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THE BACKGROUND IN BRIEF IN CASE YOU DIDN'T ALREADY KNOW ... TEXT: BONNIE TSUI The dissolution of the Soviet Union is a continuing process for the people of the breakaway Chechen Republic. The war against Chechen independence began in November 1994 when, under President Yeltsin, the Russian military invaded Chechnya. A fundamental motivating factor in the invasion was the existence of a key oil pipeline through the North Caucasus region in Chechnya. Russian federal authorities, however, have firmly stated that the original reason behind the use of force in Chechnya was to free the Chechen people of the "illegitimate and dictatorial rule exercised by Djokhar Oudaev [leader of the Chechen regime) and his bandit formations." The federal government put its support behind the Chechen Provisional Council, an existing anti-Dudaev faction in Chechnya led by Umar Avturkhanov, and Moscow has since supplied arms and ammunition to the Council. On November 26, 1994, the poorly-organized Chechen opposition army stormed Grozny, expecting to take the Chechen capital easily. But they were in for a surprise: the Dudaev forces drove them out of Grozny within 10 hours, capturing half of their tanks in the process. After this initial storm, many Chechens decided to join Dudaev's rebel resistance. After 21 months of bloody conflict, and a death toll of 30,000, the Russian troops withdrew from Grozny. A cease-fire was called in August 1996, and the first Chechen war was over. But in October 1999, after several years of increasing lawlessness, fighting and dispute over the region's political status, Vladimir Putin (then prime minister) ordered the military to resume the flushing out of the Chechen rebels. This was in response to a series of early- morning apartment bombings that killed 300 sleeping Russians in Moscow the previous month. The military action was also triggered by the Chechen invasion of neighboring Dagestan in August and September 1999. Once again, Chechnya began to suffer the brunt of the fallout. As of the first week in February 2000, the Russian army had taken complete control of Grozny and large numbers of the rebel forces are withdrawing into the mountainous south after months of resistance. Human Rights Watch has reported more and more cases of murder and abuse of Chechen civilians by the Russian army, as increasing numbers of refugees have attempted to flee the war-torn region. The violence of the Russian military operation is an ongoing cause for international alarm. jackets walking slowly in a circ le, singing. Some keep a basso profundo beat, others wail while sti ll others chant in a rhythmic hum. The men shuffle and stamp their feet on the concrete f loor until it vibrates. They change directions, moving in a t ight circle. While bombs fall outside, they are absorbed in a zikr, a mystical practice of chanti ng to reach a state of spiritual ecstasy. Young and old men stamp their feet and sing with a deep force. The inner strength of the people emanates from their voices and movements. The Russians are destroying their land, their people and their existence. Still the Chechens carryon with their customs, their culture, their innate humanity, and this is why they wi ll endure. THE ROAD TO GEORGIA The sun is setting by the time the car is repaired. We pack our bags as the last rays of light disappear. The trip shou ld take five hours, getting us to the southern border sometime between 8 PM and midnight. There are no cars on the road, just us. There is no bombing, just silence. As we come down to the main road , there are vehicles-military vehicles driving in a hurry. They rush by us without even slowing. We find the right road out of town. The houses along the road are smashed into small pieces of wood and brick. The trees angrily scarred and knocked down by the blasts. We pass the bombed graveyard . The Russians making sure that even the deceased Chechens are dead. We climb slowly as we wind along the Argun River. We are lucky we have found a perfect window to escape the bombing. I use GPS to figure out how far we have to go until the border and safety. Ten miles. We get out of the car to relieve ourselves. The night is clear and the stars blink it is so cold. The mountains rise up around us. The war seems a long way away now. We turn a corner and suddenly there is a bright light. Not in front of us but above us. High above us. A glowing crown of light floating in the sky. Khampash stops the car, he has never seen anything like this before. We strain to see it better. The light moves and changes. From the back of the car, the blue tint on the window makes it appear to change color from blue to yellow. I force my way out of the car. Outside it takes me a while to understand what I am looking at. The mountains are on fire . We are standing below the peaks of the steep pine-covered Caucasus Range. The Russians are trying to destroy the last lifeline to the outside world with Scud missiles, missiles that explode and burn on impact. The ring of fire is trees burning. The Russians are attacking the mountains, as on ly fools would. We get back in the car and start driving slowly. There is nothing we can do now. We are seven miles from the border. The winding road has been blown into a narrow precipitous path. The air is full of smoke from the burning pine trees. As the walls of the canyon rise up, the road is no longer a road, but a th in ribbon of flat dirt cut through the side of avalanches. We meet a truck heading in the opposite direction. Good news: the road is open to the border. The smoke is blinding. We are getting closer. But to what? The war is here now. Twisted machinery pushed off to the side of the road floats by in our weak headlights. Then the road disappears completely. We slither down the icy riverbank and drive through the river. The <;anyon is narrow and the tall cliffs above us provide protection and a guarantee that if a missile did land there would be no place to hide. Finally, in the icy night, we navigate a crudely-made road on a precipice. The towering black cliffs block the stars. We are finally at the camouflage bunker that serves as the Chechen border and the door to Georgia and the outside world . We are the lucky ones. We make it out, but the many people still left under the Russian hammer will not. 52