Russia to fight terrorists ideologically

Federal Security Service of Russia is going to fight terrorists not only be the means of force, but also with ideological decimator.

Photo: Russia to fight terrorists ideologically

It is well-known that foreign intelligence often uses Nongovernmental organizations (NGO) both to obtain useful information and to force concealed influence on political processes. It was a headache for the authorities to realize that terrorists use exactly the same methods.

For example, the militia of Grozny noticed a car parked in the desert area. When the militia demanded to show documents, 2 passengers exerted armed resistance and flew the coop. The third passenger, Salambek Evloev, was arrested. He had the ascertainment of the International Nongovernmental organization. In the boot there were found 2 Kalashnikov guns and 3 explosive belts. The convicted man, though, stated that his mates and he cooperated with World Vision.

Perhaps such stories are also common in the USA. At least it’s known that last year the US Parliament stated that all Nongovernmental organizations need to provide detailed information about its members “to maintain national security”. NGO need to reveal its member’ names, addresses, dates and places of birth, nationality, passport and social card number. All the data than will be transformed to FBI and also to foreign intelligence that will check whether the NGO members have anything in common with terrorists.

This problem was also widely discussed in Russia, despite NGO members’ accusations in impairment of their rights and freedoms. Nikolai Patrushev, the head of Russia’s Federal Security Service, stressed that Nongovernmental organizations play a big role in our life and only those NGOs that are holding illegal activities will be checked.

However, the first priority for the Russian militia is not that much of NGOs, but religious organizations.

The research made in Dagestan says that among 50 arrested Wahhabites only 1 understood he was wrong. After people are ideologically processed, they become real zombie, who is targeted to the only task he is commanded to do. The most frightening is, he considers it the main goal of his life.

So it’s not surprising that this problem was discussed at the National Antiterrorist Committee in Moscow. Mr. Patrushev stated that in Southern Federal District of Russia terrorists make everything to enroll youth into terrorists’ rows. Terrorists use economical and political problems as a way to draw the youth against the authorities and make them become terrorists. So, it’s necessary to oppose terrorism not only with armed methods, but also to suppress their ideology. “Domestic and international experience shows that terrorists can be damaged with weapon, but to destroy them completely we need to destroy their ideology”.

However, religious terrorism shouldn’t be divided from political terrorism. The history of armed conflicts in Eastern Europe shows that there took part countless soldiers from Middle East, Northern Africa, chains of foreign Islamic foundations, nongovernmental organizations that covered that spread radical Islamic ideology under the cover of religious activities.

In Kosovo, for example, a famous Saudi fund “Al- Haramein” while founding “schools of Koran research” worked in close connection with a well-organized chain of Kosovo Liberation Army. One of the main external sources of financing of Islamic organizations in Kosovo is a “Committee of Kosovo’s help in Chechnya”.

It’s probable that the Crimea will explode in the near future, where several nongovernmental religious organizations operate. For example, ‘Islam Liberation Party’, which is a moderate wing of the organization called ‘Muslim Brothers’.

By the way, the activity of one of radical religious organizations was suppressed in Ural, Russia, in 2005. The representatives of Southern Urals’s Islamic organization said that Islamic party tried to penetrate, but not as terrorists, but as oppositionists to traditional Islam. However, the risk that religious discussion will grow to jihad.

Translated by Lena Ksandinova