“North Caucasus extremism has no religious basis” – Dmitry Medvedev
Published: 28 August, 2009, 22:35
Dmitry Medvedev (C) meets with heads of state and religious leaders from the turbulent North Caucasus republics in Sochi on August 28, 2009 (AFP Photo / RIA Novosti / Kremlin pool / Mikhail Klimentyev)
(12.4Mb) embed videoTAGS: Religion, Medvedev, Russia, Terrorism, Kadyrov
President Medvedev has met with local government and religious leaders from the North Caucasus to examine ways of tackling increasing crime and terrorism in the region.
Bearing in mind the recent wave of violence which has hit the Russian republics in the North Caucasus, and in particular Dagestan, Ingushetia and Chechnya, fighting extremism and terrorism was the focus of the meeting’s agenda.
Dmitry Medvedev stressed that Russia has traditionally been a multi-confessional country where two thirds of its 157 nationalities are Muslim communities, and supported Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov’s call to stop using the term “Islamic extremists” in the mass media.
"The right word to call bandits is bandits,” he said. “It has no religious content, even if they think in their head that they are faithful Muslims. They are not Muslims, they are bandits.”
Medvedev said a very important issue is educating young people in the republics of the North Caucasus, and money and resources will be allocated to do that. The Russian president has called for the creation of a special program for working with young people in the North Caucasus, as it is them who are lured into militant groups.
“Unfortunately, terrorist groups are still managing to involve young people. That's a fact. It's therefore important to develop an integrated programme to work with the young people in the North Caucasus. This is one of my suggestions I would like you to discuss. This programme must include educational elements as well as measures to help these people to find work,” Medvedev said.
Medvedev stressed the need for religious education through mass media that will create a strong alternative to the extremist picture of what Islam is.
Medvedev said that a specialized TV channel, where professional imams and theologists explain Islamic teaching, is much needed in the Russian Federation.
The President has promised support to North Caucasus religious leaders, stressing that it would be impossible to tackle existing problems without strengthening their moral authority.
”In this you can fully rely on the Russian state and Russian President’s support,” Medvedev said.
All the members of the discussion were unanimous that all Muslims must not be painted with the same brush.
28.08.2009, 21:02
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And no reference to governments that manage wars by proxy would be fair without enumerating at least some types of involvement in this production line. First, there are the financiers. Those are the governments or affiliated elites and instituions that allocate money. Then there are the "organizers". Those usually behind the scene define how many, what type, and for what project the jihad-for-hire is needed. Then there are those governments that do the recruiting. Some recruits are from colleges and are tapped by the intelligence services. More often then not, they are recriuted via blackmail. Then there are uneducated recrutis. Streets of European cities are full of angry young men, who are usually recruited at their mosques. For those who believe that the immams at those mosques were doing this business on their own, dream on! They did it for some money and because they had to. Then there are recruits coming from the armies of unemployed in Saudi Arabia or Pakistan by "reforming" troublemakers through a life of "selfless, religious sacrifice". Al-Qaeda was created by the financing from some of the wealthiest families in Saudi Arabia, and on behest of a distinguished friend, and included in the package were young, capable organizers to kick it off. Pakistan used Saudi money to start thousands of schools (madrassas) to recruit the kids of the poor (Taliban), but instead of giving them education, they were trained to fight. After they sucessfully conquered Afghanistan, they morphed into an uncontrollable asset. Interesting is the role of Iran, briefly. During the Presidency of Khatami and Rafsanjani, Iran developed ties to Western intelligence, and tried to gain a back-door relationships by funding some jihad-for-hire projects in Bosnia and Chechnya. Notable transit routes included Turkey, Georgia, Albania and Croatia, to name a few.
It is very important to support the religious leaders in these troubled parts of Russia. For their's is the most difficult task. They understand the complexity of problems: poverty, ignorance, traditional social structures, influence of foreign money. They also need to get some real support. Crafting a better education and employment support cannot work unless it is carefully calibrated to the needs of specific communities. It takes very little cash to attact a young, unemployed youth. And their lack of experience in life makes them especially vulnerable to the religion-based motivation fostered by their gang leaders. Many have commented on the breadth of the "global islam", and its tentacles. As someone who has seen the ravages of war in Balkans, I know what imported fanatics can do. But I have also learned that appearances are deceiving, and that unless one understands the strings that control the puppets, one is likely to remain ignorant and frustrated. Let us agree on one thing: people of any religion do not just take-off, leave their families to start a crusade/jihad. The plane tickets, destination accommodations, visas, arms and ammunition, the communication devices, food, clothes, vehicles and gas, do not come from Allah. These are all supplied by men, and not just any men. These types of logistics can only come from governments on the sending and the receiving end.












"... This programme must include educational elements as well as measures to help these people to find work,” Medvedev said." .... Muslims must not be painted with the same brush was also said. There is only one way to teach young people how to reprogram their self esteem: via the arts. It is a self image problem. There is only one frame of reference and it is the BRAND terror or call it the globalISM to keep humanity in the 17th Century idea of beasts of burden and not human beings. Teach the young people how to SEE the BRANDS which have been sold since the beginning of time and the integral thread of the brands sold is always about SELF HATE. Once the young people are allowed to do creative visualization, wherein the INNER EYE can see the outer world for what it is - be in it but not of it. Creative visualization, movement and the fine arts are what young people (children) are all about - they are creative geniuses waiting for the frame of reference to co-create our future world. Medvedev has the idea (Socrates said there is only this, the idea) about it -- education. A constant stream of educating the young mind about how NATURAL the world actually is rather than the ARTIFICIAL reality being forced into the hearts and minds of our humanity: Carrie Dann grandmother of the Western Shoshone said we must think seven generations ahead. QUESTION THE UNNATURAL, this is what must be taught to the young and undeveloped mind. Look at this planet and we can see that the forced technological advancement without the emotional quotient to handle this power has not progressed the human spirit. Life on earth is about our spiritual journey and this cannot be a UNIVERSAL BRAND anymore than nature on this planet can be just one BIG BRAND looking like the same horrible mess of technological gobbblygook everywhere with our future children wandering aimlessly in search of the soul called human being.