Western officials were too quick to attribute blame for the Moscow attack in ways agreeable to their political goals
IIn the wake of the terrorist attack that killed over 140 people in Moscow, the White House is sure about a lot
of things – that it had nothing to do with Ukraine, and that the fact that Washington's intelligence-based
prediction came to fruition is proof-positive that American counterterrorism efforts are working. Excuse me?
What just transpired in Moscow strikes me as the kind of thing that suggests it’s not actually working all that
well, considering a bunch of people were killed. If the US has a long-standing policy of warning even countries
that it’s at odds with – like Iran and Russia – of terrorist chatter that comes to its attention, like Russia
has also done for the US in similar situations (the Boston Marathon bombing warning, perpetrated by Chechens,
comes to mind), then frankly, it did a pretty poor job.
Granted, the US Embassy issued a statement warning of a non-specific attack in Moscow two weeks before one
actually occurred. And it coincided with Russia liquidating an ISIS-K cell consisting of two Kazakhs, claiming
that they were targeting a synagogue southwest of Moscow. Nothing in the warning provided a description of
suspects to the general public, and after the cell roll-up, it seemed like the case was closed, with no further
warnings or clarifications from those in Washington who claimed to have the inside scoop.
American and Western counterterrorism efforts are working so well that ISIS-K – an offshoot of the ISIS group in
Syria to which some Western-backed ‘Syrian rebels’ defected with CIA and Pentagon training and weapons –
happened to spring up in Afghanistan in 2014, under the watchful eye of the US counterterrorism operation.
Weapon of mass distraction: Is the West scapegoating Islamic State over Moscow attack?
Read more Weapon of mass distraction: Is the West scapegoating Islamic State over Moscow attack?
Then the West became so caught up in its stick-measuring contest with Russia in Ukraine that it trained up a
bunch of neo-Nazi mercenary fighters who are now integrated into the Ukrainian army, presided over by the likes
of military intelligence chief and guerrilla warfare aficionado Kirill Budanov. Add to the West’s complicity in
the recruitment of foreign fighters from all over the world to serve in the ‘International Legion for the
Defense of Ukraine’ – including, apparently, fighters from Tajikistan, like the Moscow terrorists, if an
unconfirmed online recruitment post by the Ukrainian Embassy in Tajikistan is any indication. In light of that
alone, perhaps it’s time for Moscow to cancel its visa-free regime with Tajikistan and other Central Asian
countries?
Looks like the US has done everything in Ukraine to sacrifice the fight against terrorism in order to stick it
to Putin – who’s been America’s partner in fighting terrorists since he and former US President George W. Bush
committed to cooperation against global terrorism in a joint statement after the September 11, 2001, attacks on
American soil. French President Emmanuel Macron even said back in 2019 in an interview with The Economist that
NATO was brain-dead and should pivot from its Russia obsession to a counterterrorism focus – which just happens
to be something on which the West has successfully cooperated with Russia in the past. Although the latest
example of ‘cooperation’ mostly involved the US going into Syria on the pretext of fighting ISIS, then spending
much of its time in a failed attempt to oust President Bashar Assad by training and equipping jihadists from a
NATO staging base in Türkiye. When all the trainees dined and dashed on the CIA and Pentagon’s tab to the tune
of billions, it was Russia (with an intelligence assist from Iran) that handled the mop-up at the Syrian
government’s request, eliciting the wrath of ISIS in the process. But ISIS in Syria failed in its effort to
establish a caliphate and hasn’t really been a problem there for years.
Unconfirmed reports and online videos are now emerging of the Moscow attack suspects allegedly training in NATO
member state Türkiye for two months, and dozens of suspects recently being detained by the Turkish authorities
in Istanbul. If confirmed to be true, it would not be unlike the Western-backed ‘Syrian rebel’ jihadists who
trained on NATO’s Incirlik Air Base in Türkiye and were subsequently released into Syria. This is the same base
that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan closed in the wake of a failed coup against him in 2016, and in
which he implicated Washington. It looks like terrorists of all kinds now have another playground to choose
from: Ukraine.
