Chechnyan Jihad Against Russia, And The Slavic Conquest (1800-2007)

The region of the Caucasus mountains -- today				fundamentalist Islamic culture of the Turks
including southern Russia, Armenia, Georgia,				in the region (outside of Russified Sochi as
and Azerbaijan -- has a complicated ethnic,				shown above), this struggle has assumed the
religious, and political history that has				form of violent Jihad and terrorism. The
caused it to be one of the most war-torn				racial and religious conflict has caused
regions in Eurasia today. The role of				Russia, responsible even for the defeat of
religion epitomizes this timeless conflict:				the Axis in entirety, to feel great fear of
Georgia and Armenia are the world's two				the Muslim non-Russian minority.
oldest Christian (Orthodox) country, having
defended and retained their faith as the				Nearly all breakaway ethnic groups seeking
bulwark of their culture since the early 4th				independence via violence in Europe are in
century. Azerbaijan is Shi'ia Muslim due to				the former USSR states, most of whom Muslim
the influence of Safavid Shi'ia Iran. The				non-Slavic Turks. The southern tip of Russia
inhabitants in the North Caucasus (today the				(North Caucasus) is a patchwork of Turkic
southernmost tip of Russia) are almost				Muslim fundamentalist "republics" (legally
universally Sunni Muslim due to the long				part of Russia). Among them are Islamic
history of Islamic Mujahidin (Jihadist)				Adygea, Dagestan, Chechnya,
presence in the region by Turkic Tatar armies				Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachai-Cherkessia,
whose Jihad forced the Christian Europeans to				Ingushya, etc. Each of their languages is
the west to tremble with fear for nearly 800				either related to Turkish or Georgian, but
years. Most of the North Caucasian Muslim				their race and culture are Turkish, their
tribes speak Turkic languages and are				religion a fundamental brand of Islam. Anger
ethnically, culturally, and religiously				over continued perceived Russian "hegemony"
Turkish Sunni Tatars. Some of the Muslim				against these Turkic righteous Muslims, over
tribes in the Caucasus include the Ingush,				the lack of independent statehood after the
the Adygeans, Karachai, Bashkirs, Dagestanis,				1991 Soviet collapse, hatred for the
Chechnyans, and the Kalbards.				leadership of the Jewish oligarchy in Russia
				and its Christian Slavic culture, and the
The North Caucasian Muslim Tatars enjoyed the				lack of a theocratic Islamic Jihadist state
rule of their Muslim brothers of the empires				in the Caucasus all have pitted the Slavs
of Ak Quyunlu, Qara Quyunlu, the Golden				against the Caucasian Muslims in this age of
Horde, the original Arab Jihad empire after				terrorism. The central organ of this
Muhammad's death (the Umuyyad kalifate), the				pan-Islamic Jihad against the Christian
Baghdad-centered Abbasid empire, and finally				Russians is Chechnya, as was such during the
the Jihad state of their Ottoman Turkish				reign of the nearly-mythical culture hero
brothers to the south. But the gradual				Imam Shamil for his violent Jihad in the 19th
decline of the Ottoman empire that became				century as shown above. The Chechnyan Jihad
apparent by 1800 (as well as the Turks'				-- along with that of the Kurds against the
distraction to bigger conflicts with the				Turks -- has claimed the lives of more than
Christian Slavs in the Balkans and the Shi'ia				the terrorism of al-Qa'ida several times
infidels in Iran) caused the Turkic Tatar				over. The Chechnyan perspective blames the
Muslims in the Caucasus to gradually become				Russians' history of colonial oppression and
marginalized and vulnerable. The tribal				military intervention as much worse by
confederation-style governments that appeared				comparison. The Chechnyan Jihad and struggle
amongst these Caucasian Muslim communities as				for independence has gained mass appeal to
well as rocky mountains prevented the				their Turkic brothers to the south in
formation of any unified nation or political				Azerbaijan, Turkey, the Arab world, Iran, and
force to defend the Mujahidin here. Most				Central Asia. The main leader of this
tribes here were crop farmers and animal				pan-Turkic Jihad was terrorist commander and
herders as is seen today in the region. By				Chechnyan Vice President Shamil Basayav
1800, the Ottoman Turks' decline was				شمِيل
complimented by the ascension of the new				بسايو) or Amir
world superpower: the Russian Empire of the				Abdullah. The political leaders were
Orthodox faith. The Swedish czarina of Russia				Islamists Dzhokhar Dudaev and Aslan
Katherina the Great had already conquered the				Mashkadov. The duty of Jihad attracted
