Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
March 23, 2024
Media Snippets Related To The Crocus City Hall Attack

Terrorist attack in Crocus: over 60 deaths, more than 100 wounded

MOSCOW, March 23. /TASS/. Unidentified people have conducted a terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk in the Moscow Region. According to the latest figures, more than 60 people were killed, and another 100 were wounded.

Gunmen kill more than 60 in concert attack near Moscow, Islamic State claims responsibility

MOSCOW, March 22 (Reuters) – Camouflage-clad gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons at concertgoers near Moscow on Friday, killing at least 60 people and injuring 145 in an attack claimed by Islamic State militants. In the deadliest attack in Russia since the 2004 Beslan school siege, gunmen sprayed civilians with bullets just before Soviet-era rock group “Picnic” was to perform to a full house at the 6,200-seat the Crocus City Hall just west of the capital.

Islamic State, the militant group that once sought control over swathes of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the attack, the group’s Amaq agency said on Telegram.

The United States has intelligence confirming Islamic State’s claim of responsibility for the shooting, a U.S. official said on Friday. The official said Washington had warned Moscow in recent weeks of the possibility of an attack.

“We did warn the Russians appropriately,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, without providing any additional details.

Russia has yet to say who it thinks is responsible.

DD Geopolitics @DD_Geopolitics – 2:55 UTC · Mar 23, 2024

A month ago (to the day!) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Victoria “F the EU” Nuland promised that aid to Ukraine would allow it to “accelerate the asymmetric warfare that has been most effective” and that Putin is “sure to face some nasty surprises.”

Nuland left her post as the Deputy Secretary of State 10 days prior to this video. Moscow civilians were killed today in an act of terrorism (asymmetrical warfare).
Embedded video

Daniel Dumbrill @DanielDumbrill – 8:08 UTC · Feb 16, 2023

Now that the ISIS patches showing up in Armed Forces of Ukraine photos/videos are trending, it’s a good time for me to retweet this thread from last year. The writing was on the wall.

Daniel Dumbrill @DanielDumbrill – 10:08 UTC · Oct 12, 2022

Now Al Qaeda & other Salafist Jihadist groups are reportedly entering Ukraine to fight Russia directly. Coincidentally, last week an ISIS recruiter the Taliban captured said he received funding via Ukraine. The Taliban only released this video domestically. Subtitles by a friend:
Embedded video

Kim Dotcom @KimDotcom – 21:01 UTC · Mar 22, 2024

Sanctions didn’t work. Billions in weapons didn’t work. Unwavering support didn’t work. Counter-offensive didn’t work. Non-stop propaganda didn’t work.

Rules-based terrorism is all they have left. It won’t work either. It just shows how evil and desperate they are.

Kim Dotcom @KimDotcom – 21:42 UTC · Mar 22, 2024

Was the CIA behind the terror attack near Moscow?
   Yes 74.7%
   No 25.3%
89,899 votes·14 hours left

Koba @Roberto05246129 6:22 UTC . Mar 23, 2024

The identities of four of the six alleged terrorists who carried out the shooting at Crocus City Hall have become known.
1) Nasridinov Makhmadrasul 37 years old
2) Ismonov Rivozhidin 51 years old
3) Safolzoda Shokhinjonn 21 years old
4) Nazarov Rustam 29 years old.
All of them are citizens of Tajikistan.

Al-Qaida/Taliban-linked media campaign frames Islamic State Khurasan as foreign, Tajik groupEurasianetOct 18, 2023

Craig Murray @CraigMurrayOrg – 23:25 UTC · Mar 22, 2024

I have been explaining for years that the US and Israel are behind ISIS.
See it now?

As said previously: Russia. Is. At. War.

Comments

Posted by: Perimetr | Mar 23 2024 15:45 utc | 255
It seems unfortunate that no one goes after the leaders, the political elites, the oligarchs, the .001% of the population who make the decisions and give the orders to fight the endless wars and atrocities,
<=Is "elite attrition" a policy of anti-war warriors ?

Posted by: snake | Mar 23 2024 21:46 utc | 401

More on possible (?) ISIS-K ties to the CIA?
https://twitter.com/sethharpesq/status/1681912024203251712

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Mar 23 2024 21:48 utc | 402

the pessimist | Mar 23 2024 21:23 utc | 413
No, these are death throes per the Soviet Vistula-Oder offensive in 1945 w/ local variations. And that’s all they are.
Any insertion of NATO troops in theatre would be solely to facilitate evacuation of Ukrainian troops and would require Russian acquiesence. Russia is clearly unwilling to give its acquiesence, hence the terrorism.
Nuland hasn’t been relevant since Nov. 2022. The Brits are the operational tip of the speare.
It is amusing reading posts from people that use their own emotions to discern what is behind leadership decisions.

Posted by: Nagillum | Mar 23 2024 21:48 utc | 403

Sry if this might seem a tad OT but it’s kind of related.
Mark Felton has dug up some juicy stuff on the collaboration between the British Piracy Empire and their Nazi family members:
https://youtu.be/mHNKcsu3MuU
We all know the SS ratlines towards Britain, USA and Canada. How the CIA and it’s predecessor OSS was formed. And MI6. I’m sure Putin is well aware of that. How to rid those viruses from the earth will be his Magna Opus.

Posted by: blueswede | Mar 23 2024 21:48 utc | 404

Sevastopol under attack by Shadow storm missiles. Some report said AFU had 10 launch platforms. At least one hit and exploded on something. Belgorod hit with MLRS cluster rounds, a child was reported wounded.
Missiles hitting Kharkov suburbs.

Posted by: unimperator | Mar 23 2024 21:49 utc | 405

Hmmm….
Ukraine has fired multiple missiles at the city of Sevastopol in Crimea, Governor Mikail Razvozhayev said in the early hours of Sunday. The city hosts an important naval base and the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
According to Razvozhayev, the ground defenses have shot down more than 10 missiles. He added that one projectile struck an office building, while parts of another missile hit a five-story residential complex.

Posted by: Innuendo | Mar 23 2024 21:52 utc | 406

It seems that there a lot of Hasbara trolls here trying to blame “Islamic Terrorism”. Just like the 9/11 false flag.
Posted by: Alfred (Hurghada) | Mar 23 2024 10:11 utc | 75
Islamophobia is a popular sport at the bar. The most common concern seems to be: but what is the ethnicity?
Not one of the geniuses here has asked: why would Russian authorities allow such unprofessional interrogations with confessions being extracted from “suspects” through torture to be disseminated on social media and RT?
Izvestia provides a timeline: 20:03 suspects enter building, 20:13 suspects leave the building. Picked up soon after 23:00. They are in there for about ten minutes. They are shown to have small backpacks and guns.
Not one genius here asks: how in 10 minutes did they manage to kill people and get such a huge fire going on the roof that the whole roof collapsed? It looks like a disaster zone.
Not one genius here asks how believable is a confession from
1) one frightened guy with his face on a Russian boot
2) one guy who had his ear chopped off and is made to eat it
3) one teenager who confesses after being stabbed in the eye

Apparently all of this is totally OK with the good citizens of the bar who believe in law and not mob violence.
Clearly whatever really happened is not being released by the authorities.
Perhaps the real perpetrators are Slavic Banderite brothers and therefore some other ethnic groups have been offered up for public consumption. Whatver the reason, three men and one teenager with small backpacks did not manage to collapse a huge building in ten minutes. It is also highly unlikely that they are the real perpetrators in the first place.
But yeah, Islamophobia rules the bar.

