The Issue in Question
Published in Kommersant
(Russia) on 3 May 2011
by Gennady Gudkov (link to original)
(Russia) on 3 May 2011
by Gennady Gudkov (link to original)
Translated from
by Tatiana Sokolova.
Edited by Gheanna Emelia.
Osama bin Laden’s liquidation is good news for America and for the whole world as well. In recent years, bin Laden was perceived not as a person, but as a mythological hero: a symbol, a banner for international terrorists. Recording his appeals, he demonstrated invulnerability and inspired terrorists around the entire world.
So this symbol has ceased to exist. A strong signal was sent to terrorists: It reminds them that there are no invincible and no invulnerable ones among them, and that even liquidation of the most powerful and unsinkable leader was just a matter of time. Moreover, Osama bin Laden’s elimination reminds us that by launching an unadvertised participation of the world powers’ intelligence services within the past century, the production of world villains has become a thing of the past. I recall that from 1960 to 1980, intelligence services embedded their agents into radical organizations in order to solve one or more tasks. However, later having gained the necessary knowledge and experience, these agents withdrew from obedience and began to live their own lives, akin to a genie released from a bottle. It was how bin Laden sprang up.
Nowadays, another generation of terrorists will replace bin Laden’s — they have no experience, no training, no negative charisma of their predecessors. New Osama bin Ladens cannot emerge in a moment. It means that terrorism, which has been stricken a heavy moral and psychological blow, will wane. Strictly speaking, it has already been happening — in America, where since 9/11 there have been no terrorist attacks, and in the Middle East and other regions.
However, there still are double standards applied to the terrorism phenomenon; there still are world powers driven by national egoism that divide terrorists into “domestic” and “foreign,” “bad” and “good” ones; there will be a sufficient background for terrorist activities. Osama bin Laden’s liquidation itself does not eliminate these double standards.
With bin Laden’s assassination bringing good news for both America and Russia, it is barely appropriate to draw parallels between terrorism in Russia and terrorism in the U.S. You must not forget that we have different causes of terrorism. American terrorism is imported in origin, since there is no favorable ground for it.
On the contrary, in Russia, we have a domestic ground for the emergence of terrorism. This ground is not Islamism, as you would guess, but an invincible bribery and corruption. These conditions holding, our homebred terrorism will not escape.
So this symbol has ceased to exist. A strong signal was sent to terrorists: It reminds them that there are no invincible and no invulnerable ones among them, and that even liquidation of the most powerful and unsinkable leader was just a matter of time. Moreover, Osama bin Laden’s elimination reminds us that by launching an unadvertised participation of the world powers’ intelligence services within the past century, the production of world villains has become a thing of the past. I recall that from 1960 to 1980, intelligence services embedded their agents into radical organizations in order to solve one or more tasks. However, later having gained the necessary knowledge and experience, these agents withdrew from obedience and began to live their own lives, akin to a genie released from a bottle. It was how bin Laden sprang up.
Nowadays, another generation of terrorists will replace bin Laden’s — they have no experience, no training, no negative charisma of their predecessors. New Osama bin Ladens cannot emerge in a moment. It means that terrorism, which has been stricken a heavy moral and psychological blow, will wane. Strictly speaking, it has already been happening — in America, where since 9/11 there have been no terrorist attacks, and in the Middle East and other regions.
However, there still are double standards applied to the terrorism phenomenon; there still are world powers driven by national egoism that divide terrorists into “domestic” and “foreign,” “bad” and “good” ones; there will be a sufficient background for terrorist activities. Osama bin Laden’s liquidation itself does not eliminate these double standards.
With bin Laden’s assassination bringing good news for both America and Russia, it is barely appropriate to draw parallels between terrorism in Russia and terrorism in the U.S. You must not forget that we have different causes of terrorism. American terrorism is imported in origin, since there is no favorable ground for it.
On the contrary, in Russia, we have a domestic ground for the emergence of terrorism. This ground is not Islamism, as you would guess, but an invincible bribery and corruption. These conditions holding, our homebred terrorism will not escape.