Under the Gun

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Russia's President Vladimir Putin marked the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States by issuing what has been widely taken as an ultimatum to Georgia, claiming that Russia has the right to strike "terrorist" targets within Georgia. This dramatic escalation in Russian demands comes at a time when Georgia is attempting to restore order near its border with Chechnya and several weeks after Chechen leaders put forward a new peace package.

In a letter sent on 11 September 2002 to the U.N. Security Council, Putin accused Georgia of turning a "blind eye to the fact that [Chechen rebels] are living a free and comfortable life" in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge. Since 1999, Russia has claimed that the gorge has been used by Chechen rebels and by Arab fighters linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist organization. Putin argued that Georgia's "glaring violation" of a U.N. resolution passed in the wake of the 11 September attacks gave Moscow the right to "ensure that Georgia fully complies with its obligations to the international community in this sphere." Strikes within Georgia to prevent the "spillover of bandits" were now part of Russia's "inalienable right to individual or collective defense."

Earlier in the week, on 9 September, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) reinforced Russian claims by asserting that it has evidence that the culprits responsible for the bombing of an apartment block in Moscow on 9 September 1999 are now in hiding in Georgia. The attacks left 93 dead. This was one in a spate of terrorist attacks that helped trigger Russia's second military campaign in Chechnya.

Meanwhile, the Russian State Duma on 13 September passed a motion suggesting that the Kremlin should think again about providing "economic aid to Georgia, including the supply of energy at favorable rates, given the failure of the Georgian leadership to take effective measures to fight international terrorism on its territory." Georgia is almost entirely dependent on Russian supplies of oil, gas, and electricity.

Georgia maintains that Russian pressure has, in fact, already been translated into military action. On 23 August, military aircraft bombed a Georgian village, leaving several dead and wounded. Georgia, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the United States all identified the aircraft as Russian. The Kremlin has, however, denied any role.

Shortly after the attacks, Tbilisi sent troops into the Pankisi Gorge. However, the campaign risks displacing the problem — and adding to the military pressure faced by Georgia within its own borders. On 12 September, the breakaway republic of South Ossetia appealed to Putin to prevent possible conflict there following reports that Chechen rebels are moving away from Pankisi and into South Ossetia. On 9 September, authorities in another breakaway republic, Abkhazia, agreed to coordinate their actions with South Ossetia if rebels entered their territory. Abkhazian officials have said they would ask Russia to bolster its peacekeeping presence if Chechen troops crossed its borders.

U.S. President George W. Bush reacted on 14 September, saying he had "made it very clear to the Georgian government that we expected them to rout out the al-Qaeda-type terrorists in the Pankisi Gorge. Earlier, on 12 September, Philip Reeker, a U.S. State Department spokesman, said: "We take strong exception" to Putin's threat and "we strongly support Georgia's territorial integrity and oppose any unilateral military action in Georgia." In another State Department comment, Julie Reside said that problems in the Pankisi Gorge should be addressed by the Georgian government — and that it was "doing so." The call for restraint was echoed by the OSCE.

The United States dispatched a team of military trainers to Georgia in May as part of a "train-and-equip" program to bolster Georgia's border guard and its security operations.

Despite U.S. support for Georgia's cleanup operation in Pankisi, Putin has been disparaging, saying in his letter to the UN that Georgia's "widely popularized" campaign had brought no "practical results." Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze said in early September that they had netted "a few dozen militants."