] But winning is dangerous, if you don't have discipline.
] The Russians pulled out -- and the Chechens turned into
] monsters. The biggest industry in the country was
] kidnapping. They kidnapped more than 3,000 Russians in
] cross-border raids between 1997-99. To convince the
] relatives to part with the ransom, they released videos
] of some hardworking loony sawing off the hostage's head
] with a sheepgutting knife. Another video I saw shows the
] Chechen kidnappers shooting off a Russian hostage's
] finger, then laughing as he cries in pain.
]
] All these gory hostage videos coming out of Iraq -- it
] was the Chechens who were the pioneering filmmakers. Not
] sure there's an Oscar for most innovative Terrorist Film,
] but if there is the Chechens deserve it.
]
] Meanwhile Shamil Basaev, sort of a Chechen version of
] Nathan Bedford Forrest, launched incredible raids deep
] into Russia, which ended with hundreds of Russian
] civilians dead. The Chechens were so confident of Russian
] weakness that they actually tried to invade the Russian
] republic of Daghestan, take it over, and create an
] oil-rich independent Muslim country on the Caspian Sea.
] The original quagmire: elephant shown here stuck in mud,
] awaiting hyenas.
]
] The original quagmire: elephant shown here stuck in mud,
] awaiting hyenas.
]
] All this gore was good for one guy -- a little colonel
] named Putin. He sent the Army back into Chechnya with
] better plans and supplies in 1999. They did much better
] this time around -- wiped out the big rebel units in a
] few months, and took Grozny the smart way -- by razing it
] to the ground from afar before sending in Russian
] soldiers. It made him so popular that Yeltsin stepped
] aside, and Putin is still just about the most popular
] leader since, well, Stalin.

About military Quagmire

eXile - Issue #203 - War Nerd - The 2004 Quagmire Bowl! - By Gary Brecher