Posted by: pq | Mar 23 2024 21:52 utc | 407

Posted by: pq | Mar 23 2024 21:52 utc | 427
Sorry, but the lady doth protest too much. Do you dispute previous evidence – photo and video – that came out way before it would serve any Islamophobic aims, showing “ISIS” insignia among the fighting groups of UAF?
Calm down. Nobody here that I’ve seen is spouting Islamophobia. “ISIS” is the US (and Israel’s) moveable feast that just so happens to be made up of a tiny fraction of Muslims who apparently are happy to sign up to do the CIA/Mossad’s bidding, and this is a part of a much longer pattern dating back to the Mujahideen, if not earlier.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Mar 23 2024 22:00 utc | 408

pq | Mar 23 2024 21:52 utc | 427
Da Rus are clearly running an op aimed at their population. That’s the only reason to release these vids.
Running in parallel with the American op to convince its idiot population that it was ISIS.
Rus will eventually turn this on Ukraine and will have the support of its population when it does so. That’s pretty much the only thing that matters.

Posted by: Kimche | Mar 23 2024 22:02 utc | 409

Don Firineach | Mar 23 2024 21:04 utc | 404
“See-I-A/Em-Eye-Sikhs are now both directly preaching to, and recruiting, their own brands of jihadis, ideological and/or mercenary, to direct and use as they see fit, against those opposed to their hegemonic interests?”
Well, MI6 are trying to recruit minorities “who represent modern Britain – and who might more instinctively understand the motivations of hostile actors”.
OTOH they might even instinctively SHARE the motivations of hostile actors! But they’ll have natural rhythm, so there’s that.
And modern Britain is a bit of a shithole, so I’m sure they’ll be able to represent her accurately.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/22/sir-richard-moore-mi6-men-only-garrick-club-membership

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Mar 23 2024 22:04 utc | 410

Tom_Q_Collins @428
pq @427 has some points here.
Islamophobia aside, I’ve also wondered why videos of the interrogation were made or allowed to be made public. It doesn’t make sense to reveal information you are getting from an interrogation before you can follow it up.

Posted by: Jerr | Mar 23 2024 22:07 utc | 411

Re: “It can’t be “ISIS”!”
https://twitter.com/MarkAmesExiled/status/1771547001605279978
“There’s no reason it can’t be IS-K, guided/sponsored by a foreign intelligence agency with cash & common interests. Lot of people refuse to consider it was IS-K simply because US said so. There’s plenty of documentation showing IS-K doing jobs for sponsors in the past.”
Why couldn’t it have been a splinter group affiliated with “ISIS-K” doing a contract job for the US/Ukraine? In that type of situation where acting as mercs, they have no reason to martyr themselves, and were told they would be given help in surviving and escaping into Ukraine, hence the need to blur their faces (if that image is real).

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Mar 23 2024 22:08 utc | 412

Posted by: Jerr | Mar 23 2024 22:07 utc | 432
I agree that it’s odd to be letting this stuff get out like that, but given the magnitude of the attack and the extreme death toll, it’s also understandable that those who come into contact with the perps are extremely angry and that’s got nothing to do with Islamophobia. But, I mean they aren’t exactly secreting them away to “black sites” (many of which were/are in Muslim countries) and torturing them for 20 years like the CIA has done.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Mar 23 2024 22:11 utc | 413

https://twitter.com/MarkAmesExiled/status/1771356233854861427
Sure is weird how “ISIS” seems to be dedicated only to attacking Washington D.C.’s official enemies.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Mar 23 2024 22:13 utc | 414

@ Tom_Q_Collins | Mar 23 2024 22:08 utc | 433
Whether it is IS contracted by so-called-ukraine or any random schmucks contracted by so-called-ukraine, what practical difference does that make? The important part is the perpetrator, not the hired hand. This branch of argument is a waste of time.

Posted by: boneless | Mar 23 2024 22:14 utc | 415

More from Mark Ames, a correspondent/analyst that I’ve grown to trust over the years.
https://twitter.com/MarkAmesExiled/status/1771522946101596399
“2 weeks ago when ISIS militants battled Russians in Ingushetia, a Ukraine-backed group based in Warsaw dedicated to dissolving Russia, “Free Nations of Post-Russia Forum” tweeted support for ISIS.
Their url-leadership page lists Casey Michel, Ilya Ponomarev as “speakers”.”

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Mar 23 2024 22:15 utc | 416

what practical difference does that make? The important part is the perpetrator, not the hired hand. This branch of argument is a waste of time.
Posted by: boneless | Mar 23 2024 22:14 utc | 436
It’s not a branch “argument” and it makes ZERO practical difference. In case you aren’t able to discern my point, it’s exactly THAT. The immediate dismissal of so-called “ISIS” involvement just because the USA says so (they still think everybody believes there are no CIA-Ukrainian-ISIS ties) is counterproductive and itself leads to unnecessary “branch arguments.” So yes, even if “ISIS” is involved, it still points back to the US and Ukraine. Period.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Mar 23 2024 22:17 utc | 417

I saw the pressconference with Jake Sullivan in Kiev. The ukrainian beside him was Yermak, not Zelinsky.
Have anybody seen a picture of Sullivan and Zelinsky from that Sullivan visit to Kiev?

Posted by: Paul from Norway | Mar 23 2024 22:18 utc | 418

The mystery of ISIS-K has been solved.
The leader of ISIS-K worked in US Bagram air force base as a contractor, after that he worked for drug lord Rashid Doshtum, a CIA proxy. Finally he worked as security for Amrullah Saleh, basically the CIA right hand man in Afghanistan.
ISIS-K is the splinter of ISIS which US flew from Syria to Afghanistan!
https://twitter.com/sethharpesq/status/1681912024203251712

Posted by: unimperator | Mar 23 2024 22:19 utc | 419

Saw this,

[machine translated]
#rumors
We confirm the information of our colleagues that the American ambassador warned the Head of the OP Ermak at this meeting that the security situation with them and the entire Ukrainian elite is now under a huge question. [pic of meeting]
Previously, there were rumors that there was a promise from Putin that he would not destroy the top of the Ukrainian state (Putin promised the Israeli Prime Minister, Turkish President Erdogan, Western leaders and sheikhs that Zelensky would not be “blowed up,” which is why Ze and Ermak traveled so freely everywhere) . Now, no one can guarantee this.
Everyone knows that Putin is a man of his word. Most likely, he has now canceled his “behind the scenes promise.”
That is why the entire Ukrainian elite is now on heartburn. The first targets are most likely the SBU and GUR, but we’ll see who they start with.
We advise ordinary Ukrainians to be careful and take care of themselves. The times are now very difficult and dangerous. Anything can happen.
304.5Kviews 13:56
https://t.me/legitimniy/17518
Based on this:
[machine translated]
Cartel
#gossip
There are rumors that at today’s meeting between the US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink and the Head of the OP Ermak, they discussed the situation around the terrorist attack in the Russian Moscow region in Crocus, as well as the strikes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Belgorod.
The Americans are very concerned that the Ukrainian security forces could actually be involved in the terrorist attack near Moscow, and what the consequences will be against this background.
https://t.me/ZE_kartel/8493

Thought I’ll believe it when I see it, but I guess plausible that recent events could trigger a change, particularly for “elites” orbiting Ze. Then again even if it was true this was mentioned at the meeting, doesn’t mean it’s true, given motivations of those conveying said message.

Posted by: knighthawk | Mar 23 2024 22:34 utc | 420

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Mar 23 2024 22:13 utc | 435
Hi,
ISIS also attacks US’s (and Israel) allies when needed : Bataclan, Paris and others killings in Europe.
About the Xpost linked, Iran fight ISIS, Russia too. Easy job for US to warn their toys are about to hit
and it’s highly likely that the people who officially pass on information to the Russians or the US do so sincerely, without irony.
Cynicism isn’t their job; others take care of that upstream.
BR

Posted by: Tak-Tik | Mar 23 2024 22:41 utc | 421

The photo of Putin is open to interpretation; I see a man seething inside while trying to maintain his decorum.

@Posted by: karlof1 | Mar 23 2024 19:15 utc | 355
Thought the same when watching it live, especially his sight at the end of the statement…His eyes are reduced to the minimun size after probably having passed all night awaken and furious…

Posted by: Ghost of Mozgovoy | Mar 23 2024 22:43 utc | 422

erratum:
the people who officially pass on information to the Russians or IRAN do so sincerely
sry

Posted by: Tak-Tik | Mar 23 2024 22:44 utc | 423

Does America care?
The other night, the first 12 minutes of ABC and NBC news were spent on some skinny British lady with cancer. She is married to the descendant of a King that the US separated from over 200 years ago.
THEN they reported on a terrorist attack.
And the US Sec of State was not too convincing in his condemnation of the attack.

