Prince Saud Al-Feisal and President Putin in Moscow
With the world’s headlines currently dominated by news from the Israeli-Hezbollah War, it's surprising how few English-language media outlets have noticed the statement President Putin delivered yesterday in Moscow, after his meeting with the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, Saud Al-Feisal. Putin said “Russia condemns any attempts to solve any problems through resorting to terrorism…the state of Israel has a right to live in peace and it should exercise it.”
While Putin was visiting with the Saudi Minister, Chechen Prime-Minister Ramzan Kadyrov was visiting Russian youth organizations for a political summer session on Lake Seliger (located between Moscow and St Petersburg), where he announced that two more Chechen terrorist commanders have been neutralized; with one killed and another captured. Hozh-Ahmed Dushayev, the “Emir” of Kurchaloevsky Region and his partner were responsible for the most recent terrorist attacks in the now peaceful province of Russia.
Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov
Both stories demonstrate that, contrary to some analysts proclaiming a new Cold War, Russian domestic and foreign policies are in fact becoming more friendly towards the West. Out of Soviet-era habit, Russia almost always contradicted American foreign policy in the Middle East, and took the side of Israel’s adversaries. Before the Beslan massacre, the State Department and American NGOs used to express sympathy for the Chechen “freedom fighters” – but no more. As Russia Blog noted yesterday, the world has changed since the Cold War and Yeltsin eras. Oil and gas wealth has allowed Moscow to negotiate from a position of strength with the West, but this does not mean that the Kremlin wants confrontation with America, far from it - Russia just wants money and respect. Dollars from U.S. and multinational oil companies talk much louder than rhetoric about Putin crushing democracy from D.C. think tanks. Also, Russia sympathizes with countries fighting jihadists after waging its own bloody campaign for more than ten years against terrorists that wanted to create their own Islamic state throughout the Caucuses.
The Jerusalem Post, usually no fan of the Kremlin, observed today “in those circles in Jerusalem where statements from foreign capitals are read and parsed carefully, what stood out was that this was the message Moscow chose to underline following a meeting with the Saudi foreign minister.” Israel is clearly happy with Moscow’s decision to side against Hezbollah in the Lebanon conflict. The Jerusalem Post added that “Russia has taken a moderate line during the entire conflict. Had Putin so desired, he could have made things much more difficult for Israel at the G-8 in St. Petersburg, at Wednesday's conference in Rome, and at the UN in New York. That he hasn't done so has not gone unnoticed in Jerusalem.”
I believe we are witnessing a huge positive turn in geopolitics, which should give us hope that all civilized countries are finally identifying their common enemy, the global jihad and those who fund it. More importantly, we are witnessing many young Muslims around the world turning against the jihadists, who are incapable of producing anything but more death and misery for their people. The successful counterinsurgency in Chechnya, which has reduced the terror attacks for the last six months in that region to almost zero, would have been impossible without tips provided by the local population. A few years ago, many ordinary Chechens, like the Iraqis today, either sympathized with the terrorists or were simply too scared to provide intelligence to security forces. Now the tide has turned, and international jihadists are finding Iraq or Afghanistan safer places to go than Chechnya, where they are quickly caught and killed.
Perhaps with strong logistical and financial support from the world community, the Lebanese Army can follow the successful example set by the Chechens, who are rebuilding their country, starting new businesses, and weeding out their unwanted guests. Chechnya shows that the terrorists in Lebanon and Iraq can be defeated - not by tanks and bombs, but by the human desire for money and a normal life.
Comments
Who is tehe aggressor in Liban? Four terrorists who hijacked two soldiers or an entire army who wanted to create "a different near east"?
For us in Italy the action of Israel in Liban remember the mass retaliation of Nazis in 1944. Two german soldiers killed? We kill ten more civil persons, or one hundred more, or an entire village. The symbols can change, but the violence and the will of preval on others is the same. It is a shame, for Russia, in front of any people of the world, in front of any citizen of the world who is not owner of a mass media, the fact that Russia is so impotent and cowardly to nothing say about Israeli aggrehession. Russia hopes to become a regional power on behalf of USA, but it won't be. Cowardly countries will lost evrything, and probably it is right.
