The Terrorists Have Come in Peace: Obama’s PR?

 

English: Obama Taliban (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Note: The original of this article appeared on 11 September 2012, but its translation into English was delayed for technical reasons.

 

 

 

On the anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attack in the US, Al-Qaeda, in the words of its leader’s brother, offered a truce to Western countries. A little earlier, a similar proposal was made by the representatives of the Taliban movement. Thus, America’s worst enemies, as if by agreement, have decided to present Barack Obama with a generous gift on the eve of the November 6^th presidential election. Will the Democratic candidate accept?

 

“Bury the hatchet,” suggested Muhammad Ayman al-Zawahiri,  brother to the current leader of Al-Qaeda. He is voluntarily willing to take on the role of mediator in negotiations and has even proposed an action plan. It fits nicely on six pages and contains information about how to completely resolve all disputes with the US within a decade. According to CNN, the mediator wants the US to stop invasion of Muslim countries, free imprisoned Muslims and not to interfere with the imposition of Sharia law. In turn, the radicals will say no to terror and will support the USA and other Western states in their countries.

 

Let’s face it, the proposed conditions seem to be quite acceptable for the United States. The continuation of wars is a painful drain on the US budget, while releasing convicted terrorists is a minor technical problem. Where imposition of Sharia law is concerned, the US no longer interferes anyway.

 

The Taliban provided an almost identical proposal. Recently it became known that some of its leaders  would like to negotiate peacefully and offered to cease fire as a sign of good will. The Taliban demands that the US does not interference in the political and religious life of Afghanistan, and in return the Taliban will be ready to cooperate with the US in all other areas. To the point that they would even be willing to allow all major US military bases to remain on its territory. Oh and another condition – absolutely no cooperation with Karzai.

 

It would seem that on the eve of presidential elections President Obama should be happy to receive these offers, as they would allow him to go down in history as the winner of two wars (in Afghanistan and against terrorism). But this will not happen. Firstly, because Obama simply does not have the time to solve global issues until the 6^th of November. Secondly, because it is absolutely unnecessary. Remember, this is not the first attempt to negotiate. For some reason, every time it looked as if some sort of accord was eminent, something ended up happening that completely destroyed any further progress. Either Al-Qaeda would blow something or someone one up, or the Marines would piss on corpses of the dead Taliban, or someone would burn the Quran.

 

And in any case, frankly, the terrorists’ true intentions are highly questionable. For example, in the case of the Taliban, the Western media refer to some “moderate members of the movement,” of whom no one knows anything. We also have doubts about this Muhammad Ayman al-Zawahiri character. There is absolutely no evidence of him having any influence over his brother. In addition, he spent the last 14 years in Egyptian prisons, and was released only recently, after the overthrowing of Mubarak. It is likely that he had contacts with the intelligence agencies of the West.

 

Thus, the whole story of “solutions you can’t refuse” looks more like Obama’s pre-election PR, rather than anything solid. Its purpose is to demonstrate Obama’s success in the fight against international terrorism, because its leaders appear to be literally on their knees, begging for peace. However, if we are wrong and the talks do take place and lead to eventual peace between the West and the Islamic world, for us it will be a very disturbing fact.

 

Related articles

 

• Brother of Al-Qaeda leader justifies 9/11 attacks, says group would strike at Israel if it could (timesofisrael.com)
• Exclusive: Al Qaeda leader’s brother offers peace plan (edition.cnn.com)
• Hailing ‘blessed’ 9/11 attacks, Al-Zawahiri tells Muslims to exploit US ‘weakness’ to purify their countries (timesofisrael.com)
• Al Qaeda’s Libyan Vengeance (thedailybeast.com)
• Zawahiri messages underline al Qaeda’s focus on Syria (security.blogs.cnn.com)

 

Weekly Video Review #44

I’ve spent half an hour trying to figure out why wordpress posts wrong videos, and failed. Since I can’t get the right link to work, here’s a workaround: copy the link below into a separate browser tab or window and hit enter to load. It should show the proper youtube channel with the english language Weekly Video Review #44 clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu7KPb5sYnk&list=UUktvBSBd5HCj7U-uag5vfHA&

 

Sorry for the trouble!

 

Weekly Video Review #43

Terror in Syria, Dagestan, Lybia and its reflections in Russia

Related articles

• ‘Civil War’ Among Muslims Shakes Russia’s South (voanews.com)
• Special forces base attacked in Dagestan, 2 soldiers killed (english.ruvr.ru)
• Dagestan: Spiritual Leader Of Muslims Killed In Suicide Blast (eurasiareview.com)
• One soldier killed, 3 policemen wounded in Dagestan (english.ruvr.ru)
• Terror in Dagestan as a Logical Development of War Against Russia (redivisionoftheworld.wordpress.com)
• Russia: ‘Civil War’ Among Muslims Shakes Russia’s South (ionglobaltrends.com)
• A leading Islamic scholar is killed in Dagestan (fsn.typepad.com)
• Weekly Review video #41 (redivisionoftheworld.wordpress.com)

Terror in Dagestan as a Logical Development of War Against Russia

Another live bomb exploded yesterday in Dagestan, killing a religious leader and six other people. Meanwhile, the Derbent region saw fatal shootings by a contract soldier, who killed several of his colleagues before being gunned down. These murders fit perfectly in a series of provocations aimed at destabilizing the situation not only in the Caucasus, but throughout the whole country.