Posted by: BroncoBilly | Mar 23 2024 22:44 utc | 424

I guess this would mainly be for British/ex-pat barflies but even if you are not a resident of Perfidious Albion, this is still worth a watch to see the deranged levels of Russophobia here in the UK with this report on the Moscow terror event by Channel 4, one of the main TV channels:
https://youtu.be/NYaB2O2aRmU?si=eobgD61KrK9bMRMN

Posted by: FakeBelieve | Mar 23 2024 22:46 utc | 425

Gee, you go to bed, get up, scratch your ass and make a coffee, sit down, yawn, open MoA and…wtf? 442 comments already? Can I be bothered?
In my view (FWIW), Russia typically ignores or cares little for narratives, especially western MSM narratives. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. The main advantage is they operate in the realm of reality and act on that alone. They are empirical, pragmatic and sober. The disadvantage is the blindness this creates to the realities which narrative creates.
In this case it means that they will seek the truth in order to be able to act on the reality of the situation. They won’t communicate this to anyone else, so when the response comes it may appear disconnected to events for the very reason that no one in the media world (we included) really understands the complexity of reality. The downside is that the Russians will not exploit the narrative possibilities to explain why they will act as they do. The west has this vast propaganda machine whose job is to pump out state-crafted narratives. It is very effective (this site pushes back precisely because of MSM is effective propaganda). It has everyone I know convinced the event is Islamist terror, which has huge benefits for the West, not least keeping an old bogeyman alive in the imagination.
So for me the narrative push-back from Russia is important: I’d like to hear a legitimate news outlet do for this attack what Hersh did for NS2, that is, offer the counter-narrative and create the space for doubt. That 75% of 90k respondents thought the CIA was behind it tells me one clear thing: there is a lot of mistrust desperate for a counter-narrative from Russia.

Posted by: Patroklos | Mar 23 2024 22:46 utc | 426

Fake ISIS connection?
Islamic State’s Amaq news agency have now released a video filmed by the terrorist, as they attack the Crocus music hall.

The Saviour @stairwayto3dom
🚨#BREAKING: HORRIFIC VIDEO RELEASED OF ‘ISIS’ TERRORIST ATTACK IN MOSCOW
THIS IS INSANE, THEY EVEN TRIED BEHEADING THE VICTIMS
(GRAPHIC CONTENT)
https://twitter.com/stairwayto3dom/status/1771661626665529674

This however is no proof that the paid Tajik terrorists had anything to do with ISIS. They only acted on orders of their handlers. All the handlers needed to blame ISIS was to have some contact to Amaq and ISIS so they could hand in the photo and video material. There are plenty of people working for Budanov and the Ukrainian GUR with the necessary connections.
Amaq mentioned no ISIS ‘wilayah’ (branch) in relation to the claim. I suspect this is because the “wilayah” involved is Wilayah Kyiv, lead by Kyrylo Budanov.

Posted by: Petri Krohn | Mar 23 2024 22:51 utc | 427

Posted by: Ornot | Mar 23 2024 20:18 utc | 377
You don’t even need email, just generate a password to write down.

Posted by: Nemo Ingenting | Mar 23 2024 22:54 utc | 428

@pq | Mar 23 2024 21:52 utc | 427

Islamophobia is a popular sport at the bar. The most common concern seems to be: but what is the ethnicity?
[…]
Perhaps the real perpetrators are Slavic Banderite brothers and therefore some other ethnic groups have been offered up for public consumption.

Oh, the irony. The overwhelming irony.
The only guys concerned about the ethnicity of that bunch of morons are those claiming that they do not look like Tajiks, that the Tajiks are not the real perpetrators etc.
Look.
This is totally an ISIS job, perpetrated by your average islamic blockheads.
Ukrainian nationalist groups have a historical link with Salafists.
There are Salafist groups in the Ukraine since at least the end of the 2nd Chechen war.
It is probable that the Ukrainian nationalist groups collaborated with ISIS to do this job.
It is not very probable that the Ukrainian high command collaborated with this job, as this would be, politically, an enormous own goal.
It is totally unlikely that CIA or MI6 worked on this job, as they are much better and much smarter than this.
The result of this attack is a increase of sympathy toward the Russian people from the European and US public, so totally something that the CIA/MI6 would not do.
Also, the modus operandi is not that of a Gladio style infiltration, which was a multi-layered infiltration, to completely obfuscate the origins and the chain of command of the operation.
These muslim (don’t forget that) idiots made totally transparent their intentions and links.

Posted by: SG | Mar 23 2024 22:55 utc | 429

Just once I’d like to hear Putin say: “when the US govt tells you this was ISIS, they’re lying—it was them”. Sure, it would be responded with Guardian articles that tell you he’s a dictator and “wouldn’t that be typical of the propaganda of a dictator” etc etc. But for many it would signal a need to pause. Was it ISIS? Then the inconsistencies could be ennumerated… but how many could face the implications that Islamist terror is run by western intelligence? What a fucked up world. Better get cracking: that Ark ain’t gonna build itself.

Posted by: Patroklos | Mar 23 2024 22:56 utc | 430

Since the US declared it was ISIS, you can be certain it wasn’t ISIS. If it was Ukraine, it would have needed to be cleared and coordinated through the US. The question is not whether the U.S. knew about it, but rather who in the US is involved. Is it an off the books Gladio operation or a concerted operation. With Blinken warning US citizens to stay out of Malls and converts, it seems flagrantly the latter. I expect Ukraine to take a beating because NATO and the US, the Usual Suspects, are still too powerful.

Posted by: Turk 152 | Mar 23 2024 22:59 utc | 431

Attack on Sevastopol over. While 2 missiles his city center likely they did not impact their intended targets. Minimal casualties. Reported that a 3rd? failed to detonate and impacted a house killing a man. Belgorod shelled with HIMARS.
Questions about Crocous theater. How did the fire manage to spread so quickly? Wall curtains highly flamable? If so why is this allowed? Fire control system/sprinklers – activated? Non functional? Not installed? Sabotaged?

Posted by: the pessimist | Mar 23 2024 23:00 utc | 432

re: snake | Mar 23 2024 21:46 utc | 420
you ask:
Is “elite attrition” a policy of anti-war warriors ?
I would say it is preferable to a direct military conflict between the US/NATO and Russia that quickly leads to a nuclear holocaust.

Posted by: Perimetr | Mar 23 2024 23:01 utc | 433

so USA serves notice warning to Russia not to intensify the war in Ukraine(when Rusdia succeeding with heavier attacks in Odessa .. power plants…loss of “Nato” staff etc…..explains the whole thing to me …an operation to enable empower USA to say this to try and regain some sense of ( moral) outrage….to provide an excuse to up the Nato retalation because the hope Russia willl up the SMO allowing USA to escalate and authorise obtain the 300k Taurus etc.
41 f16 are apparently in their way before autumn….Germany just authorised another 300m…..EU trying to use the 300b Rus money being held …European Peace Facility now sidestepping its “rules” (that all EU members must pass the use of EPF (Hungary Slovak most unlikely to) to now facilitate getting individual country members to create funding to manufacture shells etc with Czecho also in partnership with Germany as “roll up any shells we can buy ringmaster” …..ongoing Nato exercises available as back up.. claims Nato troops are more present in Zukraine..all set up to “bring it on”?

Posted by: Jo | Mar 23 2024 23:02 utc | 434

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Mar 23 2024 15:59 utc | 259
The people who hid in the basement were the concert organizers, so they knew their way around the building & weren’t necessary in the concert hall itself when the attack began.
Likewise, a 15 year old part/time employee rescued a group of concert goers who were headed toward a dead end & led them out through a back way.
Your theory is ridiculous.

