Russian police kill Islamist militant leader before Olympics

[okaawhatever]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Police have killed a senior Islamist militant in Russia's North Caucasus ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, where security forces searched on Tuesday for a woman they fear is planning an attack during the games.

Eldar Magatov, a suspect in attacks on Russian targets and alleged leader of an insurgent group in the Babyurt district of Dagestan, died in a shootout, the National Anti-Terror Committee said on Tuesday.

President Vladimir Putin has staked his political reputation on organizing a successful Olympics and tightened security nationwide after insurgents who hope to create an Islamist state in the North Caucasus threatened to attack the games, which start on February 7.

Putin had a phone call on Tuesday with U.S. President Barack Obama in which they discussed how best to have a "safe and secure" Winter Olympics, the White House said.

Continued at Link

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/22/us-russia-militant-idUSBREA0L00K20140122

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The story also explains how Russia became aware of the threat of the "black widow" suicide bomber being in the country. The government received a letter giving information on her and her plans.

[MADem]

1. Wonder what was said during that phone call?

Last edited Wed Jan 22, 2014, 05:24 AM - Edit history (1)

You refused our help, you'd BETTER not be hosting no damn Berlin Munich* Olympics, Pootie--you don't protect those athletes, there will be some serious hell to pay.

The U.S. military is making two ships in the Black Sea available should American support be required during the Olympics. Washington is also offering American technology used to thwart roadside bombs in places like Afghanistan to boost security during the Olympics, a spokesman for U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey said.


*Edited due to Brain Fart!

[DFW]

5. Need a little help here

Berlin? As in 1936? Or might you have meant München 1972?

[MADem]

6. You're right--I meant Munich....right church wrong pew as it were....! nt

[DFW]

7. OK, thanks!

Now I get where you're coming from!

[MADem]

8. Thank you for correcting my "Dumas" mistake!

I went on ahead and edited it so it wouldn't discombobulate others!

[dipsydoodle]

2. Its not so much "the" Black Widow.

Last edited Wed Jan 22, 2014, 04:16 AM - Edit history (1)

Black Widows are the wives of those who have died in those regions - there's more than one and they are committed to suicide deaths.

[cosmicone]

3. Result?

Russians will hunt down and kill all of them.

Terrorists should be stomped out with decisiveness.

[marble falls]

13. How about a trial first?

[cosmicone]

15. A trial in Russia doesn't change the outcome

so they eliminate the middle man for speedy results.

Also, preventing terrorism has different rules than prosecuting it after the fact. If you see a terrorist bomber in advanced stages of planning his/her mission, you don't arrest and wait for a trial -- you shoot them at sight to prevent harm to dozens/hundreds/thousands.

[awoke_in_2003]

26. Hell, we don't give trials to "terrorists"

Why would Russia?

[2banon]

22. Depends on which side of the conflict you're on.

One person's 'terrist' is another person's freedom fighter, as Reagan once said with regard to the insurgents (mujahideen) who we were providing logistical and financial support against the Soviets - who we are now providing intelligence and technical support toward their suppression of "insurgents" ..

[marble falls]

27. Exactly why we need trials in lieu of becoming terrorists ourselves.

[2banon]

4. Apparently, there's a lot more to this story than these headlines.

Anyone else listen to the segment on this on PBS News Hour Tonight?

What has got to be the first for PBS in recent memory, they actually went into the history and back story of these "black widows" .

Why the hell Russia decided to hold the Olympics in Sochi is beyond the pale of ruthless insult to a people of that region going back exactly 150 years ago. (as side note of interest I'm curious as to why Olympic Committee granted Russia's bid if they knew Sochi would be the chosen site.)

News Hour anchor Hari Sreenivasan interviews Professor Robert Bruce Ware who has written extensively on the history of the Russian Caucasus.

Link to the video of this interview (includes a transcript)

excerpt on point:

Exactly 150 years ago, the Circassian people, a people in the north -- northwestern area of this region, essentially on the Black Sea, were deported en masse to Turkey and to other parts of the world and also suffered horrendous massacres, to the point that the events are often described as genocide.

So, the Sochi Olympics are taking place on the same site where the Circassian people were massacred and deported in a genocidal manner exactly 150 years ago. And one of the points that's made in the video is that essentially the Olympic ceremonies are being held on the bones of their ancestors.

