MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Pyotr Goncharov) - The Federal Assembly has approved the decision of the Russian President to find and destroy the terrorists who murdered the Russian diplomats in Iraq.
In other words, it has just passed a bill allowing the Russian President to use force against terrorism abroad.
Experts note in this context that previously the law on the FSB allowed the Federal Security Service to set up and use special forces (spetsnaz) for its purposes. Now this law has been supplemented with a clause on counterterrorism, which gives the President the right to use the FSB spetsnaz against terrorists and their bases abroad, if they pose a threat to Russia. Since FSB and Foreign Intelligence Service are not part of the Armed Forces, there is no need for the approval of the Federation Council to use spetsnaz outside the territory of Russia.
In expert opinion, the find-and-destroy operation has already been set in motion, since President Putin ordered the FSB to start it before the bill was adopted by the Federal Assembly.
The approval of this bill was expected for a long time. As distinct from other nations, which are not particular in the choice of the means they use to defend their citizens anywhere in the world, the Soviet and later Russian secret services did not resort officially to such methods. But in the Soviet era this problem was not so urgent. Today, the situation has changed dramatically.
Experts cite different reasons for the Russian tragedy in Iraq. Some claim it was a political contract (the struggle between world powers for spheres of influence); others think it was a primitive settling of old scores, while still others believe that a terrorist organization is waging a persistent and uncompromising war on Russia.
This is a very important issue. Who is Russia dealing with? Is it a limited group of hired terrorists who fulfilled their contract? Or is it a terrorist organization? Many Russian experts think that it is the latter, and that its commandos have left a trail of blood in Chechnya.
Hopefully, Russian secret services will track down the hit men and those who hired them (if anyone). The KGB and the GRU are not likely to have lost their skills since the Soviet era. Political will is more important.
But today no country can protect its citizens abroad without fighting against international terrorism, and this requires cooperation among security services of different countries.
Needless to say, as the occupying power in Iraq, the U.S. is directly responsible for its failure to protect the diplomats in Baghdad. It is also true that the U.S. committed an obvious blunder, having started its military operation in Iraq without regard for the UN Security Council. As it transpired later on, Iraq is very different from Afghanistan - there was no international approval for the invasion, and, more importantly, no support from the local population. In Afghanistan, for one, the local people back the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the U.S.-led anti-terrorist coalition in spite of all their mishaps and mistakes in bombings and other operations.
As it happens, the operation in Iraq was not well planned and has turned out to be quite an ordeal. But how many times should one repeat the obvious? Russia, the U.S. and Europe have become the targets of a thoroughly planned terrorist aggression, which rules out any spontaneous action. It is time for them to stop endlessly communicating their mutual grievances. This situation offers a good chance to pool efforts in resisting al-Qaeda and its affiliates, such as the Mujahideen Shura Council of Iraq. Or else we may fail to prevent another September 11 or Beslan.
In any event, the Shura Council, which took responsibility for abducting the Russian hostages in Iraq, has nothing to do with Iraqi resistance. It is an Iraqi affiliate of the international al-Qaeda network. Its demand to the Russian authorities regarding Chechnya was patently unacceptable. When a clip showing the execution of the hostages appeared on the Internet, the word "Chechnya" was mentioned again.
In the fall of 1999, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met Russian generals during an inspection trip to Dagestan. They were about to start an anti-terrorist campaign in the republic. They gathered in the officers' cafeteria for dinner and somebody suggested a toast to the successful start of the campaign. "We'll drink when we finish them off," said Putin abruptly. After a pause, the generals put down their vodka shots.
But this pause has become too protracted. The execution of the Russian diplomats in Iraq is a challenge to Russia. The terrorists are fully confident that we cannot defend ourselves. This is a response to our indignation at the tragedies in Beslan, Dubrovka, Budyonnovsk, and the Moscow metro. If the find-and-destroy operation succeeds, we can all take a sip from a full glass.
