ingly impatient. The republic's growing instability and lawlessness, the fear that other republics might follow Chechnya and declare independence, the need to control Chechnyan oil fields and pipelines, and the belief that the republic could be swiftly subdued encouraged this impatience. It was within this context that Russia was involved in a failed attempt to overthrow Dudayev in November 1994, and launched a full-scale intervention the following month.
             Given the present economic crisis in Russia and given the recent increase in the costs of oil in the world, one has to wonder how much of Russia's driving force to re-take Chechnya and suppress the opposition is motivated by the oil fields that exist there and the potential revenue and cost offset that could therefore occur. I only highlight this point because it seems so similar to the United State's present predicament in Iraq. Few reasons to go to war, can it be a coincidence that there is oil in those regions?
             For the past three years, Chechnya has been in a state of limbo, tormented both by partial independence and a state of anarchy and chaos. B
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