Putin, Bush and Chechnya

This op-ed in today's Washington Post by Masha Lipman details how Putin has mostly mis-managed the crisis in Chechnya while at the same time using it to his political benefit. While reading it, I was struck by the similarities betwen Putin's handling of Chechnya and Bush's handling of the "war on terror". Some examples from the piece:

• "His launching of the second atrocious war in Chechnya soon after he took office as prime minister in 1999 led to a vicious circle of guerrilla attacks, followed by retaliation by federal forces, which in turn brought out increasing numbers of young Chechen men seeking revenge."
• "But instead of rethinking things, Putin seized on the Beslan tragedy as an excuse to launch a political crackdown and to further curb democratic practices."
• "Rather than masterminding a strategy to address these problems, Putin has allowed them to build; he blamed terrorism in the north Caucasus on evil outside forces seeking to weaken Russia because they regard it as a 'threat that needs to be eliminated.'"
• "Back in the mid-1990s, when the first Chechen war began, there was talk of a nightmarish scenario in which the nations of the Caucasus would join the Chechen rebels in their secessionist cause. This threat was never realized and still does not seem imminent, but the specter of a Caucasus war is closer today than it was in the Russia that Putin inherited."

Similarly, the war in Iraq has provoked jihadist from all across the Middle East and Central Asia to sneak into Iraq to attack American and Iraqi national forces. Bush has used the "war on terror" as an excuse to get legislation like the Patriot Act passed, and to lock up detainees in Guantanamo Bay indefinitely (that is, for life.) Bush has blamed terrorism on the terrorist's "evil" and their "hatred" of our freedoms. And lastly, the Iraq war, rather then bringing stability to the Middle East, has only invited other Arabic countries to meddle in Iraq and frustrate our interests.

Obviously, Bush is no Putin. I don't honestly believe that Bush wants to subvert democracy, or seeks only to use the "war on terror" to his own political ends. And though Bush favors a strong executive, he certainly does not exercise the power that Putin does in Russia. But the similarities are enough so that I think we can draw a broad but valuable lesson. When faced with potentially intractible conflict, it is always best to know what consequences could possibly result from your actions, and then tread lightly, ever aware of those possible consequences. Secondly, do not use the possiblity or actuality of conflict to further your domestic policies at home. Doing so only undermines your credibility in executing a war or military action, as those who oppose you or are on the fence will assume that your interest in resolving the conflict succesfully is compromised by your need to use it for political advantage.

Of course I don't think you need a futile war in Chechnya and a seemingly intractible struggle in Iraq to learn these lessons. But I suppose there are those (ahem, Republicans) who could use a reminder.