Russia has to carry colors of struggle against international terrorism

By Vestnik Kavkaza

Last week the U.S. and their allies, including Arab countries, started to attack positions of Islamic State in Syria; since August a similar operation has been taking place in Iraq. Islamic State has declared a caliphate on the captured territories of Syria and Iraq. At the moment the U.S. is attacking their positions without permission from the Syrian authorities – Washington supports the armed opposition of Syria, but yesterday Barack Obama admitted that the U.S. had underestimated IS and overestimated its allies. Meanwhile, many experts and international politicians are sure that international terrorism cannot be defeated by attacks from the air only.

Adalbi Shkhagoshev, a member of the State Duma Committee for International Affairs, thinks that such a phenomenon as the joint struggle against international terrorism has passed away, and that’s why IS continues to successfully operate in the Middle East: “I draw your attention to the time which was chosen by Islamic State for its operations in the Middle East – the complete imbalance in the world and the absence of coordination. And the thing which we could be proud of 5-10 years ago, that the international community fought international terrorism together, has gone. They can see that, after the diplomatic clashes between the United States and Russia, and Europe and Russia due to the Ukrainian events, there will be no quick coordination for the struggle against international terrorism.”

Adalbi Shkhagoshev is sure that it is impossible today to settle any international conflict without Russia, giving the example of the Russian initiative in Syria. “At least we stand for fulfillment of international laws; each of our steps proves and shows that any conflict cannot be solved by military means. It shouldn’t be done. We have set an example of getting sides around the negotiating table, after the deaths of thousands of people from both sides, I mean Syria. The United States realized that they couldn’t stop the conflict on their own. But it was necessary to stop the conflict at least for some time, to reduce tension. And the question of America’s concern – chemical weapons – was actually settled by Russia,” the politician recalls.

According to him, the West doesn’t like the fact that Russia is returning to the international arena so strong, and the competition leads to an imbalance in the international security system: “It seems for them it is a shock, considering their acts and the information war initiated by them. They didn’t expect that in the 21st century there would be such a leader as Putin, who proves that international conflicts almost cannot be settled without Russia.”

Adalbi Shkhagoshev told Vestnik Kavkaza that Russia can resist international terrorism on its territory: “The North Caucasus fought against international terrorism; it has huge experience. Today talking about the possibility of exporting the conflict from the Middle East to the North Caucasus is not realistic for one reason only – Russia has huge experience in fighting terrorism. The North Caucasus has been “vaccinated.” In the 1990s there was the idea of an Islamic state from sea to sea. This is the state which Islamic State is trying to build.”

Shkhagoshev thinks that international terrorism threatens the whole world, as it knows no borders: “Today the policy of flirting with international terrorism should be stopped, first of all it should be done by the U.S., even if they are hidden behind a struggle against dictatorships in some countries – Libya, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan. The policy is outdated. If today the international community, I mean the U.S., doesn’t understand that a view on terrorism should be reconsidered, unfortunately or fortunately, the colors should be carried by Russia. We have huge experience. Today Russia is the only powerful state that has not violated international law, but does its best to fulfil international law.”