[MADem]

9. You aren't the only one who thought "Sochi? W. T. F????"

I mean, really...why not Baghdad or Damascus? Better still, how about Afghanistan? There should be some great snowfall in the mountains...!

I wonder who on the Olympic Committee was bought/paid for, too. Didn't they have to know that Sochi was the site? Doesn't each city have to put on a big show, explaining what they'll build and where, to accommodate the festivities?

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. Hey, they're even violating the sovereign territory of Georgia for the games

Sochi games: Georgia protests as Russia expands border zone

Georgia has protested after Russia temporarily expanded its Olympic security zone into the breakaway Georgian territory of Abkhazia.

It said Russia had created the new zone, 11km (seven miles) inside Abkhazia, for the duration of the Winter Olympic Games in nearby Sochi.

The Georgian government expressed "deep concern" over the "illegal expansion".

Russia is one of the few countries to recognise Abkhazia as a sovereign state since it broke away from Georgia.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25830623

Georgia doesn't have effective control of that territory, but, even so, it's a bit rich to use the Olympics to exercise powerl over part of another country, in contradiction to the general international recognition.

[MADem]

11. Pootie isn't a "freedumb lovin' Russian" -- he's a miserable bully, just like Li'l Boots was.

The guy gives me the creeps. He probably wants Georgia back in the fold (if he had his way he'd reconstitute the USSR, is my guess) as well as Abkhasia. I think he wants to relive the old school days. He's already cracked down on the news media and consolidated his control over all Russian news sources.

Nasty fellow.

[2banon]

23. a supreme asshat, and yes very creepy.

Don't know for sure, but I suspect he's doing far better under the current corrupt, despotic system than he would have under the old corrupt, despotic system. Far more wealthier, I think.

[cosmicone]

17. Abkhazia is 99% Russian

and very few Georgians live there. Most of the people there have Russian passports and trade with Russia rather than Tblisi.

I don't get why Georgia doesn't let Russia annex it.

[2banon]

20. It seems Putin will use anything to exercise power over that territory.

Pretty much reminds me of the U.S. in that respect.

[2banon]

19. Exactly. I don't know Russian History, never heard of Sochi until currently..

Back ground/history adds more perspective, and raises (now obvious) questions wrt to the Olympic Committee's decision. I haven't researched the OC's protocols with respect to bids, not clear on whether or not specific locations (within the country) are required.

So, it may not have come into consideration at the time. But given recent history of bloody conflicts with Chechnya/Georgia - it should have been on their radar, one would think.

[Amonester]

25. Ever wonder who or what 'paper-bag bundles' out of $51 Billion can buy?

$ecret deals burried far and deep into the myriads of this Capitalist system's offshore fiscal-paradise tax havens.

One would think these 'former-athletic' one-percenters would care about the brutal History of that region?

Nah. Can't be.

The Waste and Corruption of Vladimir Putin's 2014 Winter Olympics
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-02/the-2014-winter-olympics-in-sochi-cost-51-billion

[2banon]

28. interesting, thanks for the link. n/t

[Lefta Dissenter]

12. Thanks for the link, 2banon.

Interesting and terrifying.

[2banon]

21. You're welcome

It adds important perspective on the situation. It doesn't terrify me personally. But I'd be if I were participating in the events, that's for sure.

[cosmicone]

16. With millions of years of human history

we are always doing something on top of the bones of our ancestors. 150 years ago is a long time and without accurate survey data, the whole thing seems to be far-fetched. Who is alive today that can specifically and unequivocally state that where the opening ceremony is being held is where the genocide took place?

All this "on the bones of ancestors" etc. is the kind of emotional buttons used by terrorists to inflame and recruit.

It was 150 years ago. Get over it. Being deported to Turkey turned out to be not so bad -- would someone rather live in Turkey or Russia?

[okaawhatever]

18. I'm thinking it will be hard to find a major city that hasn't had it's share of bloodshed. Would

people object to having the Olympics in Berlin? What is Israel made the same claim? Most cities have some sort of ugly history, it's just a matter of how long ago.

[2banon]

24. wow.

[Sunlei]

14. Those games will not be safe no matter how many "Islamist militants" Putin kills

Builds rage and revenge worldwide. Take a page from what Bush and Cheney did to the USA, Putin.