Russia Declares War

Russia goes into post-9/11 mode.

From Radio Free Europe:

Among the many dramatic statements made over the last week in the heat of the unfolding events, perhaps the strongest came from Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov on 1 September. "War has been declared, a war in which the enemy is invisible and there is no front line," Ivanov said in a statement that was repeatedly broadcast on the national television channels. He said that the 31 August suicide bombing outside a Moscow subway station "was not the first and not the last terrorist" act that Russia will see in this now-open war.

State Duma Speaker and former Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov echoed Ivanov's statements in remarks the same day. "It is time for all those who tried to romanticize acts of madness, who try to present acts of terrorism as a lonely struggle for independence and justice, to come to the only proper conclusion: this is war," Gryzlov said, according to "Vremya novostei" on 2 September. He added that the war is being waged by well-financed and well-organized groups with international ties. "We are obliged to undertake measures commensurate with this situation," Gryzlov added. He said that the front line in this war "passes through the entire country" and the new situation "demands particular vigilance from everyone."

Gryzlov also said that new legislative initiatives in keeping with the new, wartime situation are being drafted and will be presented to the Duma in short order. He added that many of these initiatives are being drafted by law-enforcement and security agencies themselves, including the Justice Ministry, the Federal Security Service (FSB), and the Interior Ministry.

The biggest problem I foresee is that Russia has historically used external or internal threats as a way of justifying abuses to civil liberties/rights. And no, I don't mean the kind of petty things--the type of things the left accuses our own government of doing--I'm talking big things. You remember the gulags, right? I'm not saying that kind of abuse is inevetable, but such things have been known to happen.

Regardless of the possibility--and it is only a possibility--for abuse, the news that the Russians are going into post 9/11 mode is a good sign.

Posted by: Rusty at 04:06 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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