Gaining or losing from militancy [Archives:2004/770/Opinion]

The mayhem in Middle School No. 1 in the town of Beslan in the North Ossetia region of Southern Russia clearly shows that the world at large needs to take a concrete look at the kind of menace that the world is facing. Oh, sure it is terrorism, but that it should be tied to the legitimate cause of Chechen independence is a flagrant lie and misrepresentation of the facts. While the tragedy was being shown in television throughout the world, Al-Jazeera channel took some time out to get the word from the legitimate rebellion (successors of Dudayev). A spokesmen for the Chechen rebels categorically denied any link to the last three terror attacks (The 2 airplanes, the metro station and the school) and in fact condemned all the attacks. Yet no one else even tried to reach officials of the enduring independence movement that is out to simply drive the Russians out. The spokesman may have a point in disclaiming any links with the barbaric displays. Yet, as is the case of the Moro Rebellion in the Philippines, which has been a rather civilized war of liberation, before dubious characters like Abu Sayyaf found their way into the Southern Philippines jungle and took the spotlight away from a legitimate fight for freedom. Instead the barbaric beheadings took the headlines and the poor Moros lost all the headway they were making in their struggle. The same is true in Kashmir. When the Kashmiris were really beginning to gain international attention as to the sad plight they were undergoing under Indian rule, which sought to make life as miserable as possible for the indigenous population, the militants stepped in with their gory bombings that took a lot of the lives of the people they were supposed to be liberating. Even, if we go back to the Chechen struggle somewhat, we will recall that the Chechens had indeed gained their independence after a hard gallant fight. Then the militants stepped in led by a non-Chechen at that and instigated trouble for the Russians in Angushia. Nobody in Angushia asked these foreign elements to come in and liberate them from Russian rule. The Russians decided that it is hard enough to have to swallow the Chechen independence, but another Moslem independent state was simply out of the question. Oh sure, Angushia may have been suffering under Russian rule, but for sure the Angushians should have been more capable of expressing their distaste for Russian domination, and over time they might have won. But these destructive fly by night militants have come in to actually damage the legitimate calls for rights and freedoms made by Moslems under foreign occupation. No one is really sure how these militants are organized and sent to disrupt the legitimate struggles of suffering Moslems under foreign domination (In the case of the Russian Federation, some claim that there is complicity with the Russian Government, who may have caught on to the successes of others in Iraq, Palestine and Kashmir at distorting legitimate struggles with barbaric terror). That is why it is imperative that Moslems awaken to the destructive force of these non-legitimate gangs that seem to have easy entry to most Moslem lands, thanks to the early groundwork laid out by Salafi recruitment schools, which were disguised as innocent Quranic schools. The Moslem World is clearly able to see that these schools have turned out a sizable cadre of scientifically reared converts to their sect, who are ready to obey any orders, by their mullahs, without regard to the consequences of the missions they are sent on. Thus, when the mullahs, seek to unleash their misguided renditions of Islam (some of which are the exact opposite of genuine Islamic principles, they take advantage of the international network of Salafi organized cells and easily find the logistics to move their paramilitary wings into action. On the other hand, these dubious organized cells are capable of obtaining the highest technical advances in the dissemination of their agenda of violence and of attracting considerable media coverage, that will often overshadow legitimate more down to earth struggles for liberty and freedom. With the passage of time, they tend to overtake the genuine struggle and become the “insurgents” or “Chechen rebels”. In the case of the Chechen rebellion, the Russians are indeed hedging their bets on making these dubious gangs indeed look as if the Chechen rebellion is no more than crazy suicide bombers, who have no regard for the innocence of children. This way they are left alone to suppress any legitimate struggles, without anyone in the international community even bothering to check into the sufferings of the Chechens under Russian rule. While no one is saying that the Russian Government is indeed encouraging the killing of hundreds of their own children to make some propaganda gains. The fact that these almost mechanical militants have set the stage for such an opportunity may sometimes inspire the Russians to raise the animosity of the local population against the rebellion, as well as display the Russians as being firm on and unrelenting to terrorists. What better way to do this than to create the kind of limited ugly scene that will have such an effect. It seems however that the mayhem in Beslan has blown out of proportion and indicates that the Russian did not do their calculations well. This seems to show that the logic of ends justifying the means is not playing well, with a government that has sought to display itself as a responsible and conscientious regime that takes the safety and security of its people to heart.
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[archive-e:770-v:13-y:2004-d:2004-09-06-p:opinion]