Terrorism and the Politics of Naming by Michael Bhatia

Author:Michael Bhatia [Bhatia, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781317969853
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2013-10-18T00:00:00+00:00

Notes

1 If one adds together the casualties in all the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, then this figure could be exceeded. See V Pupa vac, 'Disputes over war casualties in former Yugoslavia', Radical Statistics, 69, 1998, at http://www.radstats.org.uk/no069/article3.htm. Like the conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo, reliable statistics of civilian deaths in Chechnya are hard to come by and are prone to be inflated or understated for propaganda purposes by the warring sides. Akhmed Zakayev, the deputy prime minister of the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria claims that 180 000 civilians have died in the two wars. International Herald Tribune, 18 June 2004. The highest aggregate for those killed in both wars of 250 000 was reported on a pro-separatist website, http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/article.php?id=2899, 20 June 2004.

2 Valentina Melnikova, of the Russian Soldiers' Mothers Committee, released the figure of 25000 on 4 May 2004, during an interview on the radio station, Ekho Moskvy. See C Gurin, 'Group claims 25 000 Russian soldiers have died in Chechnya', The Jamestown Foundation, Eurasia Daily Monitor, 1 (3), 5 May 2004. By way of comparison, there were 14 751 combat deaths during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979–89). PF Kisak, 'Recently declassified Soviet War and US covert casualties', at http://www.geocities.com/echomoscow/warcasualties.html. The same source cites 8943 Russian combat deaths in the two Chechen wars up until the end of 2001.

3 The pro-separatist Kavkaz Center accuses Western media and governments of paying more attention to animal rights issues than to the Chechen war. S Sattayev, 'Litsemeriye i nenavist" (Hypocrisy and hate), at http://www.kavkaz.org.uk/russ/article.php?id=23998.

4 First identified in my forthcoming work, J Russell, 'A war by any other name. . .perceptions of the conflict in Chechnya: 11 September and the war against terrorism', in R Sakwa (ed), Chechnya: From the Past to the Future, London: Anthem Press, 2005.

5 Paddy Ashdown, 'We must aim for a Kosovan protectorate', Observer, 28 March 1999. If one takes Iceland as the western, and the Urals as the eastern, extreme of Europe, then the midway line would run through Priština, placing the capital of Kosovo firmly in the centre of Europe!

6 I have discussed the parallels between the Chechen and Scottish highlanders' experiences in J Russell, 'Mujahedeen, mafia, madmen: Russian perceptions of Chechens during the wars in Chechnya, 1994–96 and 1999–2001', Communist Studies and Transition Politics, 18 (1), 2002, pp 73–96.

7 L Tolstoi, Hadji-Murat, Moscow: Khudozhestvennaya Literatura, 1965, p 110.

8 'Cossack Lullaby' by Mikhail Lermontov, translated in L Kelly, Tragedy in the Caucasus, London: Constable, 1977, p 207. The film about the current conflict, 'Chechen Lullaby' (Nino Kirtadze, France, 2000) commences with a reading from this poem.

9 I Rybkin, Consent in Chechnya, Consent in Russia, London: Lytten Trading, 1998, p 157.

10 See, for example, http://www.abrek.vov.ru/.

11 The word razboinik (robber) can also be used in an affectionate, jocular sense, particularly when addressing children, to mean a 'scamp' or a 'scallywag'.

12 Yury Botyakov, 'Abrechestvo—real'nost' i predrassudki' (The Abrek way of life—reality and prejudices), Nezavisimaya gazeta, 29 August 2003.

13 Apart from the Chechens, the Ingush, Balkars, Karachai, Kalmyks, Germans,

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