Defence and security analysts say the group has targeted its propaganda at Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent years over the alleged oppression of Muslims by Russia. “Russian foreign policy has been one big red flag for ISIS [ISIL],” Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Washington-based Wilson Center told Al Jazeera. “The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Russian actions in Chechnya, Moscow’s close relationships with the Syrian and Iranian governments, and especially the military campaigns that Russia has waged against ISIS fighters in Syria and — through Wagner Group mercenaries – in parts of Africa.”
All of that has meant that Moscow has become a focus of ISKP’s “extensive propaganda war,” said Amira Jadoon, assistant professor at Clemson University in South Carolina and co-author of, The Islamic State in Afghanistan and Pakistan: Strategic Alliances and Rivalries. “Russia’s engagement in the global fight against ISIS and its affiliates, especially through its military operations in Syria and its efforts to establish connections with the Afghan Taliban – ISIS-K’s rival – marks Russia as a key adversary for ISIS/ISIS-K,” Jadoon told Al Jazeera.
Should the Moscow attack be “definitely attributed” to ISKP, Jadoon said, the group hopes to win support and advance “its goal to evolve into a terrorist organisation with global influence” by demonstrating that it can launch attacks within Russian territory. “ISK [ISKP] has consistently demonstrated its ambition to evolve into a formidable regional entity… By directing its aggression towards nations such as Iran and Russia, ISK not only confronts regional heavyweights but also underscores its political relevance and operational reach on the global stage,” Jadoon said.
Kabir Taneja, a fellow at the Strategic Studies Programme of the Observer Research Foundation – a think tank based in New Delhi, India – told Al Jazeera that Russia is seen by ISIL and its affiliates as “a crusading power against Muslims”.
“Russia has been a target for ISIS and not just ISKP from the beginning,” Taneja, author of the book, The ISIS Peril, said. “ISKP attacked [the] Russian embassy in Kabul in 2022, and over the months, Russian security agencies have upped their efforts to clamp down on pro-ISIS ecosystems both in Russia and around its borders, specifically Central Asia and the Caucusus,” he said. In early March, Russia’s Federal Security Service, better known as the FSB, said it had thwarted an ISIL plan to attack a Moscow synagogue.
“The most compelling current motivation for ISIS-K to attack Russia is the Taliban factor. The Taliban is a bitter rival of ISIS, and ISIS views Russia as a friend of the Taliban,” said Kugelman.
Moscow’s close relations with Israel are also anathema to ISIL’s ideology, Taneja said. “So this friction is not new ideologically, but is so tactically,” he told Al Jazeera.
There’s another factor, too: Largely away from the world’s attention, the armed group has regrouped into a formidable force after setbacks in Syria and Iran “ISKP in Afghanistan has grown in strength significantly … and it’s not just ISKP, ISIS in its original regions of operations, Syria and Iraq, also sees [an] uptick in operational capabilities,” Taneja said. Today, he added, it is “ideologically powerful even if not politically, tactically or strategically … that powerful any more”. That poses a challenge for a distracted world, he said. “How to combat this is the big question at a time when big power competition and global geopolitical churn has put counterterrorism on the back burner,” Taneja added.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/23/moscow-concert-hall-attack-why-is-isil-targeting
Comment: Clearly this remains a topic of interest here. We’ll continue. This is an excerpt of the Al Jazeera explainer. There’s a lot more to it, but it does not attempt to prove ISIS-K perpetrated the Moscow attack. I doubt we will ever see evidence that will satisfy all. There’s too much invested in preconceived notions.
Russian talking heads like Margarita Simonyan, Douglas Macgregor and Scott Ritter immediately started the “Kyiv did it” show. Putin joined in but was a little more subtle with the accusations… but just a little. He said today that radical Islamists were behind the attack but still suggested Kyiv was somehow linked to it. If that line could be held, it would be a boon for rallying all of Russia and much of the world against Kyiv. If not, he’s looking at a two front war. Today I saw a change in the official Kremlin line. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was much more circumspect in his comments.
When asked if such a deadly attack unfolding just outside the Russian capital was a failure for the special services, Peskov said emotions were running high but that no country was immune. “Unfortunately, our world shows that no city, no country can be completely immune from the threat of terrorism,” Peskov said. He said the special services worked tirelessly to defend Russia. “The fight against terrorism is an ongoing process that requires full-scale international cooperation. But you can see that now in this most acute confrontational period, such cooperation is not being fully carried out in any way.”
Along with these words, the Kremlin appears to be engaging Türkiye, Iran and, of course, Tajikstan in a more meaningful way. This is good to see, but it will cause the Kremlin to divert some intelligence and maybe military resources to a second front against ISIS-K… not something helpful to the now full on war against Kyiv. Ahh, the burdens of empire.
