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CounterPunch
October
29, 2002
From Russia
with Gas
The Calmatives Before the Storm
by ANTHONY GANCARSKI
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the recent
Russian "liberation" of a Moscow theater besieged by
Chechen separatist rebels was not that there was a significant
body count at the end; that's to be expected from the Moscow
government, whether past or present. Rather, most interesting
about the whole affair is the remarkable media consensus that
Putin was justified in flooding the occupied building with poison
gas.
In the US, it is expected that most who
make a living as media personalities will espouse the Washington
Consensus, which is that since Russia and Putin are US allies
in the Terror War, it follows that the Russian government is
justified in using all available means to quash domestic dissent.
It is a position that privileges government over the governed,
and it is a position with dire ramifications for the notion that
we are not enslaved by our governments.
It doesn't surprise me so much to hear
a random Neo-Conservative making the case for state terror as
a consensus-builder as it does to read a Leading Article in the
INDEPENDENT supporting that very argument. In "Mr. Putin
Was Right to End the Siege, but Let Him Be Honest About the Mistakes",
the INDEPENDENT misses an opportunity to speak out against governments
using airborne toxins in police actions, opting instead to lend
credibility to those same despicable acts.
The piece starts off, curiously enough,
anticipating criticism. "It is unreasonable to be too critical,
with the advantage of hindsight, of the decision taken by Vladimir
Putin, the Russian President, to end the siege at the Moscow
theatre. With the hostage-takers plainly sincere in their willingness
to die, it was obvious that the prospect of the siege ending
peacefully was minimal." Doubletalk, of course, rooted in
an unwillingness to choose the wrong side on this issue. To extend
the argument of the "Leading Article" to its logical
end, it follows that state use of poison gas is perfectly acceptable
if negotiation has a "minimal" chance of success. The
article leaves it to us to define what minimal means in either
Putin's mind or the mind of his apologist at the London paper.
Having established this threshold of
permissibility for a leader gassing his own people, the article
goes on to rehash the usual tired bromides. The Russians should
be willing to discuss ending their assault on Chechnya, should
be willing to discuss granting the Chechens independence from
Moscow rule, but cannot countenance the actions of Chechen "terrorists".
Let's leave it aside that this act of so-called terrorism has
done more to raise world awareness of the Chechen plight than
anything since the US began serious attempts to buy Russian support
for the impending occupation of Iraq. The INDEPENDENT holds that
"It was, therefore, not so much a question of whether to
send in the special forces, but when and how. . .the question
of whether using the mystery gas to knock out hostage-takers
and hostages alike was the right tactic or not is therefore secondary."
A secondary question indeed, as "national leaders around
the world. . . will recognise that it may be their sombre responsibility
one day to deal with a similar situation . . .the next time a
group of desperadoes somewhere in the world takes civilians prisoner."
Anthony Gancarski
is a regular contributor to CounterPunch. His work has recently
been featured in Utne Reader's "Web Watch". He can
be emailed at Anthony.Gancarski@attbi.com.
Yesterday's
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A Letter
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Bush's
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Patrick Cockburn
Putin's Gas:
115 Killed by Poison Gas
Anthony Gancarski
Johnny Muhammad Got His Gun
William Hughes
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