Posted by: Mary | Mar 23 2024 23:03 utc | 435

Posted by: SG | Mar 23 2024 22:55 utc | 459
If I had to choose between “It is totally unlikely that CIA or MI6 worked on this job, as they are much better and much smarter than this.” or incompetence, bad timing, poor planning, etc, I choose the latter. The CIA and MI6 at least knew.
And what are the aims here? I mean surely the ISIS-K outfit was funded precisely to be a destabilising element in central Asia, a source of recruiting for Ukraine, and to be an agent of plausibly deniable black ops just like this?

Posted by: Patroklos | Mar 23 2024 23:04 utc | 436

#464: Excellent Post Tom. The west is desperate. This Ukraine thing is bleeding them dry. They want Russia to do something, anything, other than the current slow grind that destroys a few million dollars a day of NATO equipment and a thousand cannon fodder Ukies a day, so they justify actions to take this to the next level. This urge is mirrored in the troll postings here that always encourage the exact same thing, and have been since the start of this conflict when Russia did not do what was expected of them.

Posted by: Moonraker | Mar 23 2024 23:07 utc | 437

Reportedly Russia is launching missiles on Kulbakino airfield near Nikolaev just after the Ukrainian Su-24s attacking Crimea landed. Also Dolgintsevo airfield near Krivoy Rog under attack.
We might be nearing the end of days for remnants of AFU air force.

Posted by: unimperator | Mar 23 2024 23:13 utc | 438

Tom_Q_Collins @ 434
Perhaps, the ear and eye are understandable and the terrorists are not at some secret interrogations center.
However, the visuals of the ear and eye will probably end up defining public opinion (at least in the West) on Russian human rights. The viewers will make up there minds upon seeing the videos and they will say Russian doesn’t defend human rights – now I see why Ukraine is fighting them. The rest of the story as it unfolds may not change this view.
It’s like the current conflict in Gaza. Hamas kills 4 children under four years old, and people see it and make their judgement against them. Three months later the UN comes out with a report that the Israeli killed 400 children under four years old by their bombing. The later information does not much influence those people’s opinion on Hamas.
The ear and eye videos will mostly have some adverse effects regarding world public opinion and support for Russia. The Western media likely portray the terrorists to be the victims.

Posted by: Jerr | Mar 23 2024 23:15 utc | 439

The comments made here are some of the only ones on English net that I have read which expressed sympathy/condolences for the ones who died or were injured. Most everyone else is either ignoring, happy about Russians getting hurt, or (in typical Americanski fashion) busy talking about what impact this will have on USA….
I’ll reserve judgement as to who was involved until we have more official info. To anyone saying “US warned you!” just keep in mind that Russia warned USA about the Boston Marathon Bombers long in advance and USA was unable to capitalize on this information. Turns out that intelligence operations are hard. Who knew.

Posted by: ABOBA | Mar 23 2024 23:16 utc | 440

Pq 427
You call it “islamophobia” and I call it “pattern recognition”. Sure, not all muslims are terrorists, but a hell of a lot of terrorists are muslims. Why you defend this scum I have no idea. I sure hope you never have a run in with an Islamic “Truck of Peace” while living in the West.

Posted by: ABOBA | Mar 23 2024 23:20 utc | 441

It’s now obvious the masterminds behind the terrorist attack are USA, UK and Ukraine.
USA brazenly carries out these attacks due to its geographic isolation which has provided it safety.
This same thing can be turned into a disadvantage in the event of biological war. Russia must have the means to do so. Rest of US military allies will be isolated and will have to fend for themselves. Divide and conquer.

Posted by: Jason | Mar 23 2024 23:20 utc | 442

I’ll reserve judgement as to who was involved until we have more official info. To anyone saying “US warned you!” just keep in mind that Russia warned USA about the Boston Marathon Bombers long in advance and USA was unable to capitalize on this information. Turns out that intelligence operations are hard. Who knew.
Posted by: ABOBA | Mar 23 2024 23:16 utc | 474
That’s wise. Nonetheless, have you any idea as to who might of organized such an attack on innocent Russian civilians? Would you suspect perhaps Ukraine and it’s backers? How about US intelligence? Think maybe they’d want to hurt Russia?
That’s interesting you bring up the Boston marathon. Do you think Russia ignored good information from US intelligence about this massacre of innocents?

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Mar 23 2024 23:24 utc | 443

Paco | Mar 23 2024 20:57 utc | 399–
Thanks for your reply. We’ve had some similar sorts of attacks here but not quite on that scale. Somewhere here there’s a mass shooting almost weekly. Plus the highway carnage. Until the Imperialist Mad Dogs are eliminated and Parasites ousted from power, Peace will continue to be a prized asset.

Posted by: karlof1 | Mar 23 2024 23:24 utc | 444

@Patroklos | Mar 23 2024 23:04 utc | 467

If I had to choose between “It is totally unlikely that CIA or MI6 worked on this job, as they are much better and much smarter than this.” or incompetence, bad timing, poor planning, etc, I choose the latter.

The problem is not competence, timing or planning, the problem is that the very idea of attacking a crowd of unsuspecting and innocent civilians, in a concert hall, full of cameras, that will show worldwide the shameful actions of the terrorists, is totally demented and appealing only to extremists and demented fanboys. Such an action is totally resonating with the sympathy of the Western public, something the the MI6 and CIA, masters of propaganda know too well. The only guys who could think that was a good idea, are the same crowd who thought the7th October own goal was a great idea. And, by the way, those who are now deflecting the blame (It was CIA! Those aren’t Tajiks! Those aren’t real muslims) would be totally cheering if that would have happened in the US or in Western Europe.

The CIA and MI6 at least knew.

Of course they did. As they knew about 7th October. As soon as these organizations pop up, intelligence services infiltrate them with confidants, informants etc. Then they fight and eradicate those that are not useful and let bloom (at least for a while) those that could be useful. As the Mossad did with Hamas.

Posted by: SG | Mar 23 2024 23:30 utc | 445

USA was unable to capitalize on this information
@Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Mar 23 2024 23:24 utc | 479
OR…Dear CIA, we know.
Russia was telling the CIA that they knew the Boston Marathon Bomber
had been sent to Chechnya to be trained in terrorism against Russian interests.
The Boston Marathon Bomber didn’t like what he was being asked to do in Chechnya
for the CIA, so he came back pissed.
BLOW BACK
Dear CIA, we know.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-boston-bombings-and-the-cia-connection-graham-fuller-and-uncle-ruslan-tsarnaev/5335416

Posted by: librul | Mar 23 2024 23:36 utc | 446

Somone here just said cutting ear and stabbing eye is bad form and detracts from any morale rights of the Russians.
I’m sure he’s supportive of the same ear-less terrorist who repeatedly stabbed a dead man over and over again in this video.
https://t.me/DDGeopolitics/105634

Posted by: Surferket | Mar 23 2024 23:45 utc | 447

The methane comments show that USUKIS is concerned that Islamic State is now a busted flush for Western false flag. Any outsider stumbling across
MoA , would not take MoA seriously.
Gaslighting, but not as we know it.
The cookie monster’s last leak , before being pumped down into a liquid refrigant container, never to be seen again.

