Re: Beslan & Russian banditry

[Chris Doss <lookoverhere1@xxxxxxxxx>]

Kagarlitsky also blamed 9/11 on McVeigh-type
rightwingers initially. He has a thing for conspiracy
theories. But, like I said, who knows?

Like I said, large sums of money are being sent to
Chechnys for reconstruction and some homes are being
rebuilt. (Chechnya has only 1, maybe 1.5 if you count
Gudermes, real city.) The problem, as everywhere, is
corruption. It's a long way from the federal center to
the ordinary person in Chechnya, and a little gets
skimmed off every step of the way, starting from high
officials and working all the way down to the Chechen
cops. Supposedly, only half of the money earmarked for
reconstruction of Chechnya actually makes its way to
the people. (This is actually an improvement relative
to the situation in the late 90s, in which half was
stolen by Russian bureaucrats and the rest by Chechen
warlords. Maskhadov used it to buy guns.) Some
businesses are being rebuilt, esp. in oil refining.
All the money from oil goes to the Chechen government.
Chechnya has an unemployment rate of something like
90%.

The tragedy is that, unlike the US and Iraq, Russia is
not separated from Chechnya by thousands of miles of
water. It can't withdraw with Chechnya in the shape
it's in for fear it will be used as a base to
destabilize the Caucasus (again). On the other hand
it's not in a position to be able to really rebuild
it. That's why this conflict will last for a LONG
time.

--- Michael Perelman <michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

> Kagarlitsky supported the idea that the Moscow
> authorities did the bombing.  I have
> not real information about the subject.
>
> By saying that Putin has no positive policy I meant
> something more signficant than
> supporting relgious moderates.  I meant building
> cities; not bombing them.
>
> I cannot see how the US could do that in Iraq except
> by withdrawing.  What is Putin
> doing?
>
> My problem with the discussion is that you seem to
> say that the Chechin separatists
> are bad.  Others say they are good.  Much of the
> rest seems to degenerate into
> name-calling.
>  --
> Michael Perelman
> Economics Department
> California State University
> Chico, CA 95929
>
> Tel. 530-898-5321
> E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
>




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