[Israeli] Government officials are circulating a document showing Hamas's links to Chechen terrorists in an attempt to influence Russian public opinion against President Vladimir Putin's overtures to Hamas. ...
One poster pictured in the document shows a picture of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin next to those of Ibn al-Khattab, a Chechen leader killed in 2002, Osama bin Laden and Shamil Basayev, a Chechen warlord who claimed responsibility for the Beslan school massacre in September 2004. Underneath the pictures are the words "Chechnya, Afghanistan, the Balkans, Kashmir, Palestine and Lebanon," as well as a quote attributed to a companion of Muhammad who said Islam would "continue to exist in those regions of the world where Muslims are a minority living in a hostile environment."
Russian officials traditionally bristle at attempts to compare Hamas with the Chechen terrorists, saying that while the international community recognizes Chechnya as an integral part of Russia, the world has never recognized the West Bank as part of Israel.
I think that this effort will fail because (1) Putin doesn't give a rats ass about Russian public opinion - tyrants rarely do. And (2), because Putin sees more to gain by "winning over" the Arabs and isolating the USA. To accomplish this, Putin is (among other things) arming Iran and Syria with Russia's latest anti-aircraft missiles, and building Iran's nuclear facilities. If Putin was inclined to be a neutral force then he would do neither. Therefore - despite the fact that Russia is part of the QUARTET which sponsored "The Roadmap For Peace" - his meeting with Hamas can hardly be seen as positive. Russian is simply NOT a positive force in the world, right now. They ONLY operate out of short term self-interest.
Only a nationalist tyrant like Putin - himself a "former" KGB agent - would play such a dangerous high-stakes game. (REMEMBER THE KGB is the agency which trained Arafat and Carlos the Jackal!) Putin thinks he can control the Chechens no matter what Hamas - or any other jihadoterrorist group - may try to do there. IN FACT: he probably thinks that he can make Israel into this century's Sudatenland. IOW: Putin probably believes that he can buy peace with the Islamofascists (even his own in Chechnya) by helping them win "the sacrifice Israel".
Only a nationalist tyrant like Putin - himself a "former" KGB agent - would play such a dangerous high-stakes game. (REMEMBER THE KGB is the agency which trained Arafat and Carlos the Jackal!) Putin thinks he can control the Chechens no matter what Hamas - or any other jihadoterrorist group - may try to do there. IN FACT: he probably thinks that he can make Israel into this century's Sudatenland. IOW: Putin probably believes that he can buy peace with the Islamofascists (even his own in Chechnya) by helping them win "the sacrifice Israel".
why doesn't Bush suggest to VP Cheney that he invite Putin on a little hunting trip?
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