...if you have one.
Do you think the Chechen rebels are mainly "Freedom Fighters" trying to resist Russian occupation and protect their own soveriegnty or are they mainly "Radical Muslim Terrorists" hellbent on spreading instability and terrorism throughout the region?
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Background on Chechnya:
1830s: Czar Nicholas I invades Caucuses, meets fierce resistance.
1859: Russia conquers, incorporates Caucuses.
1917: Russian Revolution, Dagestan (including Chechnya) declares its independence.
1923: Bolshevik troops occupy Dagestan, divide region, creating Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
1944: Stalin deports thousands of Chechens to Siberia and Kazakhstan, on suspicion of collaborating with Germany.
1957: Chechen-Ingush republic reestablished. Chechens return home.
1991: Soviet Union collapses, 14 regions become independent nations. Dzhokhar Dudayev elected president of Chechnya. Dudayev declares Chechnya independent. Russian President Boris Yeltsin refuses to recognize Chechen independence, sends troops. Confronted by armed Chechens, troops withdraw.
1994: Chechnya continues to assert its independence. Paramilitary bands accused of widespread kidnapping for ransom. Russia invades Chechnya; bloody war ensues.
1995: 10,000 Russian troops occupy Grozny. Dudayev killed by Russian rocket. Total Russian force numbers 45,000. Chechens takes hostages.
1996: Chechens launch major counteroffensive, 5,000 troops invade Grozny. Unwilling to use maximum force and destroy Grozny to defeat rebels, Russians agree to ceasefire. Yeltsin orders troops withdrawn from Chechnya. Russian military humiliated. 70,000 casualties on all sides.
1997: Chechnya won't accept Moscow's authority. Aslan Maskhadov elected Chechen president. Name of capital changed from the Russian Grozny, to the Chechen Djohar. Lawlessness in Chechnya continues.
1999: Terrorist bombs explode in Moscow and other Russian cities. Russian authorities blame Chechen paramilitary commanders. Chechen insurgents enter neighboring Russian territory of Dagestan to help Islamic fundamentalists seeking to create separate nation. Russian troops recapture breakaway areas of Dagestan. Yeltsin sends nearly 100,000 Russian troops into Chechnya. Russians occupy much of Chechnya, pulverize Grozny, driving rebels into hills. 250,000 refugees.
2000: Despite Russian claims of imminent victory, war continues. Russians are unable to defeat rebels in mountainous areas. United Nations officials call for investigations of alleged human rights abuses by Russian troops and by Chechen rebels. New Russian President Vladimir Putin agrees to human rights investigation, continues war.
2001: Following the attacks on the World Trade Center, the White House urges separatist rebel leaders in Russia's Chechnya province to cut ties with terrorist groups.
2002: Informal peace talks. In August, Chechen rebels shoot down a Russian military helicopter, killing more than 100. October, Chechen rebels hold 800 Russian citizens hostage in Moscow theater and are killed in Russian military rescue/raid. December, Chechen suicide bombers ram two truck-bombs into Gov't buildings in Chechen capitol of Grozny killing at least 40.