September 08, 2004

Russia's New Foreign Policy: Preemptive Attacks

The Bush-Rumsfield Neocon cabal has obviously infiltrated Russia to the highest levels. Like I've been saying since 9/11, this is a civilizational war. The events in Beslan have clarified things for the Russians. 9/11 was not a declaration of war, it simply woke us up from our slumbering false insecurity. War had been declared on us years before. Yahoo News:

Russia is prepared to make pre-emptive strikes on "terrorist bases" anywhere in the world, the Interfax news agency cited the country's chief of staff as saying.

"With regard to preventive strikes on terrorist bases, we will take any action to eliminate terrorist bases in any region of the world. But this does not mean we will carry out nuclear strikes," General Yuri Baluyevsky said Wednesday.

Baluyevsky added that Russia's choice of action "will be determined by the concrete situation where ever it may be in the world.

"Military action is the last resort in the fight agaisnt terrorism."

Hat tip: Prof. Chaos who e-mailed me about this.

For an abbreviated history of recent events in Chechnya, see McQ's A short primer on Chechnya

UPDATE: Chechens respond (via Jeff Quinton):

A London-based Chechen rebel representative said Wednesday that Russia's threats to attack terrorists around the world amount to a warning to European countries that Russian forces could carry out assassinations on their soil.

Akhmed Zakayev, an envoy for rebel leader and former Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov, said such a strike by Russian forces would create a dangerous precedent.

"It is a warning to other European countries that Russia may come and carry out an assassination on your soil at any moment," he said....

[...]"It is a very disturbing signal they are sending for all civilized countries," Zakayev said. He added that it's especially worrying for Chechens who speak freely about their dissatisfaction with Russian President Vladimir Putin's policies.

"To Putin, that makes them international terrorists," he said.

By Rusty Shackleford, Ph.D. at 12:16 PM | |