Tatar Jihadists of the Crimean peninsula of				thousands of Mujahidin Islamic fighters from
modern Ukraine, slaughtering tens of				other Muslim nations with great haste. The
thousands, incinerating all its mosques,				so-called Islamic Republic of IÃ§hkeria was
banning Islam under penalty often of death,				declared as a Taliban-esque state in the
and expelled thousands. Many who remained				Caucasus. The neighboring Dagestanis and
fled to Islamist empires like that of the				other Turkic peoples did the same. Little
Ottomans or Iran (Persia), where in the				Russian intervention was ordered until 1994,
latter the ultra-fundamentalist Shi'ia				but when violence and terrorism first ensued,
theocracy declared the Sunni Turkic				Russia sent a massive army in the First
Caucasians heretics and executed many. So				Chechnyan War. Russia -- whose authority
too, by 1900, Russians had also conquered and				extends over so many non-Russian ethnic
annexed the Sunni Jihadist emirates of				groups (typically Turkic Muslims) -- feared
Central Asia -- including the ethnic Mongol				that allowing Chechnya and neighboring
Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and Turkic				breakaway states to exist would encourage
Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. Nearly				more breakaway republics like Tatarstan
100,000,000 Muslims lived and died under				around Kazan in central Russia. The brutal
Russian authority before 1991 (when the				three-year war was a disaster for the
Islamic republics gained independence).				Russians, as the incredible will of the
Russia's expansive efforts in all directions,				Mujahidin, the difficult terrain, poor
their endless wars with the Ottomans (who				infrastructure, the ease for the Islamic
ruled Crimea and de facto the Caucasus), and				fighters to retreat to the deep mountains,
the rich trading [and later oil]				and the guerilla tactics of the Muslims made
opportunities Russia could inherit from the				the war nearly unwinnable in this tiny
Black Sea spelled a coming doom for the				region. The Muslims mass slaughtered
Caucasian Muslims soon to be conquered by the				Christian Slavs, including women and
infidel. Russia also was interested in				children, and used mass hostage-taking
protecting the Christian Georgians and				tactics to discourage Russian bombardment.
Armenians (who they annexed from Iran in the				The tactic worked in their favor, and the
19th century) under Islamic rule. The Russian				hostages were killed by the hundreds. The war
invasion of the Islamic Caucasus thus began.				culminated in the brutal Battle of Grozniy,
				where more than 25,000 died on both sides.
The threat of annihilation encouraged warring				Though Russia eventually conquered the
Muslim Turkic tribes here to coalesce for the				capital, the fact that nearly every Muslim in
first time into native nation-states under				the Muslim-majority region of southern Russia
the banner of Jihad, Islamic theocracy, and				ended up in aid to the Islamic fidayin
the command of al-Qur'an (the Koran) for all				(fighters) against Russian hegemony made the
Muslims to embrace the duty of the Mujahid				battle a disaster yet again. The war quickly
and Jihad to defend Islam from the unclean				spread to Dagestan to the east, which Russia
and the "hypocrites" that are non-believers.				invaded additionally. The Muslims under
The first of these unifying leaders was Imam				Shamil Basayev cooked up the broilers by
Shamil, a Sufi cleric and imam who organized				bombing civilian hospitals, retirement homes,
the Turkic tribes, created the new government				schools, churches, police departments, pand
in 1834 along the Caucasus, required the hajj				movie theatres as far away as Moscow, leaving
pilgrimage to Makkah, required pencefold				hundreds of Russians dead. Mass
prayer per day (Salah), and trained new				hostage-taking occurred all throughout Russia
military legions of Islamic fighters. All				and Dagestan, where hundreds were shot or
Christians were ordered killed or expelled.				stabbed to death. Other pro-Chechnyan Muslims
The chant of Allahu Akhbar (God is most great				from as far away as Jordan and Turkey even
أللّهُ				held hostage small ferry boats in the Black
أكبر ) drove the				Sea carrying civilians on tour, threatening
tribes into battle against a common Russian				to kill hundreds of people therein if Russia
Christian enemy, the largest empire on earth.				did not cease the attack. Many Turks in
				Turkey and otherwise supported the Jihad in
"A Muslim may obey the Shari'ah, but all his				this fashion, as well as against Greek
giving of Zakat, all his Salat and ablutions,				Cypriot passenger ships and planes, believing
all his pilgrimages to Makka, are as nothing				that the Greeks and Russians are in the same
