Pre-emptive – Moon of Alabama

September 8, 2004

Pre-emptive

Often when being a terrorist is one side of the coin, being a freedom fighter is the other one. China and Taiwan, Israel and Palestine, Russia and the US may look at different sides of the same coin. If everybody now declares pre-emptive strikes as part of their tool box, we will indeed live in interesting times.

“As for launching pre-emptive strikes on terrorist bases, we will carry out all measures to liquidate terrorist bases in any region of the world,” General Yuri Baluevsky, chief of Russia’s general staff, said, according to Russian news agencies.

But don´t be afraid, the General is severly restricting the Russian use of force against terrorism.

“However, this does not mean that we will launch nuclear strikes.”

Russia ready to strike against ‘terror’ worldwide

Posted by b on September 8, 2004 at 13:33 UTC | Permalink

Comments

ahhhh, dreaming dreams of “total war”
the Prince of darkness weeps with tears of joy.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Sep 8 2004 15:34 utc | 1

The strategic consequences behind this are quite big.
Bush did use his “war on terror” scheme to put US troops all around Russia. Now the Russians will use their “war on terror” scheme for the countermove. One shall expect some diplomatic and -by proxy- military infights between the US and Russia.
Putin has his 911 now and he will use it as cold blooded for Russias “sphere” as Bushco did use it for the US empire.

Posted by: b | Sep 8 2004 19:29 utc | 2

for an interesting look at what went down in Beslan take a look at this Irish paper

Posted by: Anonymous | Sep 8 2004 20:39 utc | 3

sorry, me @ 04:39

Posted by: Dan of Steele | Sep 8 2004 20:41 utc | 4

“Often when being a terrorist is one side of the coin, being a freedom fighter is the other one. China and Taiwan, Israel and Palestine, Russia and the US” …
Minutemen and the British infantry…
If we would have lost our revolutionary war…our minutemen would now be terrorists.
That fact has always struck me mute.

Posted by: Anonymous | Sep 8 2004 20:58 utc | 5

Quote:
Putin has his 911 now and he will use it as cold blooded for Russias “sphere” as Bushco did use it for the US empire.
***
Right! They both have a “card blanche” now for their pre-emptive slaughtering around the globe.
Now tell me about conspiracy theories being absurd… As I said before, comparing with wildest dreams reality is much much worse…
On the other hand we ( thinking people) are becoming more and more indifferent being helpless and others are easy to manipulate in situations like this. So looks like it’s about time to leave our hope “outside” approaching the gate of “hell” ON THE EARTH…
Normally by my nature I am pessimist but this is really killing me. I don’t see how ANYONE can escape. I was hoping that Australia may find it’s way out if on October 8 this year we vote Howard out of office but I guess I was way too naïve.
Friend keeps telling me that there were times like this before in history and Earth is still moving and humans are still on it…Why can’t I find any comfort in this fact?
Now tell me about conspiracy teories being loony…as I said comparing with wildest dreams reality is much much worse…

Posted by: vbo | Sep 9 2004 1:57 utc | 6

@vbo
“Friend keeps telling me that there were times like this before in history and Earth is still moving and humans are still on it…Why can’t I find any comfort in this fact?”
Look at it from the cosmic point of view, vbo: Oftentimes things that are horrible serve, without awareness, a much different, final purpose. If this were not the case, we would have long ago perished from this earth.
It’s better to occasionally take the reeeeaaaally long view, when the short one is without much consolation.

Posted by: Pat | Sep 9 2004 3:31 utc | 7

b, you seem to be a prophet – see this article from CBS.
Anger At U.S. Chechen Policy

Posted by: Fran | Sep 9 2004 8:47 utc | 8

@Fran
from the CBSnews article you did link:
The American Committee for Peace in Chechnya has condemned terrorist attacks. But it has also faulted the Kremlin for failing to advance a peace plan and criticized Russia’s human rights record..
The group’s membership includes Elliott Abrams, an official on President Bush’s National Security Council; Kenneth Adelman, a Reagan-era State Department official; Sept. 11 commission chairman Thomas Kean; Weekly Standard editor William Kristol; Pentagon adviser Richard Perle; former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and ex-CIA director James Woolsey.
Anybody recognizing any familar name in this list of concerned human rights activists?

Posted by: b | Sep 9 2004 11:40 utc | 9

Vbo: Sure, there were such times before. The difference was that the warmongers didn’t have nukes.
Pat: then the cosmos must be working for the ants, or maybe the worms, for their chances of inheriting the Earth have greatly increased, of late.
“has condemned terrorist attacks. But it has also faulted the Kremlin for failing to advance a peace plan and criticized Russia’s human rights record”
Well, I kinda agree with this. Except that I don’t plan to use it to weaken even more Russia and take advantage to turn the whole Caucasus into the new “frontier” of the US empire. And that on the contrary one could also turn the tables and make similar statements with the US war on terror, or the Israeli one.
What seems probably is that Russia will use this to go after Georgia, one way or the other. I suppose they’ll strongly back the independance of South Ossetia, so that it can join Northern Ossetia into Russian federation. Putin has already accused several times Georgia of harboring Chechen terrorists, and he loathes the new US-backed leader.
Now that they imply that some of these terrorists may come from Central Asia, there will be an interesting game in areas like Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, between Russia and USA.

Posted by: CluelessJoe | Sep 9 2004 12:57 utc | 10

Xymphora on the Beslan massacre:
Thursday
Wednesday

Posted by: Blackie | Sep 9 2004 13:40 utc | 11

Yah it’s disgusting to listen western media where Chechens are “rebels” and Iraqis that fight an illegal occupation of their country are ”terrorists”.
Yes CluelessJoe it’s a big difference …and people keep forgetting millions killed and hundreds of millions who survived but were damaged in many different ways. Balkan wars were started by generation that has been children during WWII…It’s never ending story…

Posted by: vbo | Sep 9 2004 13:55 utc | 12

I more and more think we are looking at a 19th-century style division of the world, where in the long run the cold war will just look as a particular static phase in the long struggle between powerful nations to control resources. And of course it is covered by a layer of “we have to bring democracy to those poor people” and fight those modern day cannibals, the terrorists. Unfortunately those powers in europe that wants a military united europe seem all to eager to carry their part of this new white mans burden.
Maybe this thread is abandoned, but I didn´t se that before I already had written this post, and if I´ve written something I will post it 🙂

Posted by: A swedish kind of death | Sep 11 2004 11:44 utc | 13

I thought there would be universal condemnation of the “freedom fighters” for targeting children. I guess I was wrong.

Posted by: Dave | Oct 9 2004 7:10 utc | 14

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