SHAMILKALA, DAGESTAN – While terrorism is never acceptable, countries may want to stop invading other nations to deny some the justification.
This should come as a surprise to no one I would imagine, but few peoples like to be invaded and taken over. There is something about independence and creating one’s own notion of nationhood that stands in the way of opening the door with a ‘please come in!’ to another country that has designs on your territory.
This of course has rarely – if ever – stood in the way of decisions to do exactly what some don’t want. In other words, nation A enters nation B with force, slaughters the local population and ushers in a new era of governance for the better (?). All while claiming it had to do what it did to (pick one, or several):
- stop nation B from doing the same thing;
- help the locals suffering from their own brutal leaders;
- gain access to resources or strategic territory (hello Panama in 1903!).
And it never goes badly, for either side – NOT!
As a case in point consider Russia’s relations with its neighbours in the Caucasus. Going back to Tsarist days, successive regimes have sought to take over various parts of the mountainous area, seldom with great results. As late as 2008 it engaged in a five-day war with Georgia.
And this continued interference in the affairs of the region leads at times to terrorism.
On this day in 2012
An improvised bomb (IED) killed two policemen and one civilian in the Dagestani city of Shamilkala and wounded five others. The explosion took place when police entered an empty former bank building to inspect an area near the site of an earlier bomb blast that had caused no casualties. It did raise concerns over the Olympic games in 2014 in Sochi, located not that far away.
We have a perfect understanding of the scope of the threat and how to deal with it and how to prevent it. I hope that our law enforcement agencies will deal with it with honor and dignity, the way it was during other major sports and political events.
President Putin on lead-up to 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics
Note that I am not justifying terrorism on account of cross-border incursions. It’s just that sometimes you can see where these actions lead.
Read More Today in Terrorism
May 31, 1906: Spanish anarchist bombs royal wedding
On May 31, 1906 a Spanish anarchist threw a bomb hoping to hit King Alfonso XIII, killing 24 and wounding more than 100.
May 30, 2009: Anti-government group bombs TV station in Ecuador
On May 30, 2009 two pamphlet-bombs exploded outside an Ecuadorian TV station and ministry: no victims or significant damage ensued.
May 29, 2016: ISIS uses chlorine gas in terrorist attack
On May 29, 2016 35 civilians were wounded in an ISIS attack using rockets containing chlorine gas in Iraq’s Nineveh Province.
