Foreign Digest: Libya and Russia

Libya: The Libyan government last week extradited to the United States the bomber of an American civilian airline over Scotland in 1989 that killed hundreds of innocent people in the air, including many Americans, and on the ground. The state terrorist-sponsoring regime of tryant Muammar Qaddafi had retaliated against a U.S. raid in 1986, which was in response to a Libyan-sponsored terrorist attack in Berlin at a private location off-base frequented by Americans servicemen. Only one perpetrator had previously been convicted, but he had been released in a deal with Libya after it had renounced terrorism in 2003 and agreed to give up its chemical weapons. After a bloody civil war which included indiscriminate attacks on civilians, Qaddafi was overthrown in 2011 by the Libyan people. The war had been stalemated until an intervention by the U.S. and its allies. Despite internal conflicts, the extradition proves that Libya has become an ally in the War on Terrorism, instead of an enemy. Russia: The call today by the pro-Kremlin tyrannical governor of the Russian Federation territory of Chechnya for Muslims to unite against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization proves that Russia under tyrant Vladimir Putin is not an ally in the War on Terrorism. The anti-Western statement by the Chechen Governor, who was appointed by Putin and who has been sending troops in support of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, repeats the false Kremlin line that NATO is a “threat” to Russia and adds an even greater lie that the alliance is a threat to Muslims and the whole world because the West is attempting to subjugate Muslims. However, NATO is strictly a defensive alliance. The only time NATO ever engaged in combat was after the United States was attacked by al-Qaeda Islamist terrorists on September 11, 2001. The U.S., its allies, and other States overthrew the Taliban, the de facto Afghan regime that had harbored the terrorists. NATO is only regarded by a threat by Putin, the ex-Soviet intelligence officer, because it is an obstacle to his policy of restoring the Soviet Union. The Chechen Governor’s citation of wars he blames on America and Europe, which implicitly includes NATO’s intervention in Afghanistan, which defended Muslims and non-Muslims around the world alike, as a “threat,” and his call for Muslims to fight the West are anathema to efforts to defeat Islamism (violent Muslim holy war), especially given his repetition of false claims by Islamists who attempt to justify jihad (holy war) against “subjugation” of Muslims by non-Muslims. Some far-right Westerners in America and Europe have attempted to justify support for Putin as a bulwark against Islamism, but his Chechen ally’s Islamist propaganda is only the latest example of how Putin uses Islamists and even Islamism for his own evil ends when it is expedient.