if a Russian eye looks upon them. Your				league of anti-Muslim oppression. The war was
marriages are unlawful, your children				a brutal disaster, causing Russians
bastards, while there is one Russian left in				(non-Turks) to fear for their lives all
your lands!"				across the world's largest continent due to
				the work of the Muslims in the tiny southern
Source: Amina				regions alone. Both sides claim that the
				other performed horrific war crimes, with the
The capital of this Jihad state was at Sochi				Muslims killing hundreds of civilians at a
on the Black Sea coast, today a thriving				time, and Russians performing anything from
Russian-owned coastal resort city and the				mass-bombings of mosques to "drunken
site of the 2014 Olympics (see the end for my				rampages" in which hundreds of Muslim
observations from my vacation there). Grozniy				civilians were killed in a single night.
became an important center of the new
Dagestani-Chechnyan Jihad state, now the				The First Chechnyan War ended with a virtual
capital of the breakaway Chechnyan terrorist				stalemate. Russia believed it had proven its
nation (often called the Islamic Republic of				political rights to the territory by
IÃ§hkeria by the locals). The Russians'				practically demolishing the capital (Grozniy)
superior tactics, commanders, firearms, and				to the ground, but the Muslims took pride in
cavalry quickly overrun the Mujahidin Turks.				the fact that their holy armies of Islam had
Troop transport into the region was eased by				repelled one of the largest armies on earth.
the construction of naval harbors in Russia's				De facto independence was thus achieved to
new Black Sea coastal territory. Nonetheless,				the Muslims (and the Islamic Republic of
the sheer will of the the Caucasian Muslims				IÃ§hkeria/Chechnya), and the Islamic
to fight the Christians to the death in the				Jihadists operated virtually independently.
name of Allah and Muhammad offered a brutal				As was obvious, no Russian could force them
resistance, aided by the Caucasus' difficult				to do otherwise thus far. But by 1999, the
mountainous terrain. The Caucasian War over				Second Chechnyan War began when the Muslims
such a tiny territory took an incredible				of Chechnya pressed into neighboring states
amount of time for its size due to the will				legally under Russian control, including
of the Islamic fighters, with some historical				Ingushetya and Dagestan (though both had
citations dating from 1815-1870 when their				already aided the Jihad in full). Russia
capital of Sochi finally fell. The inability				returned with a large army, and the Jihad
for the Jihadists to be tamed forced Russia				continued against civilians in Russian trains
to adopt a brutal scorched earth policy akin				and even in hotels, killing hundreds.
to that of the Timurid Uzbek Jihad or the				Children's hospitals and day-care centers
Golden Horde. Conquered villages were often				were even bombed. More military leaders and
burnt to the ground, their food reserved				Islamic fighters from all across the Muslim
destroyed or seized, their mosques were				world -- whose eyes were looking upon
demolished, thousands slaughtered, and				Chechnya generally with vivid approval for
thousands more expelled. Equally so,				their resistance to Russian secular hegemony
victorious Muslims burnt Russian settlers'				of the native Islamic peoples -- including
villages and camps, publicly desecrated their				from Saudi Arabia (like general Amir
churches and Bibles, executed priests and				Khattab), Iran, Iraq, Syria, Uzbekistan,
settlers en masse by the thousands, and by				Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Lebanon,
killing or raping (or so it is said) their				Palestine outside of Israel, and as far away
women and female nurses. Slavery -- legal in				as Islamic Indonesia. The president of
Islam -- was also used as a tactic by the				Chechnya, previously a regional governor,
Muslims after battle victories to discourage				called for another Jihad against Russia and
the infidels' colonial conquest. Hundreds of				its infidel Slavs. This war was arguably more
thousands died in the long war between Slavic				brutal, and in many ways continues to this
Christendom and Turkic Sunni Islam. Russian				day whenever the Jihad fails to end. Muslims
legions simultaneously annexed Armenia and				from the region blew up a series of hospitals
Georgia from Iran and the Turks in order to				and homes in central Russia, killing more
gain effective Christian allies in the long				than 300 civilians during the war. Russia
war, as well as to prevent Mujahidin from				returned to the region this time with full
Anatolia (modern Turkey), Azerbaijan, or Iran				ballistic missiles, cavalry, and artillery.
