“Military troops were withdrawn from Chechnya on Dec. 31, 1996.”

To stand for positions and points of view, to jointly develop a civilized view on the administrative and state organization of Chechnya.

The people have already determined Chechnya’s status at the referendum.

I have to say that elections, even in the most peaceful region, always make the hardest time for regional state institutions, including security structures.

I grew up in a very religious family. I could read the Qu’ran easily at the age of five.

The attempted assassinations against me were not accidental.

It is a unit of the Russian Federation. Its political status is not to be discussed any more.

One has to work for years and decades, to conduct negotiations.

We have to get rid of the traitors who have managed to penetrate into the law-enforcement department.

Criminals were coming to Chechnya from all over the world – they did not have a place in their own countries. But they could live perfectly well in Chechnya.

I always said that Wahhabism is unacceptable for the Chechen nation.

There is a rule of Sharia: If the enemy wants to suppress you, you are supposed to put up a strong resistance.

We need a strong police force – the Interior Ministry of the Republic of Chechnya.

One has to nurture a new generation, to raise children in the spirit of Islam.

Nine years ago on September 14, 2001, I placed the lone vote against the ‘Authorization for Use of Military Force’ – an authorization that I knew would provide a blank check to wage war anywhere, at any time, and for any length.

We must not let history repeat itself in Iraq. The reality is there is no military solution in Iraq. This is a sectarian war with long standing roots that were flamed when we invaded Iraq in 2003. Any lasting solution must be political and take into account respect for the entire Iraqi population.

World military spending has now risen to over $1.2 trillion. This incredible sum represents 2.5 per cent of GDP (global gross domestic product). Even if 1 per cent of it were redirected towards development, the world would be much closer to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

An army should always be so distributed that its parts can aid each other and combine to produce the maximum possible concentration of force at one place, while the minimum force necessary is used elsewhere to prepare the success of the concentration.

The more closely [the German army] converged on [Stalingrad], the narrower became their scope for tactical manoeuvre as a lever in loosening resistance. By contrast, the narrowing of the frontage made it easier for the defender to switch his local reserves to any threatened point on the defensive arc.

In war, the chief incalculable is the human will.

War is the unfolding of miscalculations.

There are, of course, all sorts of other unpleasant regimes outside the walls as well – the military dictators of Latin America and the apartheid regime of South Africa.