isn't
it?

Three days after the above had happened I got a call in the
evening. I saw Elina's name on the display. God thanks; I didn't
answer the phone by saying something like, 'Hi Honey' or so. I
just said, 'Hello'. What happened next was a shock. It wasn't
Elina but a man clearly a foreigner, who shouted,

"Who are you? What's your name? Where do you live?"

Surely I had to expect that something like this could happen once
but nevertheless it struck me and I admit I was a little bit
afraid first. I followed my first instinct and switched off the
phone. It had been a busy day and I wasn't in the mood or ready
to face Elina's friend, husband, elder, or whoever he was. I
settled down and finally felt into an anxious sleep.

On the next day I got the same call but this time I felt secure
enough to speak with the man. Now I asked him who he was and he
said, he was the husband of Elina. I said that I was very sorry
and that I didn't know she had a husband. It was a lie but it was
somehow true because when I started the romance with her, I
really hadn't known this. I said that Elina had told me that she
was divorced. He said, `OK'. He asked for my name. I was
reluctant. Why? He said he wanted to know if Elina had told him
the truth. I agreed and told him my first name. He said, OK.

He asked me from which country I was. Africa? He thought I was a
black refugee. Probably Elina told him this story. No, I told him
I was a native. He explained that it was true that they were
divorced but that they were still together in a kind of
relationship; he didn't explain this kind of relationship
further.

Probably there wasn't any relationship at all. He became friendly
and called me by my name telling me that it was not my fault but
his wife's. Eventually I said Elina is a difficult but sweet
girl. He wasn't upset about this and finally we were talking
about how difficult women are. Finally he wished me a good day
and I offered my help if he needed something.

I wasn't sure what to do after this particular talk with this
stranger who claimed to be Elina's husband. I thought I would
wait some time to calm down everybody and then approach Elina and
ask her what this was all about and what had happened that her
husband came back and how he got to know about our flirt.

I thought the International Women's Day on 8th March was a good
date to contact Elina again especially since it was a big holiday
in Russia. It had been six months since I had spoken to her
boyfriend or ex-husband. I decided to send her a small present. I
went to my local perfumery. It is a small but exquisite shop in
the town's centre. I asked the lady,

"I would like to buy a shower (!) gel for my girlfriend."

The refined, mature lady who owns the shop asked me,

"Which fragrance does your girlfriend use?"

"I am not sure," I answered.

The lady was very friendly and obviously happy that a young
person has found his way in her elegant boutique. She surely has
not many young customers. However, she proceeded by asking me, if
the 'young lady' was the sportive type or more the classic one. I
opted for the classic type. She was really nice but a little bit
too curious and chatty. I don't like that. So when she later
asked me,

"Is your girlfriend from town?"

I sharply replied, "No, from Chechnya!"

The lady kind of shrank back and didn't say a word. Her telephone
rang and she was talking to a client who asked for a make-up
session. Then having regained her composure she asked me in a 
concerned tone,

"Isn't there war going on? And isn't it a very insecure place
with lots of dangerous people?"

"Yes it is," I replied solemnly.

"Oh my God! What do you think of all this?" she demanded to know.

"I think of color, danger, mystery and romance," I retorted.

With these words of mine she kept silent for the remaining time.
I finally took a gel from Chanel with the meaningful name
'Chance' and was granted regular customer's discount even though
I had been there for the first time. I had it wrapped up as a
present and took it home. There, I wrote on a small card,

'Elina, ty maya lubymaya. Please call me.'

I wrote down my number and sealed the package. I sent it by
registered letter to ensure that it was delivered personally to
her. The only problem was that I had to write my full name on the
back of it and my address. This meant, if her ex-husband was at
home while the package was delivered he would be able to take it
away from Elina and have knowledge of my full name and address.
This wasn't a pleasant though but I was bold and desperate enough
to take this step or in other words, a young man becoming blind
to dangers because of love.

I waited for a couple of weeks but I didn't get a response. I got
a little bit nervous, didn't know what to do next. Then I decided
to check my local post office for information. The branch manager
personally checked if the package had been delivered properly. He
looked it up in the computer. He came to me and handed me the
confirmation of the delivery. It had been collected by her self.
I got depressed immediately that she hadn't responded to me in
any form. What could I do? Forget her! No way! Never! I could
visit the address but that could be dangerous because of her
ex-husband. I decided to wait and give her more time.

And one day, she did call. She told me that her ex-husband had
come back and threatened her. I was speechless. She said, that
she had experienced a horrendous time while she tried to settle
the matter with the help of the Chechen elders but that turned
out to be difficult as they were very strict and conservative. I
assured her that I would have come to serve her but she
immediately replied that she didn't want to get me into danger.
Finally she was able to leave him when the Chechen elders had
realized that she was willing to go to police and court to insist
on her rights. We were talking for a very long time and she told
me everything. When she was finished, I said,

"Honey, I think it's now time for you to enjoy life again, may I
help you with that?"

"You are welcome," Elina replied happily.

My birthday was approaching and I decided to dine out with lovely
Elina. I chose one of the best bars in the city; it's situated
inside the most luxurious Hotel of the capital, a place where
official guest of the state are accommodated. What I especially
like with this hotel is that it's only a stone's throw away from
the world famous concert hall. So when you open a window you can
sometimes listen to the great music.

In my opinion there is nothing better than to lay on the king
size bed of the Princes suite, listening to the soft sounds of
the musical masters, coming from the concert hall while watching
a beautiful girl sucking devotedly on your cock.

As we entered the dimmed bar, I immediately noticed some
celebrities sitting in the middle of the bar on a grand table.
The renowned piano player was quietly playing his superb jazz
interpretations. Well Elina, I thought to myself, you are the
first woman of your people to be invited into such a place, so I
hope you will behave well.