from coming to the aid of their brothers in				The Russians were not going to be humiliated
the Caucasus. The supplanting of the Ottomans				again, they said, and they were hardened by
and Iranians, the growth of Russian navy and				anger against the Muslims for their slaughter
military settlements on the Black Sea coast,				of Russian civilians, as well as the
and the acquisition of Georgian and Armenian				widespread hatred of Muslims and Turks by
Christian allies eventually made the Islamic				Russians. Aleksandr Litvinenko, the famous
victory impossible. Russia eventually annexed				poisoned spy, was a close associate of the
the region all the way to the borders of				Chechnyans and himself a Muslim convert near
modern Turkey and Iraq. Now after having lost				his death. His poisoning for his support to
Armenia, Georgia, and Shi'ia Azerbaijan,				the Muslims encouraged many Muslims to think
Russia retains the northern border north of				that Russia and Vladimir Putin had ordered
the breakaway states of Abkhazia and Ossetia.				the assassination of their own spy, or even
Imam Shamil, the Jihadists' commander, was				blown up the hospitals in an attempt to rally
captured, imprisoned, and eventually expelled				public support for the Muslims. The Russians
from Europe to Arabia to end his life in				bombed the capital of Grozniy once again for
Islam's holiest land. Some estimate as many				nearly a year, virtually leveling the city to
as millions died in the war, most being				ash, until the territory was fully and
Russians due to the fact that there are so				legally reincorporated into the Russian
few settlers in the North Caucasus. Though				Federation by Vladimir Putin's government in
the Islamic Jihad had failed, the Muslims of				2000. Unionist politicians of Chechnya who
the region would remain rebellious and				sought peace to spare the Muslim righteous
ultraconservative to their Islamic heritage				ones from more calamity were generally killed
until today, causing the North Caucasus to be				as traitors, including president Kadyrov.
in many parts in a state of constant revolt				Shamil Basayev, the terrorist leader and hero
and often Jihad for the last 150 years. The				to fundamentalist militant Muslims the world
Russian Empire -- the largest nation on earth				over, was killed in a vehicle in Ingushetya
then and now -- by 1900 stretched from				in 2006. It is not known which party was
Lutheran Finland to Inuit Alaska, and from				responsible for the death, but it was most
the Arctic to northern Afghanistan				obviously the Russians or the local Russian
(Durranistan). Like the Crimean Tatars and				minority.
the culturally-Turkic Uzbeks and Kazakhs now
under Russian rule as well, the Muslim Turks				Nonetheless, the Jihad continued, and thus
of the Caucasus did not integrate nor				the Second Chechnyan War arguably lives on.
