Russia must destroy terrorists brutally, like Israel did

The bloody terrorist act in Domodedovo makes Russia pay attention to foreign experience in the struggle against the plague of the 21st century. First and foremost, it goes about Israel - the country which successfully managed to cope with a number of bloody waves of terror. The Jewish State has forgotten about suicide bombing attacks in the streets. Avigdor Eskin, a well-known Israeli scientist of politics, shared his views with Pravda.Ru about Israel's success in the struggle against terrorism.

"The Jewish State exists for over 60 years, and for more than 60 years the Israelis live under the condition of never-ending terrorist threat. However, the number of news reports about terrorist attacks inside Israel have decreased considerably during the recent years.

"Indeed, Israel has managed to change the situation for the better, but it took years of exhausting bloody struggle. There was a period of time, when Israel would be attacked on a regular basis, when tens and hundreds of innocent people would die every week. Israel did not give up: the nation realized that it was the matter of "either we destroy them, or they destroy us." Now everything is quiet, there are only sporadic seldom attacks."

"How did you manage to achieve that?"

"One has to respond constantly and brutally to terrorism so that terrorists would come to realize that this is a hopeless way of struggle for them. One has to severely punish everyone who is at least slightly involved in terrorist activities. One must use tough economic sanctions against the regions that harbor terrorism. Not only did we use pin-point attacks against terrorists, but we ruined their houses, using the principle of collective responsibility. This has to be done despite any kind of international pressure. We did not succumb to that pressure even during Operation Cast Lead against Gaza."

"Both Russia and Israel were subjected are are being subjected to colossal pressure from the West as far their anti-terrorist struggle is concerned. One may open Western websites to see that the West refers to terrorists just as "rebels," "militants" and "fighters." Why is it so?

"I'll tell you more. Many Arab media, such as Al-Jazeera, said in their reports about the explosion at Domodedovo airport that it was a "so-called terrorist act." To put it in a nutshell, they do not think that the events, which happened at the airport, can be categorized as a crime. As for the West, they do sympathize with terrorists, and it is not incidental. What do we see? America and Europe verbally condemns terrorism, but they cover up those who is involved in it on their territories, they fund their books and organize various meetings for terrorists. And of course, they write that Russia and Israel violate human rights when they defend themselves!

"Israel has been exposed to Western pressure since 1974. The West wants Israel to stop defending itself, to stop putting pressure on terrorists. Now the story repeats with Russia. The West decided to sacrifice both Russia and Israel to Islamists in a hope that the latter would eventually calm down and will not go further.

"This is an utterly wrong point of view, because Islamists will not be satisfied with their conquest of Russia and Israel. They want to establish the rule of Shariah globally.

"One could relocate potentially groups of citizens to the territories where they are being supported and defended. It does not mean that I am suggesting one should deport them there forcefully. One can deliberately create such conditions under which people would leave voluntarily. You're defending them, that's why you are having problems with them."

"Which lessons should Russia learn from what happened?"

"One should clearly state that there will be no concessions made to terrorists - none whatsoever - that they will be destroyed with no trial and no record. Unfortunately, Russia has not realized it yet that it is possible to talk to terrorists only through the sight of a sniper rifle. The Russian society, the Russian people, first and foremost, need to stand up and unite against the terrorist threat - this is what the Israeli society did. Terrorists attack the Russians in the first place. They destroy the Russians, they want to break their spirit. You must remember that terrorists' primary goal is to destroy the Russian State.

"One should point out the mistakes of the Russian administration. They thought they would simply pump cash in one of the southern republics, and then it would be it - solved. However, it only triggered envy on the part of neighboring republics. They can see that they have nothing whereas others got what they needed. Money can not solve the problem. It's like treating a gangrene patient with aspirin."

"Has Israel been through with all that?"

"I would say, judging on the Israeli experience, that terrorists come only when the government starts to cave in to them. We have walked into the same water twice, and we will not do that again. After the Oslo agreements of 1993, Israel agreed to travel the path of least resistance, but received bloody terrorist attacks in 1993-1995 in return."

"Terrorists do not conduct their attacks out of desperation, as many Russian politicians and experts tend to believe. They attack when they see that others do their bidding. Suicide terrorists are not insane - they just act cold-bloodedly. The goal of those, who attacked Domodedovo is to sow demoralization in the Russian society and boost destabilization in the country.

"Please note, that they are no more talking about the separation of Chechnya from Russia. Now they want the whole Northern Caucasus be separated."

"There is a popular idea in the Russian blogosphere. People say that Russia should separate from several southern republics to solve the problems. What do you think about it?"

"It can only prove that terrorists have succeeded on the informational field. People do not realize that they are distributing the ideas, which terrorists advocate. In 1999, thousands of gunmen came to Dagestan from Chechnya, and they came to kill. If it happens again, Russia will have something bigger than the Gaza Strip."

"What should Russian military structures revise in their work?"

"A lot. Otherwise, Russia will simply live from one terrorist attack to another. It always surprised me in Russia. A terrorist act occurs, and everyone starts running around, doing something. Several days later everyone would give up on security measures. This will not work. If Russia wants to defeat terrorism, she is supposed to do it constantly, every day and minute.

"One of the reasons which gives terrorists an opportunity to conduct such large attacks is the fact that terrorist cells are located on the territory of Russia. There are youth camps in Dagestan that pretend to be studying Islam, although they are training terrorists there.

"Terrorists reside in Russian cities too, not just in the republic of the Caucasus. A gunman has recently blew himself up in his apartment in the city of Tyumen as he was getting ready to conduct an attack. This is not the only example to prove that Islamists are acting inside Russia. Special services need to establish strict control over the so-called Islam-studying centers. Russia also needs to cut entry to its territory for so-called preachers from Saudi Arabia and other Arab states. All doubtful sources of finance should be blocked as well."

Sergei Balmasov
Pravda.Ru

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