Letters to the Editor

To the Editors:

I was extremely disappointed by the recent edition [Nov/Dec 2003] of your magazine. What possessed you to print that inflammatory russophobic propaganda by Eric Helque about Chechnya? Why did you not at least balance it by reporting on the atrocities committed by Chechen Wahhabist “rebels” against Russian and Dagestani civilians and the Chechen Sufi population?

Russian Life elected not to feature the Chechen terrorism at Nord-Ost last year, instead focusing on the hardships experienced by Moscow’s Islamic community in the wake of the attacks. Helque’s anti-Russian accusations read like something Chechen “rebel” websites insert between their mpegs of executions and paeans to bin Laden and al-Qaeda. Please spare us the propaganda! ....

Certainly humane people anywhere regret innocent civilians’ suffering. But, as we are reminded by Brookings Institute Caucasus expert Fiona Hill, the Chechen conflict is essentially a civil war. And civilians’ suffering has been caused as much (if not more) by Wahhabist “rebels,” rival tribal warlords, criminals, and Chechen (Sufi) militias, as by the Russian Federal forces. Next time Russian Life feels the urge to criticize Russian excesses, instead try reading the nauseating Chechen passages of My Jihad by Aukai Collins. The author’s quasi-orgasmic bragging of torture, murder, and corpse-desecration of teenage Russian conscripts ought to balance your sympathy with a dousing of brutal reality.

Freja Wodinsdottir,

Santa Ana, CA

To the Editors:

I love your magazine and recently resubscribed for the next three years. However, I am disgusted by your recent article on the Chechnya election. The author of this Russo-phobic propaganda appears to have no background information at all on the Chechen situation. The entire article ie emotional, biased, and generally untruthful. It has no place in your magazine! ....

Russian forces are not the only oppressors of Chechen civilians. Blame should also be placed on tribal warlords, Mafiya bosses and bandits, Kadyrov’s own Chechen militia, and especially on the foreign-backed Wahabbist rebels and jihadists.

Chapulina Ramos

Lakeside, CA

To the Editors:

The Nov/Dec issue of Russian Life was wonderful! I enjoyed the article and photos about Izmailova market. I also enjoyed the article about Russian and Soviet animation.

I hope Russian Life will have more articles about Russian pop art, folk art, Soviet kitsch and Soviet pop culture.

I love the photography in your magazine. I hope to see bigger photos in greater amounts!

Sincerely,

Glenn Griffin

Glendale, CA