Good Luck, friends of Israel!
Alessandro Chiavacci
teacher of economics and law
Siena
Italy
Posted by: Alessandro Chiavacci | August 14, 2006 6:44 AM
Mr. Chiavacci,
You failed to mention that Hezbollah fired several thousand rockets at Israel, whose only purpose can be to kill innocent civilians.
To extend your 1944 analogy, this would be like condemning Britain's bombing of German cities without mentioning the 1940-41 Blitz, and the V-1 and V-2 bombs the Germans were launching against British cities in 1944.
Hezbollah clearly commmitted acts of war against Israel - they were the ones who started this round, and they were armed to the teeth by Iran. Not even Hezbollah's strongest apologists deny this.
No other country in the world would be asked to tolerate rockets raining down on 1/3rd of its population. Why is Israel the exception?
I think many Italians feel far safer condemning Israel than condemning Hezbollah and jihadism in general, and with all due respect, you know the exact reason why Mr. Chiavacci - look at what happened to Theo Van Gogh.
Thanks for reading Russia Blog.
Posted by: Charles Ganske | August 14, 2006 4:15 PM
Dear Sir
It's You that are forgotting-I don't know for which strange reason-who is the aggressor. The israeli's patrol whose soldiers where kidnapped were penetrated in Lebanon- so, they were the aggressor. Anyway, even an american journalist, Pulitzer Prix- sorry I don't remember the name at the moment, demonstrated that the war against hezbollah had been prepared many months before. Am I an hezbollah supporter? Absolutely not. I'm a christian cultured and democratic european. But this time the extremist hezbollah, by their resistance, protected normal human values, than mines too. A democratic world needs respect for any country, people, culture, not western bombs.
Thank you for the hospitality
A.C. Italy
Posted by: Alessandro Chiavacci | August 18, 2006 10:42 AM
Mr. Chiavacci,
I am confident that the report you have read about the Israeli soldiers being on Lebanese soil at the time of the kidnapping is false. Of course Israel had war plans but Hezbollah did not stockpile 13,000 rockets for "defensive" purposes, these can only serve as terror weapons, they are too inaccurate to hit military targets (and no, their weakness does not excuse Hezbollah's violations of the laws of war). The United Nations had certified that Israel had completely withdrawn from Lebanon. As for the so-called Shebaa Farms, they have been offered back to Syria (who previously claimed the territory, not Lebanon) by Israel many times to deny Hezbollah a pretext of "fighting occupation".
At any rate, you are well aware that according to Hassan Nasrallah's repeated statements, all of Israel is occupied land, and while you may nod and agree with this assessment of the 1948 conflict, the Islamic fascists also regard Sicily and Spain (aka Al-Andalus) as land unfairly occupied by infidels that should be reclaimed for the Dar al Salaam. As Martin Niemoller said about the Jews during World War II, one day the door they may be knocking on will be yours.
Posted by: Charles Ganske | August 24, 2006 8:21 PM
Dear Sir
I can't verify if israeli's soldiers were in lebanon's soil or not. And it's not this the point. Who talked about "creating a new Near East? " And what hell this means? Hezbollah wants to destroy Israel? At the moment I see Israeli's troops and colonies in CisJordanie and Gaza. More, Olmert said they "delayed the withdrawal". Is there a Un resolution who authorized the occupation of Cis jordanie or you think that israel don't need to respect U.N. decisions?
Israel must deal with its neighbours on a parity ground. Otherwise, now it receives katiushas; in future it can be worse.
Good Bye
Posted by: Alessandro Chiavacci | August 28, 2006 3:50 PM
(addendum)
according "Reseau Voltaire" the kidnapping was in Aita al Chaab, that's to say in south Lebanon. Anyway, this isn't the definitive argument for you. I just want to add that my family, differently from yours, knows what means when the faschists "knocken at your door". My great grand- father, communist, my grand fathers, socialists, suffered vexations and lost their jobs because of the fascists. At that time, liberal democrats like you supported fascism. Many facists were hebrew too, as italian fascism didn't make religious differences. Hebrew were persecuted only after 1938, after the alliance with Hitler. Strange, isn't?
Posted by: alessandro chiavacci | September 8, 2006 8:32 AM