The Russian offensive in Chechnya

Why, just days before the beginning of the third millennium, in a country that wants to be democratic -- governed by laws and respectful of human rights -- do military commanders act like Attila the Hun and Hitler? And are even applauded by their people, who seem to have suddenly forgotten the catastrophic consequences of Yeltsin's eight-year regime. The questions are agonizing.

To build consensus around the indiscriminate massacre of civilians must fundamentally disturb every conscience. But maybe not. In fact, it doesn't seem to upset the Russians -- not even the opposition or the intellectuals, if either even exist. Western leaders made somewhat of a scene at the November Istanbul summit, and then? Washington is raising its voice a little, but we wait for concrete action.

In Grozny, uniformed assassins are carrying out a "final solution" to the Chechen problem, with justifications little more valid than those given by the Nazis for the Holocaust. Our banks are more concerned with guaranteeing their loans than with the morality of the borrowers. Everyone is responsible. Even we, are tired and disinterested. Chechnya is too far away, the perpetrators too different from us to provoke our rage. We even risk falling behind Bill Clinton.

-- Il Manifesto, Rome