Unforeseen Contingencies

I'm adding another site to the Unforeseen Contingencies list of news sources: Kavkaz Center, which is essentially the news service of the anti-Russian rebels in Chechnya. I read the site from time to time, and have been watching it lately, waiting for them to take a side in the Libyan conflict. They were non-committal for a while, but have finally budged: they seem to have decided that the intervention is an anti-Islam Crusade.

The implications of the story are interesting. I certainly agree with Alain Juppé's alleged comment (I cannot find any source other than jihadist websites for it) that any regime that oppresses its people should be in jeopardy. OTOH, bombing is generally not effective at changing regimes. In Libya's case, bombing had an immediate effect of saving the lives of many, many people who opposed Qaddafi's regime, and there's ample justification and reason to bomb Qaddafi himself; hence bombing made sense. OTOH, bombing the Saudi regime would make little sense. The regime is offensively illiberal, but it also poses a check on the equally illiberal Iranian regime. And it is hard to figure out what good bombing might accomplish, unlike the situation in Libya. Regardless, I don't believe anyone is seriously contemplating bombing Saudi Arabia... unless it is Iran.

On an unrelated note, here's another Kavkaz Center article. According to it, the parents of anti-Russian rebels are being forced by the Russians to beg their children to surrender, with threats of violence against rebels' parents if they don't. I'm reminded of Stalin's notorious Order No. 270 that provided for the arrest and punishment of family members of soldiers who retreated or were captured during the Second World War. It's no surprise, but Putin's government appears to be resurrecting Stalinesque brutality.

All very interesting. I'll be posting something on another critic of the Libyan intervention soon -- Lew Rockwell. Like Kavkaz Center, he's opposed to the Libyan intervention, but quite unlike them, he's a supporter of Putin and his Stalinesque policies.