assimilate. They remained staunchly Islamic				However, the formerly-rogue state of Chechnya
and culturally Turkish, often in private to				is once again under Russian authority to the
ease ethnic persecution or to circumvent the				extent possible. Terrorist attacks have even
illegality of Islam. Their culture declined				increased in a sense by the Muslim hand. The
but remained in isolation due to the				2002 Moscow theatre attack, nearly 600 miles
difficulty of the mountainous terrain and the				north of the Islamic south, forced some 800
inability for the Tatars of the Caucasus to				Russians into hostage bondage, threatening to
rally any effective revolution or full-scale				blow themselves up with all the civilians if
Jihad against the Slavs. Tens of thousands of				Russia does not withdraw. Chants of "Allahu
those who survived additionally fled to the				Akhbar!" (God is most great) accompanied the
Ottoman Empire or Iran to be protected by				filming of terrorist videos from the
fellow Muslims; in the latter, like the				projection booth allegedly. A disasterous
Tatars in the Crimea, many were killed by the				Russian military intervention pumped gas into
Shi'ia Persian government for their heretical				the theatre, killing 129 hostages and 41
Sunni faith. During World War II, the				Muslim terrorists. Hundreds were killed in
invading Axis Romanians, Hungarians, Germans,				several different terrorist attacks in Slavic
Italians, and Bulgarians found a loyal ally				Russia and the Muslim south alike, including
in the Mujahidin Muslims under Soviet				a car bomb against the unionist Chechnyan
authority; the Muslims quickly bound to the				government headquarters, killing hundreds
Fascists out of mutual hatred of Jews,				alone. The Jihad gained the financial and
Communists, Stalin, and the secular and				military backing of al-Qa'ida as well. Female
atheist governments of the Allies. For their				suicide bombers ("shahidka") wore full burqas
support of the enemy, Stalin expelled nearly				and covered themselves in bombs. Two planes
every single Muslim in Russia to Kazakhstan				were hijacked in Russia during this time,
(the Kazakh SSR). After Stalin's death and				slaying everyone on board on both. In 2004,
the liberalization of Gorbachev's regime,				Shamil Basayev commanded the Mujahidin in the
Muslims and Tatars were allowed finally to				Beslan school hostage crisis, holding nearly
return home. The Crimean Tatars of modern				1,000 young Russian children hostage for
Slavic Ukraine gradually abandoned their				several days, threatening to kill them all
staunch Islamic roots, but the Muslims of the				along with themselves if Russia did not
new Central Asian republics like Uzbekistan				withdraw. Another poor-planned Russian
and the Muslims of Chechnya, Dagestan,				intervention in a major battle with the
Ingushetiya, and the North Caucasus retain				Muslims left some 330 people dead, including
conservative Islam often in the form of Jihad				186 children (Source: The Scotsman). The
and terrorism.				Russian carelessness throughout both wars
				towards civilians and Muslims is a source
As is apparent, the modern Jihad by the				that fuels the Jihad even further.
Chechnyans against the Russians -- like the
Jihad of other Islamic peoples throughout the				Today, the Russians' legacy of conquest of
world -- is not a new phenomenon in the				Islamic peoples has caused it to have one of
post-colonial and post-9/11 world as most are				the largest Muslim populations in Europe at
taught, but rather an indivisible attribute				some 3.8% ethnic Tatar, 1.2% Turkic Bashkir,
of Islamic heritage and history since the day				1.1% Chuvash Turks (thousands being
that Muhammad sat atop the mountain whereupon				excluded), and 10-15% Muslim (Source: CIA
Gabriel revealed to him what is now al-Qur'an				World Factbook). Most of central Russia is
nearly 1,500 years ago. The Jihad of these				ethnic Mongol (Asian) or Turkic, and most of
Turkic peoples (outside of nearby Sochi) in				the far northeast is of Inuit "Eskimo"
the Caucasus rages on today arguably more				tribes. Western central Russia has a large
intensely than it did during the above				Muslim population around Tatarstan, Kazan,
Caucasian War, with the targets now being				Chuvashia, etc., regions that were during the
innocent Russian Christian civilians anywhere				Mongol period Jihad states that Ivan the
from movie theatres in Moscow to elderly				Terrible obliterated in the 16th century.
hospitals instead of invading soldiers. The				Nonetheless, the far south of Russia remains
fact that the Islamic Uzbeks, Kazakhs,				of the Turkish/Circassian Caucasian race with
Turkmen, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Kyrgyz, and				the Sunni faith. This ethnic, religious, and
Tajiks all acquired independence from the				social conflict out of demands for
brutal atheistic rule that was Stalin's				independence just as much as an innate
Soviet Union by 1991 but the Tatar and				religious conflict rages on today, causing
Circassian Turkic Muslims of the Caucasus did				the Slavs to live constantly with
not achieve nationhood has fueled an intense				apprehension for the next slash of the blade
independence-seeking war for the last decade.				of Islam.
Due to the ultraconservative and

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Chechnyan Jihad Against Russia, And The Slavic Conquest (1800-2007)