TTG
….”the group has targeted its propaganda at Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent years over the alleged oppression of Muslims by Russia”…
I… honestly… wtf???
So ISIS gets passed off when countries are oppressive against Muslims and THEREFORE has decided to direct its ire against… Russia.
Riiiiiiiiiight.
Not against the USA, who has indisputably killed millions of Muslims in its Very Many Wars in the Middle East and beyond.
Not against Israel, where the absolute number of Dead Muslims would be less but on a per-capita basis would probably be higher.
Nope. Neither of them get the laser-like-focus from ISIS.
Nope. Russia does.
How anyone can believe such tripe is beyond me.
Yeah, Right,
Did you forget Russia’s support of Damascus in fighting ISIS? ISIS-K also has a major beef with Iran and the Taliban.
All,
ISIS-K has a major beef with all of America’s enemies. And it’s just a coincidence.
James,
ISIS has a major beef with just about everyone on the planet who is not a hardcore sunni muslim.
What are you hopeless conspiracy theorists going to say when ISIS begins (renews actually) terrorists attacks on US interests and in the US? – because that is coming for sure.
Oh yeah, probably that “the CIA” killed its own citizens for [insert whatever fanciful notion emerges from your cup of magical tea leaves]. When innuendo, rumor, imagination and politics are more important than reliable sources, provable facts and testable/falsifiable hypotheses, you can convince yourself of anything.
Coincidence? I think this was why we withdrew like we did. It’s paying off in dividends yet again. We played the long game for 20 years in Afghanistan while all our state enemies in the region grew complacent and reliant of our stabilization and security. They never for once contemplated over us withdrawing in such a rapid way, abandoning the government and our weapons, while leaving the Taliban in charge. Sure ISISK got a cheap shot in while we were evacuating but we left under the impression of fleeing with our tails between our legs. We no longer occupy their envisioned Khoresan caliphate. The new targets are China, Russia, Iran, and perhaps Pakistan. Do you really think the Taliban can protect their regional neighbors from ISISK? Are we obligated to go back? Who’s next at entering the graveyard of empires? Meanwhile China still has a Malacca Dilemma.
James –
Sounds like to me that ISIS-K has a major beef with Canada’s enemies also.
As I recollect Canadian Armed Forces were in Afghanistan and also helped bomb ISIS in Syria. And Canada is a plank-holder as one of the original members of NATO. Didn’t Russia include Canada on her List of Unfriendly Countries after you sanctioned Putin’s officials and voted to recognize Russia’s actions in Ukraine as genocide. And didn’t the Kremlin work with those Quebec militant separatists back in the 1970s? And the FSB has been trying to stir up trouble amongst the million plus Ukrainian-Canadians.
ISIS-K Is Waging a New War in Afghanistan—This Time Against China:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/dy7aqw/isis-anti-china-war-afghanistan
So now ISIS-K is attacking America’s other primary antagonist China … and they continue to have no interest in attacking US troops in Syria. Weird.
Both China and Russia are cozying up to the Taliban, ISIS-K’s enemy #1.
James –
Guess you never heard of the 16,000 mosques destroyed or damaged in Xinjiang by Chinese security services. Or the one million Muslim Uighurs & Kazakhs imprisoned in Chinese concentration camps. There are or were 5000 Uighurs fighting in Syria alongside ISIS-K. They fought and died against US and SDF troops in Raqqah, Deir ez-Zor and Al Hasakah provinces. Their widows and children are now in An Hawl refugee camp along with other ISIS. But they are still active and fighting against Assad and Putin in Idlib province and even in the northern mountains of Latakia. They and their ISIS brethren no longer have an interest in attacking US troops in Syria because there are no US troops in or near Idlib. If there are any left in Deir ez-Zor they are starving in the desert.
Naw that ain’t weird.
ISIS declared war on Hamas. They killed Hamas fighters for smuggling weapon into Gaza..Weird
https://web.archive.org/web/20180111010744/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/10/world/middleeast/isis-hamas-sinai.html
Israeli commandos conduct clandestine missions into Syria to MEDEVAC ISIS fighters. Weird
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3315347/Watch-heart-pounding-moment-Israeli-commandos-save-Islamic-militants-Syrian-warzone-risking-lives-sworn-enemies.html
ISIS once attacked IDF and apologized
https://www.timesofisrael.com/ex-defense-minister-says-is-apologized-to-israel-for-november-clash/
Israel forgave ISIS for the attack…weird
https://www.mintpressnews.com/israeli-defense-minister-israel-forgives-isis-for-attack-following-apology/227504/
leith –
We don’t need the FSB to come into Canada and create problems in the Ukrainian community – we are perfectly capable of creating lots of problems all on our own!
