Somebody please help me understand why the US can possibly believe there are "good terrorists" and "bad terrorists" in the world? My Russian wife, very apolitical, went into a rage about this interview, telling me that the US hates Russia and will do anything to hurt her country. What could I say in return after the interview?.....
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But of course, you're wife's right -- at least as regards the point of view of a sizable portion of both the general and state/corporate managerial levels of the population.
The news from Russia -- as reported here in the US -- is almost completely tainted by ever more ancient cold war obsessions. In the minds of many Russia is still, vaguely, 'the totalitarian enemy' and treated as such, just below the surface, in media portrayals.
An example...Enron executives were presented -- eventually -- as criminals when shown on American television. But Khordokovsky's trial was treated as a free-market guerrilla fighter's epic struggle against the sinister Putin.
There's a broader lesson to be learned from that comparatively tame example ("tame" when compared to the story of a mass murderer like Basayev) .
To make this story plausible, it was necessary to a.) portray Russia as "sliding towards dictatorship" and b.) white wash Khordokovsky's past. This is the template for almost every story on Russia I encounter that comes from an American media outlet: 1.) Russia's slide into authoritarianism or even a mythically revived 'Sovietism' followed swiftly by b.) the selectively told story of some self styled dissident.
The constant hammering away on the theme of supposed Russian totalitarianism (loudly and primitively done on the know-nothing blogs of American shouters, more quietly and faux logically on the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal) creates the background against which it's possible to portray Basayev as maybe being a misunderstood fellow in need of a good interview.
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One final thing...
I think it's time everyone give up -- just toss in the trash like an empty soda can -- the fanciful idea that Washington is fighting a "war on terror" and actually gives a goddamn about the terrorist problems of nations around the globe. Although it's true there are smart and dedicated intelligence and law enforcement folks at the rank and file level doing their jobs as best they can, as a matter of policy there is no real help, no true coordination of effort, coming from Washington. Yes, there are bases in various locales such as Afghanistan but they're serving a different function. Any anti-terror capabilities made available are a secondary consideration, if that.
So, when someone mentions how treating/perceiving Basayev differently from terrorists who strike American targets is bad for the global effort or counter-productive, it's important to remember that Dick Cheney and Condi Rice couldn't care less and such admonitions never reach their ears.
.d.
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