Russia's+Islamic+Threat




 * Russia’s largely unreformed, unprofessional, and often criminalized military and security forces under the so-called siloviki (the power ministries or organs of coercion- MVD, military, FSB, and GRU) have more than played their part. (33)
 * Russian troops and allied Chechen forces have engaged in systematic abuses, including overly aggressive security sweeps, summary executions, mass arrests, torture, and rape. (33)
 * “Free scale network”- consisting of a central hub connecting associated nodes with each other
 * Its hub is the ChRI leadership, in particular its Shura.
 * This serves as the support center for associated nationalist and islamist groups, sometimes as the coordinating center for major operations requiring the involvement of several jamaats or cells, as a source of ideological influence and perhaps direction, and as a conduit for weapons, financing, and other resources, including those coming from the international network. (60)
 * July-August 2002 a meeting attended by president Maskhadov, Basaev, the other ChRI field commanders, and several foreign al qaeda operatives and associates established a Sharia based order within the ChRI and the global expanding islamist jihad throughout the north Caucasus.
 * It established a new governing body named the Consultative Assembly, Shura, as the top governing body transplanting the ChRI Defense Committee, and superseding the Chechen government. (40)
 * “Madzhlisul Shura is ChRI’s highest organ of power.”
 * “The Koran and Sunna are the sources of all decisions.” (40)
 * Sought assistance from abroad, they naturally turned to Muslims in an umma increasingly populated by radical Islamic and jihadist movements.
 * At the same time, the Chechen’s Sufi jihadist warrior culture, their custom of “blood revenge,” the wars decimation of Chechnya and the brutalization of the population, and the general absence of a negotiating process combined to turn the Chechens toward Islamist Jihadism and its strategy of mass terrorism. (30)
 * “Tactic of the bee”
 * Constant rotation of jamaats and cells through specific areas using hit and run ambushes and roadside detonation of hidden IEDs and mines as to refresh the strength of the fighters and keep constant pressure on the targeted areas. (91)
 * The Chechen guerrillas have been effective at using a wide variety of tactics, including large-scale ambushes, detonation of mines and improvised explosive devices, anti-aircraft warfare against Russian helicopters and on occasion other military aircraft, and various forms of suicide bombings. (35)
 * "Indeed, by 2005 Dagestan was under siege, with terrorist attacks occurring on average once every three days." (117)
 * "Shariah Jamasst's ideology is strongly Islamist, as evidenced by the style and contents of its official communiques, which are laced with references to the Koran, Sunna, and sayings of Mohammed. Thus, Shariah Jamaat begins its statements, in particular those internet postings claiming responsibility for its terrorist operations, by exclaiming, "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful! Thanks to God, Lord of the worlds, peace and blessings to the Amir of all the mujahedin, the Prophet Mohammed, his family and followers, and all who have followed them in a jihad to the Day of Judgment!" Russian 'occupation' forces are refered to as '//kafiry'// (Arabic for 'infidels' or 'non-believers' ) Offensive jihad is the openly stated goal: 'The relentless destruction of ideological opponents -- this is Sunna! we say to you loathsome lackeys of Satan: We have no weaknesses, we soldiers of Allah, and having begun on the path of jihad, we have sacrificed our lives, property, shelter, families, and relatives in exchange for HEAVEN!'" (120)
 * "Most prevalently, the Dagestani terrorists call for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya and the establishment of Shariah law in Dagestan. This suggests that Sharia Jamaat's real goal is the establishment of Shariah law in Dagestan." (122)
 * "Shariah's official communiques always emphasize Islam and the establishment of Shariah law over the independence of Dagestan." (122)
 * "Dagestan's Islamic jihadists have been quite resourceful in their operational tactics and propaganda. Shariah Jamaat has deployed several types of attacks, including drive-by shootings, roadside mines and improvised explosive devices, the detonation of car bombs near buildings, as well as an innovative 'air attack'. (125)
 * "It concluded that the isolation, unpopularity, and corruption of clan based elites 'could lead to the emergence of a macro-regional socio-political and economic crisis" in all the North Caucasus republics...a sharp growth of radicalism and extremism and an increase in the gap 'between constitutional democratic principles and the processes that are actually occurring." (131)
 * "It's basic cells consist of autonomous groups of usually three militants, who know only each other; that is they do not know members of other cells." (120)