Posted by: Giyane | Mar 23 2024 23:50 utc | 448

The ear and eye videos will mostly have some adverse effects regarding world public opinion and support for Russia. The Western media likely portray the terrorists to be the victims.
Posted by: Jerr | Mar 23 2024 23:15 utc | 473
I disagree, but only time will tell. I have yet to see any “credible” western voices with a significant platform attempting to portray an eye and ear being injured in a way that overshadows the large number of casualties in Moscow, but again, we’ll see…
This is the last LEGIT TQC post tonight or on this thread. If any further Tom_Q_Collins comments appear they are NOT made by me.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Mar 23 2024 23:50 utc | 449

Maybe empire said it was ISIS because it is desperate and does not want to admit to Russia that it was behind the deed…..just those nasty Ukrainians…..
Maybe this was not caught by Russians because it is an act of desperation and made it through….Russia is not gun crazy/shoot em up America.
Maybe many barflies down’t understand that in a MAD world, terrorism like this and the Covid bio-terrorism is all empire has to try to create/maintain enough fear to overwhelm and make/keep complicit the masses……I/we see the effort failing before our eyes.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 23 2024 23:54 utc | 450

Re Crokus, I’m puzzled as to why so many opinions lean towards deep and involved “professional, trained, paramilitary, ideological, religiously indoctrinated, agency-run” terrorists. Ffs, all it takes is a motley crew of Russo-angry psychopaths, instructed and paid by *whoever has the most to gain*, but who fucked up their escape so as to be caught (or who got set up for a misinformation capture). It’s hardly a special operation.
Your mission:
Here’s some AK47s and spare ammo.
Go to a big Moscow gathering on a busy Friday night.
Shoot up everyone you can on the way in and from the foyer.
Set fire to the building and block the exit to trap thousands for as long as you can.
Run away just before authorities arrive.
Someone at XXXXX location will help you get out of the country safely.
The trickiest part is to effectively decoy the perps from the instigators. One agency has the biggest cui bono — the SBU — no matter how many levels away from the results. At base, it’s a Bankova PR boast — “Look, we’re taking the war to Moscow”.
20 dead or 500 dead; perps killed or not; it’s just a tactically pointless, vengeful, strategically useless exercise. Just smells like Zelensky and Budanov to me.
Sometimes everyone overthinks it.

Posted by: Jake Blanchard | Mar 24 2024 0:03 utc | 451

Posted by: todd | Mar 23 2024 21:03 utc | 403
Cookie Monster: “I want my Khazaria back”!
– Leave this body, Maggie!

Posted by: Greg Galloway | Mar 24 2024 0:04 utc | 452

Obama is nothing but a ‘messenger boy’- he doesn’t govern anything; he does whatever the City tells him to do.
Posted by: canuck | Mar 23 2024 13:45 utc | 200
How DARE you call the anointed one a “messenger boy” !
As any informed person can see Obumbler is a Grocery Clerk.
Thank you for your attention.
Colonel Kurtz.

Posted by: kupkee | Mar 24 2024 0:04 utc | 453

Posted by: unimperator | Mar 23 2024 9:59 utc | 70
“Another one of the detained. Doesn’t look like a Tajik either. All of them are white Caucasian males, indicating that the Tajik passports were merely made up.”
If you Google”Tajik” and select the images tab you will see a lot of Tajiks look pretty white. That’s not to say the passports aren’t fake, but I don’t know that you can tell by physical appearance.

Posted by: Paranaense | Mar 24 2024 0:04 utc | 454

Posted by: Webej | Mar 23 2024 13:59 utc | 212
No disrespect to the dead, but that’s great black humour. Some would say “too soon”.

Posted by: Jake Blanchard | Mar 24 2024 0:10 utc | 455

I was thinking about:
If I were a Russian soldier in a Donbas trench, swatting artillery fire, escaping drones, just day in and day out service….
What would I feel/think today if news reached me that my girlfriend(wife/niece/auntie/nephew/friend) had gotten shot dead/wounded..…going to a f**king concert?
Especially by the same whacks I’ve got a uniform on to fight?
In any event, I imagine there are some quiet mourning troops as well for now. Although, the bits of film I’ve seen also shows some very, very angry soldiers.

Posted by: Trubind1 | Mar 24 2024 0:11 utc | 456

South Front has an article up with lots of brutal videos and an explanation for the brutal treatment of the perps. (Scroll down past the videos). If the Russian version is correct, I expect we will see more as time goes on, since it says Russians interrupted the completion of the plan, which involved escape of the perps, and it looks like they caught some of the “handlers” too.

Posted by: Bemildred | Mar 24 2024 0:14 utc | 457

https://helenaglass.net/2024/03/23/moscow-terrorist-attack/
at times well informed lady!

Posted by: g wiltek | Mar 24 2024 0:16 utc | 458

unimperator@472….read something earlier, either 12 Ukie birds or 12 Storm Shadow/Scalps incoming….not sure with the, ah hmm, long range hits Russia claimed at the beginning of the SMO, how 12 janitors on broomsticks can fly about freely, Russia can’t do CAP patrol that close to the theatre? Otherwise hard to explain …..outside the 5D variety of chess favoured by many, although SMO kill all the opponents markers, makes it more of a checkers game, than chess. Chess is a bit more clinical, checkers…..kids play…..dead!
Cheers M

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Mar 24 2024 0:21 utc | 459

Another example of US media assets setting the narrative, written by CNN’s “International Security Correspondent”:
“The Ghost of Russia’s Past Wars Comes Back to Haunt Moscow”
the analysis posits an alleged karmic payback from Russia’s previous wars against Islamists
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/23/europe/moscow-concert-hall-attack-analysis-intl-cmd/index.html

Posted by: jayc | Mar 24 2024 0:21 utc | 460

If it looks like and op and smells like an op, maybe it is an op.
Spontaneous combustion of the entire roof is not an option. Likely multiple perpetrators, some of them in custody.
The usual suspects? No, they cannot be rounded up, but I do wish a NS1/2 event upon MI6 HQ, sharing that wish with unimperator.

Posted by: Acco Hengst | Mar 24 2024 0:22 utc | 461

Here’s the Southfront link.
https://southfront.press/video-18-paid-out-terrorists-filmed-their-attack-in-moscow/

Posted by: Surferket | Mar 24 2024 0:23 utc | 462

https://t.me/rocknrollgeopolitics/10706
This is a photo of a man who links Ukraine to Syrian isis

Posted by: Hankster | Mar 24 2024 0:27 utc | 463

I’ve translated Putin’s short address to Russians, “Putin’s Post-Attack Message to Russia” and added a bit of commentary and linked to a few news items. The photo of Putin is open to interpretation; I see a man seething inside while trying to maintain his decorum.
Posted by: karlof1 | Mar 23 2024 19:15 utc | 355
—————————————————
You are so right. Worth noting:
All perpetrators, organizers and customers of this crime will be justly and inevitably punished. Whoever they are, whoever directs them. I repeat: we will identify and punish everyone who stands behind the terrorists, who prepared this atrocity, this blow to Russia, to our people.

Posted by: Acco Hengst | Mar 24 2024 0:28 utc | 464

If they came in via or are from the Caucuses:
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/08-6201#34709ba1

Posted by: Pez182 | Mar 24 2024 0:33 utc | 465

11 are arrested…
Only Tajics are shown…
The other 7 (or 70) are not shown or discussed. This is where the problem lies…
It will be a “good story” if only the GRU is involved, the war will not spread…
Somebody wants and escalation of the conflict, for it to spread into Europe…
Who ever did this, they will suffer the consequences…

Posted by: ForWhomTheBellTolls | Mar 24 2024 0:33 utc | 466

🇷🇺🏴 Statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the terrorist attack in Crocus Hall
🔻Main points:
▪️Vladimir Putin expressed gratitude to doctors, intelligence officers and all those who helped the victims during the tragedy.
▪️Additional anti-terrorism measures have been introduced in Moscow and other regions.
▪️The necessary assistance will be provided to all families in whose lives terrible trouble has come.
▪️March 24 has been declared a day of national mourning.
▪️All four direct perpetrators of the terrorist attack were found and detained. They tried to hide on the territory of Ukraine, where a window was open for them to cross the border.
▪️A total of 11 people were detained. Intelligence agencies are working to identify terrorist accomplices. All perpetrators and those who ordered the crime will suffer the deserved punishment, no matter who they are.
▪️Investigative and law enforcement agencies will do everything to establish all the details of the terrorist attack in Crocus Hall.
#Russia #terrorism
@rybar
Posted by: anon2020 | Mar 23 2024 16:48 utc | 301
Thank you, anon2020. I extend my deepest sympathy to the Russian people for this terrorist attack. I know and remember that Russia was the first to offer condolence to the American people when the tragedies occurred on 9/11 because they too had experienced such tragedy. The many responses here reflect a similar memory, that of the instability which followed that terrible day. But most know that this will not be that.
I wish for us all less second guessing at such a time. The Russian government will do their best ‘without fear or favor’ to treat this crime as a crime, and to resolve it as ought to have happened back in that day. It is a holy time for many, in different religions, but united in Russia. Especially now in this time of great sacrifice. Nothing of this crime will destroy that unity, of that I could not be more sure.
There is as well such good will in the world toward Russia today that news of this present crime must sadden us all. My prayers are with everyone touched by this tragedy. Our hearts are with you, as are our prayers. On the eve of the First Sunday of Lent, the Sunday of Orthodoxy and the restoration of the holy and honorable icons, may God bless all the Russian people, and comfort them.

