Fw: Boris Kagarlitsky, Moscow Times

[Artur F. Silva]

[This position, from a Russian sociologist, worths reading. I don't know
if it makes any sense or not; you will know better, I think - Artur]


>"Bin Laden? Better Be Sure"
>  by
>Boris Kagarlitsky, Moscow Times
>
>
>
>
>                                 The terrorist attack on New York has
> already been compared to
>                                 Pearl Harbor and the loss of the Kursk
> submarine. Mikhail
>                                 Gorbachev likened it to Chernobyl, which
> is probably a very
>                                 accurate analogy in terms of the shock
> and ignominy experienced
>                                 by the U.S. administration. In both
> cases, we saw incompetence
>                                 and helplessness initially, followed by
> desperate attempts at
>                                 official face-saving.
>
>                                 There is, however, one analogy that does
> not seem to have
>                                 occurred to anyone: the burning of the
> Reichstag. The anti-Arab
>                                 and anti-Moslem hysteria that has
> followed around the globe in
>                                 the wake of the catastrophe simply calls
> out for comparison with
>                                 the events of the 1930s. The U.S.
> authorities immediately started
>                                 the search for the guilty among Arabs,
> Osama bin Laden cropped
>                                 up almost immediately as prime suspect
> and alternative versions
>                                 have barely been entertained. In the
> minutes immediately following
>                                 the explosions, it seems there was no
> doubt whatsoever regarding
>                                 the "Arab" source of the attacks.
> However, the more evidence
>                                 and arguments adduced in support of the
> "Arab version," the
>                                 more shaky it seems to become. In a
> television appearance
>                                 immediately after the explosions, the
> well-known pundit
>                                 Vyacheslav Nikonov noted that the guilty
> would undoubtedly be
>                                 found, and if not, they would be
> "nominated," adding cynically: "It
>                                 would be in Russia's interest if the
> Taliban and bin Laden were
>                                 nominated." To give him his due,
> Alexander Gordon -- who
>                                 spoke on two TV programs -- pointed out
> that it could be
>                                 far-right militia groups (such as those
> behind the Oklahoma City
>                                 bombing) and not Islamic terrorists at
> all. Analysts have
>                                 emphasized how easy it would be to carry
> out each individual
>                                 element of the terrorist operation:
> smuggling knives aboard a
>                                 plane, breaking into the cockpit, etc.
>
>                                 However to coordinate all these actions
> in different parts of the
>                                 country without making a single serious
> blunder is devilishly hard.
>                                 The crime committed on Sept. 11 must have
> required enormous
>                                 efforts in management, control and
> logistics. The strength of
>                                 Islamic terrorism is in the simplicity of
> organization and its
>                                 unpredictability. All groups operate
>                                 autonomously. Even the destruction of
> command centers doesn't
>                                 have a major impact, insofar as every one
> of Allah's warriors is
>                                 capable of acting on his own. The attacks
> on New York and
>                                 Washington were very carefully
> coordinated, the minutest details
>                                 were thoroughly thought through, and at
> no stage were there
>                                 serious lapses. It would appear that the
> operation was organized
>                                 and carried out by people who had free
> passage around the
>                                 country and were considered to be above
> suspicion. If they are
>                                 professionals, they did not acquire their
> experience in
>                                 underground terrorist groups. It cannot
> be excluded that the
>                                 attacks were organized by forces within
> the United States, and
>                                 this would have to be people with
> considerable military
>                                 experience. Why is it that no seems even
> to consider a conspiracy
>                                 by far-right groups as a possibility? The
> masterminds could easily
>                                 have covertly used people of Arab
> nationality to carry out the
>                                 attacks. Whoever it is behind the
> Washington and New York
>                                 attacks, in Russia and Israel they have
> already played a role
>                                 comparable to the burning of the
> Reichstag. Far-right politicians --
>                                 "upholders of the values of western
> civilisation" -- have already
>                                 spoken out calling for revenge. Over and
> over, one and the same
>                                 thing is repeated: "Moslems are subhuman
> barbarians and you
>                                 cannot conduct negotiations with them.
> They are not like us, and
>                                 thus our criteria of democracy and human
> rights do not apply to
>                                 them." "No need to fear unpopular
> measures," some say. "No
>                                 need to limit ourselves to democratic
> conventions," others chime
>                                 in. At a minimum they are after: arrests
> without warrants, mass
>                                 deportations and wide-scale searches.
> Already reports are
>                                 coming from the United States of racist
> attacks against Islamic
>                                 communities. It is clear that mass
> repressions will lead to mass
>                                 resistance. That is how you make enemies.
> Do those who are
>                                 trying to scare us with the Moslem threat
> really not understand
>                                 that? They understand it full well. They
> simply believe that a final
>                                 solution is possible -- if not globally,
> then at least on a more
>                                 limited territory. As a maximum, they are
> baying for ethnic
>                                 cleansing and genocide.
>
>
>
>                                 26/09/2001 . 23:56
>
>Boris Kagarlitsky is a Moscow-based sociologist.

*
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