The Islamic Terrorist group ISIS launched an attack on a concert hall in Moscow this past Friday which has led to the death of over 100 people. Russia’s involvement with the war in Syria and its close ties to the Taliban in Afghanistan have apparently angered the extremist group, and Russia has long been a major target for ISIS. This terrorist attack should be condemned by the world, and we should once again see renewed global efforts to try and minimize the threat from groups like this.
At the same time, the world should keep the spotlight on Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the war crimes committed on a daily basis with his invasion of Ukraine. That war has carried on for two years now with no signs of ending, and Russian forces continue to launch attacks against civilians and the country’s infrastructure, acts which count as war crimes. In addition, Putin is trying to establish a link between Ukraine and ISIS in an effort to use the terrorist attack–despite a complete lack of evidence–as a propaganda tool.
There may be a temptation to say that Russia is getting what it deserves with the attack by ISIS, but it is the people of the country that are suffering much more than the leaders that have caused this mess. The Russian people have little control over what Putin and his administration does and they are not even offered decent options in the sham elections held in that nation. And Putin will simply use this attack to tighten down the police state even more and also try to justify further attacks against Ukraine. (He was alerted by the U.S. of the possibility of the attacks, but chose to dismiss the warnings)
The terrorist attack that occurred is something that should never be considered acceptable by the civilized world, neither should the invasion of the sovereign country of Ukraine nor the war crimes that followed. The United States and the other countries of the free world should come together to condemn and oppose both kinds of lawlessness in order to keep us on a path to a brighter future.