We settled on a small but very romantic table in the corner of
the place. Elina was dressed fashionable and sexy. She had put on
her best clothes for the event. I ordered two cocktails for us,
and enjoyed Elina's sparkling eyes as she curiously inspected the
bar and the other guests. She made the impression of being
exhilarated. I leaned over to her and whispered,

"Honey, I have to tell you something very important: Since I
first saw you, I wanted to spend a night with you, no, - not one
night, - one hundred nights!"

Elina tried to look casually but one could see that she was
excited. She looked intently into my eyes and replied,

"I know, I have felt your thoughts."

"Do you know that you are the most fascinating women I have ever
met; from the most interesting nation?"

"Really?"

"Cho chas ju, sun cho duk jes," I responded in Chechen.

"Thank you very much," she gleefully answered.

"If you fancy, we can take a suite tonight," I suggested
innocently while I nipped on my cocktail.

I put my hand gently on her cheek and stroked it. I leaned over
and planted a wet kiss on her soft lips. Elina blushed. Our
eyes met and she smiled. After a while, I thought it was time for 
her to decide if she wanted to be with me or not. There was no leeway.

"Let's go upstairs, sweetheart, they have really splendid rooms,"
I cooed.

I quickly rose up, stroking nervously my suit. I could feel the
eyes of the honored guest on me as I was standing beside our
marble table. The piano player smiled at me and the ambassador
lit his cigar. Would she follow me? Life does indeed have its 
moments. In an instant she got up and was beside me taking my 
hands tightly.

We took the Prince M. suite and while we walked hand in hand up
the old stairs of the magnificent grand staircase I detected for
the very first time a flicker of lust in Elina's eyes. This hint
increased my own anticipation of our first lovemaking
tremendously and made me beam with joy.

We entered the suite and were greeted with a splendid view of
precious antiques, tasteful furnishings, marble bathrooms, and
walls cocooned in silk. Magnificent chandeliers sparkled and
shimmered from high stucco-adorned ceilings radiating
aristocratic flair.

While I walked to the bar in the corner of the room I thought to
myself, Almost certainly I am the first man of my nation to gain
the love of this Chechen woman who never before in her life
devoted herself freely to a man. What a great triumph! Indeed of
all the girlfriends I ever had, Elina is my greatest conquest.

I brought her a glass of water, and then we kissed passionately.
Soon our hands were rubbing all over our bodies. In a moment I
stripped of my clothes and laid down on the huge bed. Elina was
intently watching every movement of me, and my naked body. Then
she carefully pilled out of her clothes. My eyes feasted on her
attractive, young body. Yet, when she had still her bra and
panties on she looked bashfully at me and said,

"Turn off the lights?"  

"Why Honey, you are so beautiful, there is nothing to hide. I
would love to watch your pretty body."

"I will rather undress in the bathroom," she answered shyly.

"Go on, sweetheart," I uttered.

Elina swiftly walked into the gilded bathroom and closed the
door. I laid on the bed and waited for her return. While I
starred at the wall I suddenly felt so tired and sleepy. I didn't
know from where this fatigue came but I had difficulty to stay
awake. At times I thought my eyelids were drooping and maybe I
even dozed off.

All of a sudden, there appeared a young man out of nowhere. He
was standing amid a large group of people; among them were all
sorts of men: great and small, rich and poor, beautiful and ugly.
Another, much smaller group emerged: they were poor and thirsty
and tried in vain to hide from the strong arms of an evil
creature. I perceived in astonishment as they took shelter within
the major group. Next I noticed this young man stepping forward
towards them. Then I watched in awe as he reached out to one
of the women of the small, miserable crowd. I cheered when I
saw how the woman looked up into his eyes, and took his hands
into hers. Finally my heart rejoiced as I observed as they
fell into each other arms and kissed passionately.

The End

Author's Note

Due to my respect for Chechen religious feelings, I have
abstained of descriptions of sexual acts.

Acknowledgments

I want to thank the following writers, academics, journalists,
professors, commentators, and military advisors for their
articles, books, essays, interviews, and stories about Chechnya
which provided me with the necessary background information:

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Lyoma Usmanov, Andrei Kolganov, Raymond
Finch, Abdurahman Avtorkhanov, Anatol Lieven, Eric Margolis,
Thomas De Waal, Magomet Galaev, Abdullah Khan, Marshall Goldman,
Alexander Bennigsen, Enders Wimbush, C. Hurst, Alexander Buzglin,
Andrew Meier, Gregory Celestan, Elena Bonner, Adam Geibel, Roger
Kangas, Wayne Madson, Mohammed Shashani, Emil Payin, Arkady
Popov, Patrick Chauvel, Kerim Fenari, Roman Khalilov, Merhat
Sharipzhan, Bruce Pannier, Antero Leitzinger, Roman Khalilov,
Sergei Arutiunov, Stephen Blank, H. Tilford, Pavel Felgenhauer,
Sophie Shihab, Aleksandr Belkin, David Hearst, Anna
Politkovskaya, Susan Layton, Vladimir Krylovskiy, Victoria
Poupko, Timothy Thomas, James Meek, C. Blandy, Jodi Koehn, David
Damrel, Boris Pankin, Vladimir Averchev, Rudolph R�ser, Vitaly
Shlykov, Ahyad Idigov, Mark Kramer, Vladimir Torin, Patrick
Cockburn, David Hoffman, Diane Roazen, Yevgenia Borisova, Joan
Phillips, Sergei Zavgorodny, Barry Renfrew, Yuri Maltsev, Brian
Whitmore, Mayerbek Nunayev, Carlotta Gall, Movladi Udugov, Robyn
Dixon, John Baddeley.

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