Chechens and Ingush oppose war in IraqTimur Aliyev, North Caucaus – According to a poll taken on March 20, by our Prague Watchdog correspondent, over 90% of the people in Chechnya and the Ingush Republic oppose the war in Iraq.
However, only 8% of respondents said they support the
war in the hopes that it would adversely affect the United States or Russia. Not one person, out of roughly 150 respondents, refused to answer the question; everyone accuses the United States of launching the war.
Ruslan Badalov, human rights defender (Nazran):
- “I condemn any war, be it in Chechnya or Iraq. I’m a pacifist and do not accept that preference is given to geopolitical interests over human lives.”
Ruslan Adayev, Chechen refugee (Nazran):
- “If Russia loses from this conflict, we will profit from it. After the Iraqi war, oil prices are likely to decrease, which means Russia will not be able to spend billions of roubles daily on the war in Chechnya. Then there will be peace in our homeland.” Lyoma Nabiyev, historian (Grozny):
- “Allah decided to show His greatness by a weakened Iraq, similar to the 1996 situation in Chechnya. At that time, however, Aslan Maskhadov took the credit from Him and ended up paying for it.”
Taisa Khadzhiyev, salesman (Grozny):
- “Who cares about the war in Iraq when we don’t even know what to do with our own war.” Kyuri Beshayev, driver (Grozny):
- “This war is part of our common fight----Zionism vs. Islam.”
Ruslan Lalayev, deputy editor-in-chief (Grozny):
- “I take a very negative stance on the Iraqi war. We are Muslims. In my opinion, the US administration is to blame, as Iraq has fulfilled all the requirements. The US is starting to act like the world’s policeman. If this conflict drags on, everybody will get involved in it.” Magomet Sultygov, programmer (Nazran):
- “I support Russia’s policy in this and think they should take a more active role as now they are at a disadvantage. After all, it would be easy to provide Iraq with several C300 anti-aircraft missile systems.” Tamara Kusayeva, (Grozny):
- “I eagerly awaited it. I want that third world war to be launched and that Saddam Hussein pushes the nuclear button and destroys America. Then the Islamic world could show the Christians that they are not the only ones who have the right to decide other peoples’ lives.” Tanzila Albogachiyeva, housewife (Nazran):
- “It would be better if they solved their problems in another way. I pity the people.” (T/E) |