Two tragedies

Yesterday in the Chirkey village of the Buinaksk district a suicide bomber came seeking audience with a religious figure, Said Afandi. To jump the queue, she said she was pregnant. Said Afandi was busy talking to a blind man and his 12-year-old son, but ordered the guards to let the woman pass. The murderer was not stopped by the presence of the child and activated her explosive device, which was stuffed with chopped nails. As a result, 7 people were killed, including Said Afandi. The bomber was identified only by her decapitated head.

The murder shocked the republic. Said Afandi had unquestioned authority and thousands of students. In the religious environment he was known as an opponent of radical Islam who made every effort to stabilize the situation in the republic. Afandi’s funeral in the village Chirkey was attended by tens of thousands of people, and Dagestan was officially in mourning.

Magomedsalam Magomedov, Head of Dagestan, comments:

“The killing of Sheikh Said Afandi al-Chirkey is yet another inhuman and cynical crime against outstanding personalities, religious figures of our society, which even today remain as role models for all of Dagestan’s people. It is these people that ideologists of terrorism are mortally afraid of.”

The Criminal Investigations Committee considers the murder to be connected with Afandi’s religious activity as the main motive.

But Dagestan was jolted by another tragic even on the same day. Contractor soldier Ramzan Aliyev of the local border police, shot two of his colleagues while on daily duty. He then proceeded to the barracks, where he killed five other privates and wounded four Special Rapid Response team members. He was killed by return fire. According to one theory, the killer could have been recruited by Wahhabimilitants.

Versions and consequences

All experts who comment the murder of Said Afandi indicate that, as an opponent of radicalism, he tried to establish dialogue between the traditionalists (to whom he belonged) and the Salafis. And to the surprise of many in this field he had achieved some success. Recently, with his assistance an agreement was reached between the Muslim Spiritual Board and the Ahl Sunnah Muslim organization, which consists of legal Salafis who do not approve of terror. Naturally, Afandi’s death dealt a serious blow to this agreement, as well as all future attempts to reconcile religious movements of the Caucasus.

Many experts, as well as the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation suggest that the terrorist Doku Umarov  is behind the murder as someone who is interested in maintaining  the terrorist threat in the Caucasus. It is also possible that the Arab monarchies had a hand in this tragedy. Afandi made no secret of his opposition to Wahhabism, the official religion of Saudi Arabia.

Be it as it may, the murder led to severe aggravation of the situation in Dagestan. Given that  Afandi had a very large number of followers, riots seem likely. So much so that even Magomedsalam Magomedov ordered the creation of self-defense units to patrol the streets.

“In every city, in every district we will organize self-defense units, squads of young people who are ready, under the direction and with guidance from the internal affairs authorities, to work to ensure public security, to punish these criminals and terrorists. This is an order to all heads of cities and regions,” – said Magomedov.

Some parallels

To those who are closely following these events it should probably be apparent that a wide spread offensive is unfolding before our very eyes, on the basis of spiritual life of the country. Its purpose is to fragment the fabric of society, impose mutual hatred and sow fear. Looking closely one can easily see that the same methods are used in the Caucusus and other regions of Russia. True, the Caucasus “Pussies” do not dance in mosques but rather blow them up, but such dances would be suicide in local conditions anyway. And in any case, they achieve the same result (incite hatred and fear) and are similarly rewarded (some obtain world fame, others – eternal life in heaven).

Another thought cannot leave out mind: the parellels with Syria are more than just coincidence. On the day of the terrorist attacks in Dagestan a double bombing took place in the suburbs of Damascus, killing dozens of people. One of the explosions thundered during a funeral ceremony, just like last weekend in Ingushetia. We are aware of strengthening ties between the Middle East and the Caucasus terrorist groups. For example, according to our latest information, Syria-based Islamists have announced partial transfer of their activity from Syria to the Caucasus, in particular to fight for the “liberation” of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, is far from tranquility. Recent high-profile murders did not lead to a show of force spanking of the radicals by the authorities, which led them to increase in their activity. There is information about an upcoming series of mass demonstrations of Tatarstan nationalists and Islamists.

All of this suggests that these events are interconnected, and are a part of a wider onsluaght on the country. And, also as expected, this activity is increasing the closer we get to the anticipated “marches of millions” in the fall.