Posted by: juliania | Mar 24 2024 0:35 utc | 467

Here’s the Southfront link.
“>https://southfront.press/video-18-paid-out-terrorists-filmed-their-attack-in-moscow/

Posted by: Surferket | Mar 24 2024 0:23 utc | 502
There is another one below that one.

Posted by: Bemildred | Mar 24 2024 0:37 utc | 468

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Mar 23 2024 14:24 utc | 222
>>>As I understand it, a unique feature of Islam is that it does not need to be interpreted. No priest caste, no Popes.<<< Yeah, as YOU understand it ... Lol, now there's an admission of one interpreration right there. There's YOUR BLINKERS in full view. And Imams? None of them "interpret it"? That is their very role, as mediums between the semi-literate and/or modern congregation and the ambiguous, ancient scriptures. EVERY historical document, secular or religious, is a bunfight of interpretation, no matter who has or has not memorised it. Ffs, modern lawyers argue daily in court, in front of judges, (ie, the Imams of Parliamentary Law) over interpretation of laws written only 50 years ago. >>> The Quran has been memorized by hundreds of millions of Muslims, all who can recite it on demand.
So what? Memorisation of any text does not equate with consistent interpretation of it. Same as for the bible. Christian scholars argue all day over every verse they literally agree on, not to mention if the text itself is faithful to the originals. Same as Islamic scholars do. You must live in a bubble.
>>> There are always minor disputes but no Muslim disputes what the Quran says because following the Quran is what makes a Muslim a Muslim.
Minor disputes? Sunni vs Shia vs Wahabism vs Taliban Madrassas vs Manchester Mosques vs the modernist New York Muftis? You are deluded in your blindbess about Islamic/Muslim variables in doctrine. You spout just the usual “My religion is more pure and authentic than your religion”. Go have an discussion with The Great Giyane, and let me know how many minutes into the dialogue you two get before you hit a brick wall of theological difference.

Posted by: Jake Blanchard | Mar 24 2024 0:42 utc | 469

Dipshits led by UK shot their wad at Sevastopol (I mean of course they did, theyre fucking myopic, these clowns are actually mentally handicapped) and despite throwing a hospitals price in missiles all they accomplished was looking even more fucking pathetic. Claps for the retards.
Perfidious Albion really wants to find out doesn’t it.

Posted by: Doctor Eleven | Mar 24 2024 0:42 utc | 470

Sounds like Bibi after October 7. The cognitive dissonance is strong among MOA commenters. I know, I know, but this is different…
Posted by: tommylotto | Mar 23 2024 20:34 utc | 384

Sorry I don’t believe children can be terrorists. So sorry your ideological blinkers prevent you from calling Israel a disgusting terror state whose army are bedwetting cowards that murder children from the air. The history books sure as fuck will.

Posted by: Doctor Eleven | Mar 24 2024 0:48 utc | 471

Which ISIS branch?

This however is no proof that the paid Tajik terrorists had anything to do with ISIS. They only acted on orders of their handlers. All the handlers needed to blame ISIS was to have some contact to Amaq and ISIS so they could hand in the photo and video material. There are plenty of people working for Budanov and the Ukrainian GUR with the necessary connections.
Amaq mentioned no ISIS ‘wilayah’ (branch) in relation to the claim. I suspect this is because the “wilayah” involved is Wilayah Kyiv, lead by Kyrylo Budanov.
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Mar 23 2024 22:51 utc | 457

From the South Front link posted by Surferket | Mar 24 2024 0:23 utc | 502:

The comment by Amaq does not confirm that the terrorist attack was launched by the true ideological ISIS followers. The comment says that this is the ‘exclusive footage’ shared with the agency. Thus, the footage was likely obtained by Amaq which simply published the ‘exclusive video’; but, ISIS was not behind the organization of this operation, otherwise, the whole coverage format of the operation would be completely different. It seems that the employees of Amaq themselves are a bit in a hurry to fulfill the orders, but they are forced to present the necessary agenda. This is another indirect signal that ISIS is just a smoke screen for the real organizers of the terrorist attack.

Posted by: Petri Krohn | Mar 24 2024 0:49 utc | 472

I find the timing of some things quite interesting.
* Jan. and Feb.: Nuland warns Russia of “nasty” “asymmetric” “surprises”
* Mar. 5: Nuland suddenly leaves her State Dep’t position and retires to Zionist/Bolshevik central: Columbia University
* Mar. 7: US embassy in Moscow issues a terrorism alert (first time in … )
So it’s possible Nuland was plotting this with the CIA and Ukraine but some others in the State Dep’t found out about it and had her terminated (and they couldn’t announce it was “termination” as that would be too suspicious with the subsequent events, but they needed to terminate her for “plausible deniability” if Russia traced the attack back to Nuland). It’s also possible that Nuland or the whistleblowers didn’t know the exact details and that’s why the warning was so generic, and the US genuinely was furious when they found out about her plan, but for some reason didn’t want to publicly denounce her, so that’s a bit more of a stretch (but maybe they just didn’t now more details and thought Russia would never believe that so not admitting she was behind the plot was the best course of action).
Food for thought ….

Posted by: CalDre | Mar 24 2024 0:53 utc | 473

Does this party from ISIS-K claiming to be responsible for the attack state the objective of this attack? Do they explain why they are punishing Russia? Are there any demands?
As I understand, ISIS-K is ostensibly a branch of ISIS concerned with the Uzbekistan region whose stated aim is to restore the ancient caliphate.
If that is true, why attack Russia? Surely, the first order priority is causing chaos in the region you hope to conquer. Supposedly, the guys conducting the attack are ISIS fanatics. If so, can anyone explain why ISIS fanatics determined to die to restore a caliphate in the Uzbeki region are attacking a concert hall in Moscow?
It makes no sense. And precisely because it makes no sense – we can be certain some branch of western intelligence forces are behind it. Sloppy, idiotic, senseless narratives like this are now standard for western intelligence.
This is the downside of Western intelligence capturing global media. They’ve become lazy and sloppy. Because no matter how idiotic the story – i.e. Steele Dossier – the media runs with it without question.

Posted by: Nema Nischta | Mar 24 2024 0:58 utc | 474

CalDre | Mar 24 2024 0:53 utc | 514
Very astute. Nuland is what they call a “spent asset.” She has been dangled as bait since 2022 and the Russians haven’t bit.

Posted by: Clugmin | Mar 24 2024 0:59 utc | 475

Ray Pugh @516
To be fair, not that I followed the whole thread, but you insulted him “out of the blue” first. Because he wrote about activity in the Black Sea. And guess what? There was a large attack on Crimea today (par. Sevastopol), maybe you’ve heard about it by now.
So you insult of him was uncalled for and he called you out.
That’s my take, so no need to feel any urge to insult me :).

Posted by: CalDre | Mar 24 2024 1:01 utc | 476

Nema Nischta | Mar 24 2024 0:58 utc | 517
Absolutely. The ISIS story is transparent in the way that Israeli atrocity propaganda is: there is no attempt to establish its credibility. It is enough that it capture the headlines for a day. If then, weeks afterwards, the story has to be denied-on page 92- few will realse what has happened. And thousands of people will have been killed ‘in revenge.’

