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TERRORISM IN RUSSIA. WAR ON AN INVISIBLE ENEMY

MOSCOW, September 1 (RIA Novosti political commentator Pyotr Romanov) - Yesterday's explosion in Moscow has been followed by another terrorist attack today: a school has been seized in the North Ossetian town of Beslan. Children and their parents, approximately 120 people who were in the school to mark the beginning of the new school year, have been taken hostage. This attack came after the recent explosion near Moscow's Kashirskoye metro station and the August 24 explosions on two planes, which, when taken together, paint a gloomy picture. "In essence, a war has been declared on us, with an invisible enemy and no front line," Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov has stated.

In such circumstances, people easily find guilty parties. Everyone is talking about law enforcers, Islam and the Chechens. However, this is only partially accurate, at the very least because the problem of modern terrorism is encountered worldwide. The Brigade Islambuli, which is not based in Russia, has claimed responsibility for yesterday's terrorist attack near Rizhskaya metro station. This brigade has already claimed it was behind the loss of the two Russian airliners. President Putin has stated that extremists linked to al-Qaeda might also have been involved in the air crashes.

Therefore, the latest explosion in Moscow and the attack on the school in North Ossetia are unfortunately mere episodes in the protracted war between modern civilisation and a new challenge - international terrorism. Russia was not alone in being unprepared to face this challenge. The majority of the industrialised countries are not ready to counteract terrorism effectively, though they are investing great efforts in this cause. Even huge sums of money and advanced technologies are not enough to solve this problem.

Suicide bombers have become one of the most hideous weapons of international terrorism. Even the most experienced counter-terrorist experts, the Israelis, do not yet know how to combat this evil. As Moscow reverberated to the sounds of yesterday's explosion, suicide bombers targeted buses in Israel.

Nor is classical Islam prepared for an effective struggle against terrorism. Armed people in a mosque, and explosives at Muslim cemeteries (this has happened more than once in Chechnya and now in Iraq) show how far Islamic radicals have departed from the Koran.

The so-called Chechen trace more often than not leads to other countries rather than Grozny, and not only because the Brigade Islambuli has claimed responsibility for the latest terrorist attacks. Suicide bombers come from Chechnya, but are not trained there, as encouraging a woman to kill is not typical for the Chechen people. Making women into zombie-like suicide bombers, financing their training and organising terrorist attacks all began abroad, where suicide bombers are usually trained.

Russia is only part of the vast territory where the war on terrorism is being waged. This is obviously a protracted but, unfortunately, not a very successful war. Modern civilisation is only forging an effective weapon against the new evil. Moreover, the efforts of the anti-terrorist coalition remain uncoordinated and split by differences. Those on the front line suffer the most. The countries of Europe that have not yet come under any terrorist attacks one day criticise Israel, then next the Russians for Chechnya (though the situation has long drastically changed there), and then turn their ire on the Americans. The latter condemn Spain for "deserting Iraq", and then grant political asylum to Ilyas Akhmadov, a former foreign minister of the so-called Ichkerian republic. London has also given asylum to Akhmed Zakayev, a leader of the Chechen separatists and terrorists, in a clear demonstration of double standards. So the front line lies between the anti-terrorist coalition members. The war on terrorism cannot be won this way.

Russia is not going to surrender and will fight the enemy both by using force and with political methods. The political process in Chechnya will undoubtedly be continued. According to President Putin, "We are ready for a dialogue with all the forces, except for terrorists and separatists."

The recent presidential elections in Chechnya, where 80% of the voters came to the polls, clearly indicated that the republic supports the federal centre, which is already a serious force in the war on terror.

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