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Date:         Fri, 21 Aug 1992 02:23:57 -0500
From:         "VALENTINE M. SMITH" <CDELL@UMKCVAX1.BITNET>
Subject:      Russia, Armenia, Georgia, Bosnia, Afghanistan ... (#759)
Comments: To: val-l@ucf1vm.BITNET, jwales@iubvm.BITNET, olsenj@stolaf.edu,
              shlyakhter@huhepl.harvard.edu, kousen@rayleigh.res.utc.com,
              christic@igc.org, blank@physics.ucla.edu,
              76701.103@compuserve.com

Russia-

Boris Yeltsin spoke to Russia via TV on 19 August, a somber speech,
NPR and other news reported, wherein he praised the Russian people
for sticking to reforms, for not revolting in the face of difficult
times, and stated that this past year was but "the first step to a
normal life," that Russians had "learned to live without a supervisor
and a whip." He also went on a great length about the privitization
voucher plan, which appears to be as several net critics have
portrayed it - a sop to the people that will solve little, and allow
a few people to get quite rich.

Some hundreds "celebrated" the coup anniversary by gathering at the
White House in Moscow, singing, playing music, listening to a
military band for awhile, remembering the tension of a year ago. At
about this hour a year ago, 0045 CDT, on the 21st, was when news came
through of a clash between men in tanks and civilians on the ground.
Early reports of people killed turned to be true. On the 19th,
citizen Gorbachev and his wife laid wreathes at the graves of the
three young men who perished for freedom in the then-USSR, one year
ago this morning. Gorbachev was reported by Monitor Radio as having
stated, "I'm sorry they died, but I don't think they died in vain."

The editor of Ogonyok, Vitaly Korotich, was interviewed yesterday by
NPR. He claimed he was 53rd on the list to be arrested by the
would-be putschists, that it had been "important to survive" (similar
sentiments were expressed by the hard-to-trust, incredibly "flexible"
Vladimir Pozner in his very recent book, _Eyewitness, A Personal
Account of the Unravelling of the Soviet Union) and that he would
have not wanted to have been seized by the emergency committee.

Korotich pointed out that in the year since the attempted "putsch"
(he used the word "coup," I cannot figure out what REALLY is what
people use as THE term for this affair), productivity had gone down
17%, unemployment and inflation had risen dramatically, and that 80%
of ALL Russians were "below the poverty line," though I'm not sure
where that line is drawn in respect to wages right now. He said the
period had produced "no miracles, no disasters," that "communism went
away," while the country "expected a miracle" to occur. It hasn't,
only the "struggle between the reds and browns," the "communists and
the fascists." He thinks a trial of the would-be conspirators will
take a long time, and that to many they are already "martyrs." But,
he concluded, "we are free, we are out of the cold." He described
Yeltsin and "team" as the best hope for Russia's immediate future.

Armenia-

RFE/RL reported today that on 17 August, in Baku, shots were fired at
President Ter-Petrossyan in an apparent assassination attempt.

The Baltics-

RFE/RL, and RUSSIA, reported today that the Balts had appealed to the
UN in hopes that the body would aid in getting Russian troops out of
their country. The esteemed Dr. D. Hammer of Indiana quickly pointed
out, on RUSSIA, that the Balts might be making a mistake, in that
their new "citizenship laws" probably violated the UN Charter.
Meanwhile, that right-wing fellow Zhirnovsky of Russia was reported
(also by RFE/RL) to have called for "Russian control over the
Baltics." President Landsbergis was reported yesterday to have said
that the Russian TV news program "Vesti" was conducting "an anti-Balt
campaign."

Georgia-

The deposed Ardzinba, the once Parliamentary chairman of the Abkhaz
parliament, has vowed to fight the Georgians who chased he and 1500
supporters out of the Abkhaz capital city of Sukhumi. He stated
yesterday that he wanted to meet with Georgian leader Shevardnadze on
"neutral ground" - Russia, NPR reported. Russia and Georgia are both
describing this struggle as "an internal matter" of Georgia's. BBC
reported yesterday that 50 were dead in the fighting, that a curfew
has been imposed on Sukhumi, and the the Georgian military had
decreed that "all looters would be shot on sight." Reportedly the
military was to move out of Sukhumi in an effort to calm down the
populace, using policemen rather the military to keep order.

RFE/RL reported today that the Confederation of Mountain Peoples had
given Georgia until today to depart from Abkhaz, else they (meeting
in the Chechen capital city of Groznyi) will start hostilities
against Georgia after the 21st if Georgia refuses to reply or act.
Nine different Caucasus groups were represented at the militant
confederation's meeting, all vowed to aid the Abkhazi.

Bosnia-

The Sarajevo airport was re-opened today. NPR reported today that the
Croats and Serbs may be the only "winners" of the Bosnian war, that
both are terrified of the idea of a Moslem "nation" in Europe. The
Croats are still reportedly plunking for "cantonization" of Bosnia,
"zones" for each group (with the Serb "zone" contiguous to Serb
"captured territory" in Croatia, and the Croatian "zone" contiguous
to Croatia), and the Moslems getting the shortest end of the property
stick as possible.

R. Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader, stated that "peace will not
come through outside intervention," BBC reported that he had written
to a London newspaper as they also reported British willingness to
send 1800 troops to be a ground escort service for relief to get to
wherever necessary in Bosnia. Karadzic also was reportedly agreeable
to the notion of UN supervision/control of heavy weapons, Monitor
Radio reported today.

The Bosnian government is now contending with Croation "forced
deportations" of able-bodied males 18-60 back into their territory,
where they are subject to a "forced draft" by Bosnia. Unfortunately,
in Bosnia's mind, there aren't enough arms, so many are "encouraged"
to slip back into Croatia.

The 1000 Bosnian Serb women and children that left Sarajevo in convoy
36 hours ago have all gotten somewhere in Serbia, with groups
dropping off the convoy all across the country, NPR reported, until
the last 300 made it to Belgrade.

Today, Monitor Radio rported that several shots had been fired at a
UN barracks building, and that a Ukranian soldier had been wounded.

170,000 Croats and Muslims are now reported in Serb "camps," while
"the Serbs say that thy'll gladly allow camp administration be
handled by others," presumably the Un High Commissioner for Refugee's
office, Monitotr radio reported yesterday.

Afghanistan-

Kabul remains under attack by the forces of G. Hekmatyar. Rocket
attacks on the 19th struck the Presidential palace, the radio/TV
building, and the Prime Minister's office, BBC reported. The
government responded by a "fierce bombardment" of Hekmatyar's
positions south of Kabul, while "thousands fled the city." Some UN
personnel and diplomatic people are, or will be, being evacuated.
Pakistan is trying to mediate, while Hkmatyar demands that Uzbek
troops supporting Massoud, the current President, must be removed
from the country. Hekmatyar was expelled from the National Council
(an uneasy coalition of various mujedhin factions) nine days ago, and
he paying Kabul back for his dismissal by rockt attacks "every few
minutes."


The messes of Georgia, Afghanistan and Bosnia refuse to be
reasonable, but each wildly fluctuates, primarily to the most violent
solution possible (though "solution" may truly be a delusion of mine,
there are moments when one is convinced no one wants peace). Any
suggestions from us outside the situations are said to be "vacuous."
(This also apparently applies to decrying assassination as a
political methodology for "obtaining justice.") The turbulence in
this part of the world shows no sign of immediate, or even long-term,
abatement, and too many remain attached to primarily violent
"solutions" to these complicated situations. VMS
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU