Terrorism and its Impact: Suicide Bombing In Moscow Article Article

Our article Terror at the airport: another suicide bomb reflects the Kremlin’s difficulties with the north Caucasus Jan 27th 2011 | MOSCOW | From The Economist print edition

How do you organise the presentation? Highlight the MAIN points of the author in the ENTIRE article. Then pick out the paragraphs that are directly relevant to the above. Then pick out good vocabulary from the ENTIRE article. Link your article to any of the 6 NE messages. Add in any relevant pictures/images. Do NOT read from the slide/notes. You must show preparedness. You must print out 1 copy of the article for the class Noticeboard.

6 NATIONAL EDUCATION MESSAGES ( THE HEAD, HEARTS AND HAND APPROACH) Good governance is key to ensuring a nation’s survival. Singapore is our homeland; this is where we belong. We treasure our heritage and take pride in shaping our own unique way of life. We must preserve racial and religious harmony. We value our diversity and are determined to stay a united people. We must uphold meritocracy and incorruptibility. We provide opportunities for all, according to their ability and effort. No one owes Singapore a living. We find our own way to survive and prosper, turning challenge into opportunity. We must ourselves defend Singapore. We are proud to defend Singapore ourselves, no one else is responsible for our security and well-being. We have confidence in our future. United, determined and well-prepared, we have what it takes to build a bright future for ourselves, and to progress together as one nation.

Executive Summary Moscow’s busiest and most efficient airport saw a suicide bomb that killed 35 people and injured more than 100. It is assumed to be the work of Islamist fundamentalists. It is also partly due to insufficient security because the police were more preoccupied with extracting bribes from migrant workers than with security.

Paragraph 1 HALF past four in the afternoon is peak time for international arrivals at Domodedovo, Moscow’s busiest and most efficient airport, favoured by foreign airlines. Several European flights land then. As passengers leave the baggage area, they are greeted by taxi touts. On January 24th they were met by a suicide bomb that killed 35 people and injured more than 100. It was designed to cause maximum damage and to kill foreigners and Russians alike. Summary of event:

Main point 1: Work of Islamic fundamentalists From Para 2: Nobody has claimed responsibility, but the assumption is that it is the work of Islamist fundamentalists, related to Russia’s troubled north Caucasus—though Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s president, and Vladimir Putin, its prime minister were careful not to say so publicly.

Main point 1: Work of Islamic fundamentalists From Para 3: the footage suggests he did not look north Caucasian.

Main point 1: Work of Islamic fundamentalists From Paragraph 10: Terrorism in Russia has a global aspect, but it is also related to the Kremlin’s policies in the mainly Muslim north Caucasus. While Chechnya has been brutally pacified, the region is in a simmering civil war. Republics such as Dagestan and Ingushetia are formally part of the Russian federation, but have long ceased to be treated as such either by Moscow or by their own inhabitants. Corruption and the failure of everyday politics have made governance in the north Caucasus completely ineffective, according to Ekaterina Sokiryanskaya of Memorial, a human-rights group. The brutality and impunity of Russian security services in the north Caucasus and the indiscriminate persecution of Muslims have served only to push the locals into the hands of Islamist extremists.

Main point 1: Work of Islamic fundamentalists From Paragaph 11: Ms Sokiryanskaya suggests that Russia is now caught up in an escalating spiral of inter-ethnic violence. The growing antagonism of young north Caucasians towards the government and to Russians in general is matched by the hatred and chauvinism on the Russian side towards the north Caucasus. The recent murder of an ethnic Russian football fan in Moscow by north Caucasians sparked violent riots by ultranationalists and skinheads near the Kremlin. “Russia for the Russians” was the mildest of the rioters’ slogans. Mr. Putin met the protesters and laid flowers on the fan’s grave. Russian prosecutors are reluctant to investigate ethnic attacks on Muslims from the Caucasus, which happen a lot in big Russian cities.

Main Point 2: Inefficiency of government From Paragraph 5: Mr. Medvedev quickly blamed the airport’s managers and the transport police for security breaches. He sacked a few police officers and said that airport managers should be held responsible. “People were allowed to walk in from anywhere. The entrance restrictions were partial at best,” he complained. An airport official said it was the police, not airport managers, who were responsible for security in the zone where the bomb went off.

Main Point 2: Inefficiency of government From Paragraph 6: An elaboration of P5. Russia’s police are often more preoccupied with extracting bribes from migrant workers than with security. In 2004 two suicide bombers boarded two separate planes at Domodedovo and managed to kill 88 people after being briefly detained and then released by the airport police.

Main Point 2: Inefficiency of government From Paragraph 8 The main job of thwarting terrorism ought to belong to the intelligence services and police, who must track down explosives and identify terrorists before they can stage attacks. Reports in the Russian media suggest that the latest bombing was not unexpected. A few weeks ago a female terrorist detonated an explosive and killed herself in a safe house. One accomplice was arrested but others got away.

Main Point 2: Inefficiency of government From Paragraph 9: No security service can prevent every incident. But the frequency of terrorist attacks in Russia raises questions about the professionalism of counter-terrorism in Russia. The security services have a better record of engaging in business disputes and hassling Kremlin opponents than of infiltrating terrorist networks to stop attacks. Over the past decade the FSB (successor to the KGB) has acquired enormous power and influence, but this has made it less accountable. None of the terrorist attacks under the presidency of Mr. Putin, himself a former KGB officer, led to the resignation of federal security chiefs. Neither Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the FSB, nor Rashid Nurgaliev, the interior minister, made a public appearance on the day of the attack. Russian state- television channels also decided not to interrupt their daily schedules with live broadcasts.

Main Point 2: Inefficiency of government From Paragraphs 10,11 & 12:  Terrorism in Russia has a global aspect, but it is also related to the Kremlin’s policies in the mainly Muslim north Caucasus.  Russian prosecutors are reluctant to investigate ethnic attacks on Muslims from the Caucasus, which happen a lot in big Russian cities.  Mr. Putin has also proposed tightening registration rules for migrant workers, even those from inside Russia—a measure aimed at north Caucasians.

Bottom Line ??? Good governance is key to ensuring a nation’s survival.Singapore is our homeland; this is where we belong. We treasure our heritage and take pride in shaping our own unique way of life.