Western Resistance

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October 28, 2006

North Caucasus: The Caliphate Cometh

Recently, Western Resistance set off to Russia's North Caucasus region to get a better understanding of what is happening in this tumultuous area. WR visited North Ossetia, Ingushetia, and Chechnya and met with a wide variety of people on both sides of the conflict, including federal forces and Islamists.

Before I go into my series of articles from this trip, I will say right away that Russia is still in great danger of losing the North Caucasus. The efforts by Moscow over the past decade to stop devout Muslims from establishing a totalitarian Caliphate in the region could well come to naught.

Even though the Chechen insurrection has been crushed, the republic is being islamicized by the brutal warlord, Ramzan Kadyrov. Other regions --- Ingushetia, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, Adygeya as well as the nominally Christian North Ossetia --- are also facing violent revivals of the Mohammedan cult of death.

Islam in Russia is focused in two areas --- Tatarstan and the North Caucasus. Since Islam was voluntarily accepted by the Tatars and Bashkirs, its version of the Mohammedan cult is not so violent. The peoples of the North Caucasus, however, were converted by the sword, as was the case in most Muslim countries in the world today. Some of these nations, such as the Ingush, were Christians until just a few centuries ago. An Ingush scholar, over hushed conversation, told me how he knew of 18th century Ingush structures in the mountains with Christian symbols engraved on them.

Given the violence and bloodshed that led to the conversion of the peoples of the North Caucasus, it's no surprise that feelings of violence and militancy remain strong among them.

Our trip began in Vladikavkaz, the capital of the North Ossetian republic. Breakfast at the central hotel is full of Russian men. Even if most aren't in uniform, it doesn't take a genius to realize that they are federal soldiers and FSB agents. Some are to be deployed in Chechnya and Ingushetia. Others are preparing for a possible conflict with Georgia over its break-away region of South Ossetia.

In the very heart of Vladikavkaz, the 19th century mosque on the river embankment (pictured above) has reopened. It was still closed a year ago when I visited last. The authorities have made a big mistake by allowing this mosque to reopen. While most Ossetians are nominally Christians, there are only two or three churches in this city of about 300,000. Most people don't believe in anything.

The mosque was built before the Bolshevik revolution, when Inghush lived in the city. Stalin deported all of them to Siberia in 1944, along with the Chechens for their support of Hitler's armies. Khrushchev let them return in the 1960s, but by that time many of their homes were being lived in by other people. In late 1992, the Ingush made a rash attempt to seize their ancestral lands, and launched ethnic cleansing against the Ossetians and other nationalities.

Witnesses of that fighting told WR that the conflict was not only ethnic. Some Ingush fighters wore green headbands and shouted Islamic slogans going into battle. This was just the beginning of the jihad in the North Caucasus.

The Ingush are slowly starting to return to certain parts of North Ossetia, and they are bringing the Mohammedan cult with them. The region seems fertile ground for them. The opening of the central mosque on the river bank is just one step. Islam's intolerance meets you at the door. One of the notices on the mosque's facade tells visitors that there is no god but Allah, and that Mohammed is his one and only prophet. The message is clear --- you are either with us or against us. I thought back to such a bulletin board that I've seen many times in many American churches, where you often see, ``God is love'' or something similar. Has anyone ever seen, ``Allah is love'' on a mosque's bulletin board? What will happen to this lovely mountainous republic if Muslims ever become a majority?

Well, I did got the chance to see what might happen. I set off for Beslan, a 50-minute drive, to see its school and cemetery. The work of devout Muslims was quite thorough here. As you all know, there was a body count of 361, and half were children. Since they were devout Muslims, the terrorists were careful to pray five times a day, so I was told by former hostages. No further comment needed.

The next day I set out for Ingushetia and Chechnya. Stay tuned for that story.

Beslan school (above)

Posted by Jean de la Valette at October 28, 2006 2:31 PM

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Posted by: StillFedUp at October 28, 2006 4:03 PM

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