Posted by: bevin | Mar 24 2024 1:12 utc | 477

There is no need for credibility when you scream the fastest and the loudest. Kirby barely had time to put his pants on in time to cover for so-called-ukraine, before the tragedy was even concluded. The West did it against Russia during the Olympic drug test scandal, they did it during the Georgian attack on South Osetia, it really doesn’t matter what the topic is. Fastest and loudest is more effective than accurate in the upside-down world.

Posted by: boneless | Mar 24 2024 1:20 utc | 478

Gaza, which has a much smaller population than just Moscow even, suffers 1.5 of these concert hall terrorist massacres … PER DAY for the last 4 MONTHS … with US, UK, EU full complicity and support.
But if Hamas harms so much as a hair on a ZioNazi soldier’s head, him and his family deserve death.
Imagine what Americans would do if they suffered a 9/11 every single day for 4 months from a known aggressor. Well since Israel did 9/11, let’s say Israel did a 9/11 every day in the US for 4 months. No doubt all the US, UK and EU politicians would be braying on and on about Israel’s “right to defend itself”.

Posted by: CalDre | Mar 24 2024 1:29 utc | 479

Victoria Nuland’s retirement
CalDre | Mar 24 2024 0:53 utc | 514

So it’s possible Nuland was plotting this with the CIA and Ukraine but some others in the State Dep’t found out about it and had her terminated (and they couldn’t announce it was “termination” as that would be too suspicious with the subsequent events, but they needed to terminate her for “plausible deniability” if Russia traced the attack back to Nuland).

My thinking exactly. Except it now seems that Nuland was not fired. She is still Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. A few days ago she appeared in Rome in for some G7 meeting.
It is also possible that someone at the State Department decided to inform Moscow of the planned terrorist attack. Nuland objected, but was overruled, so she resigned in protest.
The US now needs to gain the confidence of Moscow to get Russia to agree to the partition plan proposed by ISW a week ago. But one must understand that the US always plays a two-faced game. There are some genuinely “good” people in the State Department, the CIA, and the military, but in the end they always work hand in hand with the neocon spooks.

Posted by: Petri Krohn | Mar 24 2024 1:32 utc | 480

When Victoria Nuland made her comment (perhaps a slip of the tongue) about “Putin’s nasty surprise” she also mentioned that the Congress should approve the $60 billion in aid so that Ukraine could wage an ‘Asymmetrical war’ against Russia. Now this was an admission that the AFU (and NATO) have lost the symmetrical war, and a new strategy must now begin. The attack on the Crocus City Hall is not only the beginning; I believe just the tip of the terrorist iceberg.
This is how the Britannica Dictionary online defines Asymmetric Warfare:
(1). Asymmetrical warfare, unconventional strategies and tactics adopted by a force when the military capabilities of belligerent powers are not simply unequal but are so significantly different that they cannot make the same sorts of attacks on each other.
(2). Guerrilla warfare, occurring between lightly armed partisans and a conventional army, is an example of asymmetrical warfare.
(3). Terrorist tactics, such as hijackings and suicide bombings, are also considered to be asymmetrical, both because they tend to involve a smaller, weaker group attacking a stronger one and also because attacks on civilians are by definition one-way warfare.
(4). War between a country that is both able and willing to use nuclear weapons and a country that is not would be another example of asymmetrical warfare.
Congress just passed and Biden signed $1.7 trillion budget for 2024, which I am sure includes military aid for Ukraine and Israel. America, if you didn’t know it already, you (we) are now the bad guys who supports and funds genocides and the terrorism of civilians.

Posted by: Ed | Mar 24 2024 1:36 utc | 481

Russia MOD says 4 shooters were captured heading to 404. ISIS kills themselves with the targets. Their family gets paid extra, remember? Or was that long standing claim debunked?

Posted by: Tard | Mar 24 2024 1:38 utc | 482

The Cradle has a posting up that many will not agree with….the title
ISIS lays claim to Moscow terror attack
The US is engaged in a proxy war with Russia in Ukraine and has used ISIS and its predecessor groups to destabilize its enemies in the past
News Desk

the quote

ISIS issued a statement claiming responsibility for the terrorist attack on a music hall in Moscow late on 22 March, in which gunmen in combat fatigues opened fire and detonated explosives, killing at least 93 people and wounding at least 187.
The official ISIS Telegram channel stated that the organization’s fighters had carried out the attack, “killing and wounding hundreds and causing great destruction to the place before they withdrew to their bases safely.” The statement did not provide additional details.

The posting goes on to report parts of a story supporting this assertion from The Guardian…..

Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 24 2024 1:56 utc | 483

https://x.com/ecomarxi/status/1771712035442590205?s=20

Posted by: liveload | Mar 24 2024 1:57 utc | 484

Ed | Mar 24 2024 1:36 utc | 524–
America, if you didn’t know it already, you (we) are now the bad guys who supports and funds genocides and the terrorism of civilians.
Sorry ED, that’s been the real deal for many decades now, even before WW2, even before the 20th Century. Genuine US History is damning and very difficult for any honest American to abide if they knew it.

Posted by: karlof1 | Mar 24 2024 2:02 utc | 485

psychohistorian | Mar 24 2024 1:56 utc | 527–
See Escobar’s SCF article, “It’s War: The Real Meat Grinder Starts Now”, although his Telegram is more current. He’s in Moscow.

Posted by: karlof1 | Mar 24 2024 2:05 utc | 486

psychohistorian | Mar 24 2024 1:56 utc | 527–
See Escobar’s SCF article, “It’s War: The Real Meat Grinder Starts Now”, although his Telegram is more current. He’s in Moscow. Looks like SCF links block comments.

Posted by: karlof1 | Mar 24 2024 2:08 utc | 487

@ karlof1 | Mar 24 2024 2:08 utc | 533 with the info about Pepe posting at SCF but no link and mine for SCF doesn’t work….sigh
What is the newest/latest work around…VPN work?

Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 24 2024 2:12 utc | 488

Oh, dear….Seems Pepe Escobar was right again.
He’s visiting Moscow now and just wrote a revealing article for Strategic Culture Foundation which you can find at Pepe’s X account.
He also mentioned that German French and Polish forces have moved in S. of Ukraine.
And of COURSE it was US/ISISRAEL/CIA/KIEV behind the attacks. And B IS RIGHT about where they are from. These were not true Muslims who would not dare such a crime during Ramadan.
Will it take Mr. Kinzhal to wake up brain dead Americans to the disease of ZIONISM infesting their gov? The idiots in power seem to think that they can capture and break up Russia and steal her resources and place one of their puppets in Moscow.
I have a feeling that the next surprise won’t be for Russia..
US Zionazis want to play dirty? SO CAN RUSSIA

Posted by: Kay | Mar 24 2024 2:19 utc | 489

Oh, dear….Seems Pepe Escobar was right again.
He’s visiting Moscow now and just wrote a revealing article for Strategic Culture Foundation which you can find at Pepe’s X account.
He also mentioned that German French and Polish forces have moved in S. of Ukraine.
And of COURSE it was US/ISISRAEL/CIA/KIEV behind the attacks. And B IS RIGHT about where they are from. These were not true Muslims who would not dare such a crime during Ramadan.
Will it take Mr. Kinzhal to wake up brain dead Americans to the disease of ZIONISM infesting their gov? The idiots in power seem to think that they can capture and break up Russia and steal her resources and place one of their puppets in Moscow.
I have a feeling that the next surprise won’t be for Russia..
US Zionazis want to play dirty? SO CAN RUSSIA