We are hearing increasing criticism of the authorities who allowed this situation to arise. It is difficult to argue with such critics, however, many readers do not understand that no authority, no one power can control everything at once. We need to take into account the fact that Russia is not being rocked by a single psychopath, but rather by networks with extensive financial and informational control. So the main question at the moment is not “how they have allowed this?” but rather “what will they do next?” We will follow and comment on these developments with utmost care.

 

Related articles

• Day of mourning after Sheikh’s murder in Dagestan (english.ruvr.ru)
• Spiritual leader of Dagestani Muslims killed in suicide blast (rt.com)
• Female suicide bomber identified in Russia (cnsnews.com)
• Said Afandi’s murder seeks to torpedo peace agreements in Dagestan – Public Chamber (english.ruvr.ru)
• Russia in the Grip of Terror: the Caucasus and elsewhere. (redivisionoftheworld.wordpress.com)
• RUSSIA: The Growing Islamic Threat (strategypage.com)

Weekly Review #42

http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUktvBSBd5HCj7U-uag5vfHA&v=o6RDVlLa8_M

Latest weekly video review from the Redivision of the World Project.

Related articles

• Weekly Review video #41 (redivisionoftheworld.wordpress.com)

Russia in the Grip of Terror: the Caucasus and elsewhere.

Russia in the Grip of Terror

We rarely write about events in the North Caucasus, and we realize that this probably isn’t correct. Somehow, destruction of militant groups in places such as Aleppo in Syria seems to elicit a much greater response from us than the destruction of bandits in the Caucasus. This isn’t because we are indifferent to the fate of our homeland, but rather because we would like to avoid any harm that may be caused by an inappropriate comment or assessment of the situation. However, there are times when the chilly Caucasian breeze reaches our cozy armchairs, and we are forced to pay attention. Events that took place over the weekend were no exception.

Recent terrorist attacks in Ingushetia and Dagestan stand out from an unfortunately long chain of similar crimes as being particularly cynical. Alas, we are all too familiar with this breed of terror. It is a very distinguishing feature that sets the so-called “freedom fighters” of the never ending Arab Spring apart from their brothers in arms elsewhere: they backstab at a time and place where violence is prohibited by any religion, moral values and rules of war.

Unidentified assailants fired at a mosque congregation in the city of Khasavyurt in Dagestan, injuring 7 civilians and killing one person. The number of casualties could have been substantially higher if two of the bombs found later on site went off; fortunately this did not happen.

In Ingushetia, a bomber made his way into the funeral ceremony of a local policeman, Ilez Korigovym, who was earlier gunned down by unidentified bandits, and blew himself up in the crowd of mourners. Eight people were killed and another 15 seriously injured.

All of these attacks occurred in the midst of one of the most revered Muslim holidays – Eid al-Adha, marking the end of Ramadan. This reminded us of all the other similarly bitter stories we had reported on in the past: a bombing of a Shiite funeral procession in Iraq, shelling of a mosque in Syria, Islamist assaults on churches in Nigeria and Kenya, wedding executions in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and so on. However, back then it all seemed far away and on the verge of being out of this world; terrible, to be sure, but also impersonal. But the swelling wave of terror in the Caucasus shows that the enemy is not even on our front porch. The enemy is already inside the house.

But forget the Caucasus for a moment. Just today a car was blown up in Kazan, pretty much the center of Russia. Fortunately, this happened in an unpopulated area, so there were no innocent casualties this time. Judging by the fact that remnants of three people, a Kalashnikov assault rifle and bits of religious literature were found within 50 meters from the blast site, the explosion was an unintentional accident. But who knows what could have happened had these people armed the bomb successfully? By the way, President Putin is scheduled to arrive in Kazan for Republic Day celebrations on August 30^th. One can’t help but wonder whether this bomb blast was part of a planned “warm welcome” for the President? By the way, few people took notice, but responsibility for the recent attempted murder of the chief mufti of Tatarstan and his assistant was claimed by a group of religious extremists.

The situation is no better with Russia’s closest neighbors (in terms of geography and relationships). Kazakhstan continues to be shocked by a series of mysterious murders. After the shooting of 14 border guards at the Arkankergen outpost, another tragedy occurred in the Ile-Alatau park of Almaty, where 12 people were wantonly slaughtered under peculiar circumstances. This weekend Kazakh riot police destroyed a group of nine terrorists. Just weeks ago reports of terrorist attacks in Kazakhstan were unheard of, but now they are becoming so commonplace that you’d think it was the North Caucasus.

And the situation is nowhere close to being back to normal this week. On Monday a platoon of soldiers was shot at in Khasavyurt, and in Kabardino-Balkaria there was a failed attempt to assassinate the chief of criminal police. Come fall things will likely get even worse, because the link between terrorists and domestic opposition is growing every day. Parliament Deputy Ilya Ponomarev is proposing to create battle units capable of fighting in the streets. Alexander Belov, leader of the “Russians” movement, is taking this proposal a step further, offering to use the Egypt and Libya experience as a blueprint for government resistance. Can all this be a recipe to create a “Russian Aleppo?”

E. Super