Osama Bin Laden to Reconcile Russia and USA

Russia and USA must cooperate closer to fight terrorism

Osama bin Laden has reminded the world of his existence again. To be more precise, it was not him, but the Washington Post newspaper that reminded of the 9/11 prime suspect. The newspaper has recently published a long article that was called "How Jihad Made Its Way to Chechnya." The article particularly cited one of Bin Laden's messages that was meant for a Bosnia-based activist of Benevolence International Foundation. This "Islamic charity fund" actively sponsored terrorists, including Chechen terrorists too. So, Bin Laden wrote in a letter that it was time to attack Russia.

There are no doubts about the fact that Bin Laden hates Russia as much as he hates the United States. It is enough to remember that he used to wage war in Afghanistan against Soviet troops. Needless to mention that he could not but pay attention to Chechen terrorists that "fight" for the freedom of their "oppressed" fatherland. Russian authorities have already said that before on many occasions - Chechen terrorists cooperate with Al-Qaida very actively. Hundreds of terrorists have been trained on the bases of Bin Laden's terrorist group. When "free Ichkeria" (as Chechen terrorists call Chechnya) was virtually not controlled by Moscow, emissaries of terrorist groups felt free and easy in Chechnya. They did not even think that they had to hide and conceal their presence from anyone.

However, after military actions began in 1999, the West with the USA at the head did not listen much to Russian senior officials, who said that there were a lot of terrorists in Chechnya, including Al-Qaida terrorists. Properly speaking, the evidence of their presence and activities in the Chechen republic is still prejudiced, especially in the countries of Western Europe.

Anyway, all of these facts were known before. There is something else that is worth paying attention to. The article in the Washington Post appeared on a very good moment, from the point of view of the situation with Russian-American relations, which worsened on account of the Iraqi war. The partnership that has been formed between the two countries after September 11th, 2001 was based on the notion of the international terrorism that threatened everyone. It should be also mentioned here that the partnership between Russia and America was rather peculiar sometimes. The war in Iraq ruined the idea that it was possible to defeat the international terrorism with the help of joint efforts. This idea has been pushed back into the background. However, it does not at all mean that the idea is not actual anymore. It happens vice versa, actually.

One may say that Bin Laden and his messages can be good both to Moscow and Washington, for it might simplify the process of retrieving normal political relations between the two countries. Of course, Russia and America will always have their own interests in the international politics, and the countries will do their best to stand up for them. It is not ruled to that those interests might find themselves in the opposition to each other in the future. Obviously, Russia has fewer opportunities to stand up for its point of view in comparison with the USA. This will definitely not add more stability in the bilateral relations between Russia and the United States. Nevertheless, the two countries must cooperate with each other in order to destroy the global terrorist network, including the one in Chechnya. Otherwise, the national security of both Russia and the USA will suffer from huge damage. It would be a lot harder to handle such consequences alone.