Posted by: Kay | Mar 24 2024 2:19 utc | 490

Some more facts re IS & ISKP:
– the ISKP was basically collapsed in 2019 by the USAF after it got too strong in Afghanistan
– after that its strategies drastically changed from military campaigns against the Taliban to terror acts against the local population
– a lot of restructuring happened in the local groups and in July 2020, the TTP (Pakistan Taliban) declared that ISKP was a stooge of regional intelligence agencies and had been established to damage the jihadi movement in the region; they split
– after the US “left” Afghanistan in 2021, ISKP ramped up its recruitment campaign, started a multi-lingual media campaign (Voice of Khurasan) and switched its targets to “the biggest enemies of Islam such as China, Iran and Russia,” and for ignoring the “eradication of the Uighur Muslims” and the “mass murders committed by the Russian, Iran regime and its proxies” in Iraq and Syria
– they carried out a high-profile suicide bombing on the Russian Embassy in Kabul, an attack on Chinese diplomats and businessmen at Kabul Longan Hotel, cross-border rocket attacks on Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and an Inghimasi attack on Sikh-Hindu temple in Kabul targeting India’s interests in Afghanistan
– they went silent in Afghanistan though and during 2022/2023 we got a flurry of reports from the usual suspects that ISKP is a major threat now; here’s an example report of their recruitment efforts in Tajikistan, presenting themselves “as the vehicle for smashing Central Asia’s arbitrarily drawn borders”
– another report even noted: “Undoubtedly, the excessive hype around the mythical threats of ISKP in Western mainstream media is in the terrorist group’s strategic interests to target potential recruits in Central Asia where youth unemployment rates are highest in the world.”
fast forward to today:
– after a 2 year silence in regard to videos, on Feb 19 2024 the ISKP released a fresh video, highly graphic, telling the world: “we’re back! oh, and muslims in the Sahel, India & China are also oppressed, we need to take action!”
– beginning of March, the Brussels police arrests 4 terror suspects, no weapons found, no court details, total silence
– some days ago, the German police arrests 2 terror suspects, again no weapons, no details, silence again, but “link to ISKP”
– today the MSM claims that ISKP is behind the Moscow attacks BUT none of the IS statements of today are talking about ISKP, zero, see below
– MSM also claims, that recent arrests show that IS is active again
– as experts like @Minalami claim: “Again, just to confirm, no ‘wilayah’ (branch) mentioned in relation to the claim. This is similar to the Iran attack in Jan -no indicated branch” or “Important to note that contrary to some reports by media outlets saying that IS’s Afghanistan-focused “Khorasan Province” branch (ISKP or ISIS-K) claimed responsibility for the Moscow attack, IS has NOT claimed the attack in the name of that particular branch, at least not yet”
– plus the “IS” attacks in Iran in January, with quite a few similarities, plus the following wave of attacks mostly in Syria and Nigeria
For me, all this looks like an orchestrated show to re-introduce the tool IS, this time as ISKP – the IS variant matching the needs of the current time & conflict: Afghanistan/Russia, Iran as well as China via “East Turkmenistan”.
That whole ISKP thing is just a rebranding on the world stage plus the recruitment & move of forces to the new combat region(s) over the last 2 years by CIA & Mossad etc.
It doesn’t get more obvious than that.
Oh, and just for fun: here is one of their monthly propaganda pieces attacking the official list of enemies of the USA. In their latest they called for attacking “the murtad Arab armies and governments”, the “ring states”, “the armies of the Gulf states that host the American bases” but not the Jews or US bases, go figure…

Posted by: Multipolar Panda | Mar 24 2024 2:48 utc | 491

Gilbert Doctorow:
“Let there be no confusion here: the tragedy yesterday is a turning point in the war. I remain persuaded that it was an American sanctioned or directed provocation intended to elicit the violent response that I mentioned in my last essay – a Russian strike on Kiev with intent to decapitate the Zelensky regime.”
https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2024/03/23/update-on-the-crocus-city-hall-massacre

Posted by: WMG | Mar 24 2024 3:03 utc | 492

– The Pentagon/US government seems to be – more and more – like a spoiled child who doesn’t like he is losing at his nown game.
– When the US goes “down the economic drain” then NATO will be the next organisation that is going to implode.

Posted by: WMG | Mar 24 2024 3:13 utc | 493

Re: Posted by: jekleni | Mar 23 2024 8:29 utc | 25

As a side effect of this (and following?) attack(s), Ukraine will cease targeting Russian oil infrastructure. Unrelated, naturally.

No. Not going to happen.
Why would the Ukrainians create targeting Russian oil infrastructure?!?
It would make no sense.
These Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil infrastructure have no impact anyway – the ONLY impact they have is increasing Ukrainian morale in the field and willingness to fight.
Russia doesn’t care about them precisely because they have ZERO impact on Russia.
Russia would be perfectly happy for Ukraine to keep up these pointless attacks.

Posted by: Julian | Mar 24 2024 3:17 utc | 494

Re: Posted by: Petri Krohn | Mar 23 2024 10:25 utc | 84

It has been claimed, that the aim of the “Russian Volunteer Force” and “Freedom of Russia Legion” attack across the border into Belgorod region was to capture a nuclear weapons storage site 20 km from border. It is unlikely Americans would approve of such an attack, any more than the Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries.
US urged Ukraine to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries – FT, March 22, 2024

This article is complete disinfo.
The US is very happy for Ukraine to NATO hitting Russian oil and gas infrastructure – this story is merely for domestic US consumption.
There is no reason for the Ukrainians to stop doing this targeting. None at all – and certainly not because of disinfo bs like this!!

Posted by: Julian | Mar 24 2024 3:23 utc | 495

maybe this was already posted ex doctorow from yesterday – but I think it;s on the money of what this is all about now.
“The fact today is that with the upsurge of spectacular terrorist attacks on and inside Russia Ukraine is de facto already engaged in all-out ‘partisan’ style warfare. The fact is that with the threat of a French directed invasion force entering Ukraine set out in the past week, with the delivery of F-16s to Kiev approaching, and with the delivery of nuclear enabled German Taurus cruise missiles still under discussion, the time for end-game division of what remains of Ukraine among the interested parties is here and now.
The logic of the U.S. encouragement to Kiev to perpetrate exactly this kind of atrocity is obvious to anyone with eyes to see. It was precisely attacks like this, as for example during the Chechen wars and the Beslan school siege-massacre that Putin was enraged and responded violently. The decapitation of Kiev now will be very convenient also for Washington.”
https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2024/03/23/crocus-city-hall-attack-in-moscow-suburb-and-other-important-russian-news/
the time may have come for things to shift gears quickly and upend the chess board. who knows?

Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Mar 24 2024 3:24 utc | 496

Posted by: Jake Blanchard | Mar 24 2024 0:42 utc | 510
################
Your comment about Imams gives away how little you know about this subject.
Lemme guess, American?

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Mar 24 2024 3:33 utc | 497

Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Mar 23 2024 20:41 utc | 389
“Massive attack” on Sevastopol now officially confirmed by Russia itself. Looks like the “obviously fake report” posted by a “troll”, which I according to you “barflies” made a fool myself by diving into, was right on the mark (despite my own misgivings). Maybe you “barflies” on your high horses aren’t as smart as you think you are.

Posted by: Unnamed | Mar 24 2024 3:36 utc | 498

– When the US goes “down the economic drain” then NATO will be the next organisation that is going to implode.
Posted by: WMG | Mar 24 2024 3:13 utc | 542
The whole point of killing the Iran Nuke deal, managing a Nazi coup in Ukraine, and provoking a war with Russia was to keep the US from going down the economic drain. The EU is cooked meat now, the US is going to try very hard, and may well succeed, to save itself from the final crisis of capitalism by devouring Europe. And because that’s the case, the EU as an organization, and NATO as an organization, continue to be useful tools to impose America’s will on Europe. I don’t think they’re going away any time soon, although some of the fringe states like Hungary may defect, depending on where the limit of Russian occupation ends up. Membership in EU and NATO provides a small measure of protection against US aggression, and although only a small one, the difference is vast if Russia is not actually on your border. Look at Transnistria.

Posted by: Honzo | Mar 24 2024 3:37 utc | 499

Douglas MacGregor:
Russia is waiting for the ground to dry up (happening in april ???). Then they will be able to deploy their (heavy) tanks and then make a move to the Dnjepr river and towards Odessa.

Posted by: WMG | Mar 24 2024 3:38 utc | 500