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human rights is routine. 24The situation should have exploded, and it exploded. That Chechens were first to revolt was to alarge extent determined by presence of oil deposits in this republic – a rather strong bargaining chipwith Moscow. Some experts even estimate that federal government will not be able to suppressChechen resistance as long as high oil-prices last. Even at the earlier stages Chechen resistance wasat a large extent based on terrorism and was characterised by the extreme brutality. 25 Still it’s worth tomention that apart from a rather small (albeit the most active) part of the local clans these people arenot looking for the total independence from Russia. Some of Chechen clans were at least neutraltowards Russians throughout all resistance, others turned to Russian side at some later stage of theconflict. Maximum that majority there wanted to achieve - was to stay formally inside Russia in order tohave access to the federal funds and other resources (including using Russia as arena for semicriminaland openly criminal clan activities) while to be independent enough to stay clear of efficientfederal control (including the taxation in the first place). It should be said in all fairness that this isexactly what Chechen republic has today in fact, if not formally.If terrorist activities here are still going on and threaten to turn into popular uprising in the other partsof North Caucasus, unrelated, even hostile to Chechen resistance, is determined by the number offactors –• Unlike Israeli, Russian government structures, including federal law enforcement forces as well asarmy are not strong and organized enough to cope efficiently with direct military and terroristthreats. Maximum they are able to achieve is intimidation of the local peaceful populationincluding kidnapping people, tortures and allegedly executions. Besides they are very corrupt andare using the ongoing conflict as a source of income.• Such smouldering conflict suits many in Russian leadership, since it provides very convenientpretext for pressing forward plenty of unpopular political decisions on the federal level, like forinstance abolishing the system of popular elections of governors of large federal administrativeunits. Besides participation of some Arab terrorists in Chechen terror activities (as well asfinancing these activities) allow the Russian leadership to dub this purely internal conflict as partof ongoing international Islamic terrorist threat and position itself alongside the leaders of theother major world powers both as victims and fighters against it.• Again local clans, which are based on mutual guarantees for its members and provide maximumprotection for anyone who violates formal laws, which clans do not recognize, turned to be readymade,close to perfect structures for terrorism, if any of them decide to undertake suchoperations.Interestingly local population has never been especially faithful Moslems. Chechens were evenknown as “bad Moslems”. Fact that they start to turm for Islam en mass bespeaks mainly the absenceof any other viable ideology that may provide easy to understand explanations of processes that takeplace in the modern globalized world and provide local population some consolation and hope in face ofquite real hardships and dangers they face daily.International terrorism. In general September 11, 2001 is considered as the date of emergence ofthe new wave of global terrorist Islamic movement. In reality though this was neither the first terror actby the foreigners inside the US, nor the first such act carried out against the US interests worldwide.Such active terrorist attracts against the US interests started at least 18 years before the 9/11, althoughthe US administration never considered them as the real danger to the national interests and fightingthem as a top policy priority. Still the 9/11 became the turning point in the formal acknowledgement ofdangers of the Islamic terrorism and launching active “war against terror” worldwide.Still such war, however justified, is based on miscomprehension that an organization known as Al-Qaeda and led by Osama Bin-Laden is basically responsible for organization and carrying out ofterrorist acts on the international arena. Accordingly all governments threatened by the Islamic terrorare mainly fighting it using standard methods of dealing with organized terror movements. In reailty thename Al-Qaeda was invented by the FBI in 1998 during investigation of terror acts against Americanembassies in Eastern Africa. It dubbed this way a pretty loose group of terrorists who gathered aroundOsama Bin-Laden. Despite the fact that it possessed some kind of organizational structure, it had neverbeen the international terrorist network, as it is generally perceived. It was to a large extent engaged infinding financing for already existing, independent terror organizations, established contacts amongthem, provided consultancy, etc. Counter terrorist operations carried by Americans in Afghanistan as24 It’s very important to underline that outside Chechnya (and nowadays even in Checnya proper) this opression isdelivered by the local “law-enforcers”.25 Chechens were practicing mass torture and decapitating of captives long before the other extremists started to do it inIraq – back in 1992-1993 in Abkhazia.135