While it is not spoken of often in the American media, the Russian Federation has its own problems with a wide variety of insurgents brutally attacking the borders of their own nation as a result of ethnic and political disputes that put the country’s security at stake. The battle between the Russian Federation and the less powerful belligerents is not one of trivial consequence, but a battle for survival and political identity.

The Chechen people of the North Caucasus have lived since ancient times as one of many ethnic groups in Eurasia. The Chechen people currently are divided amongst several countries, including Ichkeria, Chechnya, and the current denominated territory of the North Caucasus. The North Caucasus is the subject of an ongoing war against insurgents, fought by both the Russian government and United States tax dollars.

What most Americans do not know is that the United States has directly supported the counter-insurgency operations in the North Caucasus region of Russia. Al-Qaeda, along with the Arab Mujahedeen of Cechnya and the self-proclaimed “Caucasus Emirate” has long fought Russia and the United States in small combat operations in the region.

The Caucasus Emirate claims sovereignty over the region, cutting their losses and continuing onward in a battle against the Russian Federation that has lasted since the end of the Second Chechen War (1999-2009). 

The United States seeks to both quell Al-Qaeda influence in the area, as well as assist in the capture of Chechen rebel leader Umarov, who executed Russian conscripted soldiers in a string of violent beheadings, fashioning himself the leader of the Caucasus Emirate.

Combat operations have resumed in the region as of 2010, and are not expected to end anytime soon.

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