White House spokesman John Kirby made a point of underscoring that Ukraine absolutely was not involved, as did
his colleague, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “This was a terrorist attack that was conducted by ISIS. Mr.
Putin understands that. He knows that very well. And look, there is absolutely no evidence that the government
of Ukraine had anything to do with this attack,” Jean-Pierre said. That’s interesting wording coming from the
same country whose officials told the New York Times that the Nord Stream pipeline from Russia to Europe was
blown up by “pro-Ukrainian groups.”
Dmitry Trenin: The American explanation for the Moscow terror attack doesn’t add up
Read more Dmitry Trenin: The American explanation for the Moscow terror attack doesn’t add up
The language used by both the White House in the Moscow attack case and unnamed American officials commenting on
the Nord Stream sabotage to the NYT is careful to absolve the Ukrainian state itself. It gives the impression
that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky can’t be blamed for anything, although the opposite was argued by the
West in an effort to oust Assad from power in Syria by saying that he had lost control of the country and turned
it into a terrorist cesspool.
So in light of the Moscow attack perps making a run for the Ukrainian border where they were apprehended, about
400km from Moscow, the US is a bit too quick to absolve itself of any responsibility for turning Ukraine into a
giant anti-Russian training camp for guerrilla wannabes run by fans of asymmetric warfare, and loading it up
with training and weapons. It’s also a bit too keen to preemptively clear Ukraine of any responsibility
whatsoever.
French President Emmanuel Macron put the blame entirely on ISIS. Just so everyone got the message in France, the
government hiked up the terrorism alert to maximum level. No one here really knows what that means because the
terror alert has been in place nonstop for the better part of two decades now, to the point where the bright red
on many of the terror alert signs in the front windows of public buildings has faded to bubblegum pink.
Maybe if the French and their US and Western allies hadn’t been so busy destabilizing countries and turning them
into terrorist Disneylands for regime change purposes, then maybe they could actually get a handle on the issue.
Then they wouldn’t have to whine, like Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis did recently on
Twitter: “Let’s not lose focus.” Because apparently, jihadism is just a minor speed bump on the regime change
highway.
The mayor of Paris has reiterated her proposal that Russian and Belarusian contestants stay away from this
summer’s Olympic Games in the French capital, despite them being officially allowed to compete as neutrals.
“I want to tell the Russian and Belarusian athletes that they are not welcome in Paris,” Anne Hidalgo told
Ukrainian athletes at a training center in Kiev on Thursday, while on a visit to Ukraine.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) initially pushed for a complete ban on competitors from Russia and
Belarus after the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. However, last December the IOC ruled that a
limited number of people from the two countries could participate as AINs (individual neutral athletes).”
Hidalgo told Reuters earlier this month that she would prefer for Russian and Belarusian contestants not to come
at all. “We cannot act as if [the Russian military operation in Ukraine] did not exist,” she told Reuters.
When asked about Israel’s Olympic participation – in the context of the Gaza war, raging since the Hamas attack
on October 7 – Hidalgo insisted there was no comparison to be made.
Sanctioning Israeli athletes is “out of the question because Israel is a democracy,” she stated.
Russia has slammed the IOC’s difference in approach to Israeli and Russian contestants. Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov has accused the Switzerland-based body of “political activism” and called its approach
self-discrediting.
The maximum numbers of Russian and Belarusian athletes that can qualify for the upcoming games are 55 and 28,
respectively. The IOC has noted that the teams are unlikely to actually meet the quota, with some 36 Russian and
22 Belarusian athletes expected to make it to the games, according to IOC director James Macleod.
Participants from the two nations can only compete in individual events, and not team sports, under a neutral
flag, and are barred from the Olympic opening ceremony.
Commenting on the restrictions faced by Russian and Belarusian competitors, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said
the move “destroys Olympic ideals and discriminates against the interests of Olympians.” Such restrictions run
“absolutely contrary to the entire ideology of the Olympic movement,” he insisted.