As for Xinjiang – both China and Israel put Muslims into concentration camps to quell their restive Muslim populations. I don’t believe all the horror stories coming out of China but I do believe the horror stories coming out of Israel.
Your point about there being no US troops in or near Idlib is well taken. I had not thought of that. This puts a huge hole in my much loved conspiracy theory, darn it.
Eric Newhill,
When ISIS begins terrorist attacks against US interests in the US you will be proven right and I will be proven wrong.
I would be interested to know what attacks within the US ISIS has carried out previously. As in – under the command and control of ISIS, not “ISIS inspired” (ie some whacko did something and said he was inspired by ISIS).
James
A man willing to change his opinions in the light on new evidence, how refreshing.
James,
Now you’re splitting hairs in order to defend silly conspiracy theories. What would convince you that someone was a card carrying member of ISIS, as opposed to someone inspired by ISIS? What does that distinction even mean? Do the attackers need to be driving a technical with the ISIS flag waving above it for the attack to count as ISIS? How would ISIS drive the technical to the US? Do the attackers need to be caught with a phone with speed dial to ISIS HQ somewhere on the other side of the world?
You conspiracy guys want the Jews and the CIA to be behind every bad thing that happens in the world. I guess that is your struggle. Can’t you even imagine that there are bad actors in other cultures? A guy with a similar struggle ended up being a really bad actor.
Look, Hamas hates Israel because Hamas wants earthly power, a country to rule, a seat at the UN, etc. ISIS and Al Qaeda do not believe in countries, elections, the UN or any of that. They want an umma, a global caliphate, ruled by Allah. Yes, both are murderous islamic groups, but that is about all they have in common.
ISIS is so hardcore that they don’t even like Hamas because they see Hamas as too secular in its ambitions. Jews, Russians, Americans, French, Chinese are all the same to ISIS; that is to say infidels that must be converted or killed. Russia is high on the killing priority list at this time because Russia has been interfering with the development of the caliphate. Remember a few years ago a Russian passenger jet was brought down by an Islamic bomb? Attacking Russia is nothing new for ISIS. Distance and security make it challenging for ISIS to attack the US, but they will use the open borders to do something sooner or later. Israel just isn’t a priority for ISIS because Israel isn’t doing anything to hurt them – Israel may even be helping ISIS in its war on a common enemy which is the Syrian government; which is totally different than Israel creating ISIS or directing them. No one “controls” ISIS accept Allah and those men who understand how to interpret Allah’s will accurately and purely.
In that vein, back when Bin Laden and the Mujahadin were fighting Soviets the US helped arm them because the US wanted to hurt the Soviets. So what? The US didn’t understand that those guys would turn on the US – and the whole world – once they were done with Russia. The US didn’t “create” these jihadists – and neither did Israel. That strain of Islamic thought has been around for some time.
Finding a common enemy to unite against has been a pattern of cooperation for non-Democratic governments, especially during times of geopolitical turmoil. We know where Al-Jazeera stands vis-a-vis BRICS nations. I see AJ especially going easy on Russia and ignoring the fact that too much resources and manpower has been diverted to Ukraine. The Khorasan offshoot IMO capitalized on this and seeks to create instability in the already destabilized region just for the sake of creating chaos. The dimwit or analysts want to link heaven and earth together to ‘find a cause/agenda for the group’. I don’t understand why the dimwits at those aforementioned think tanks intentionally omit the fact that Russia got caught with its pants down, plain and simple and that the IS-K simply enjoys chaos and could give two f’s abt grandiose agendas.
Affected countries must simply deal with these terror groups with indiscriminate force, but they can’t, because much of their resources are nowadays misdirected to personal agendas of their leaders. SAD!
Al Jazeera: “Defence and security analysts say the group has targeted its propaganda at Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent years over the alleged oppression of Muslims by Russia”
Me: “So ISIS gets passed off when countries are oppressive against Muslims and THEREFORE has decided to direct its ire against… Russia.”
TTG: “Did you forget Russia’s support of Damascus in fighting ISIS?”
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a classic example of a non-sequitur.
The media claim that ISIS hates Russia because of Russian “oppression of Muslims”
I scoff at that notion.
TTG’s retort is to point out that Russians fought against ISIS.
That is a non-sequitur, precisely because “Fighting ISIS” is not the same thing as “oppressing Muslims”.
Yeah, Right,
Russia also fought two wars against the Chechens, but you’re right about fighting ISIS not being the same as oppressing Muslims. However, Russia is cozy with ISIS-K enemies Iran and the Taliban in Afghanistan and have been instrumental in pounding their ISIS brethren in Syria. Do you not understand how ISIS-K can have a problem with the Kremlin?
TTG: “Do you not understand how ISIS-K can have a problem with the Kremlin?”
I have a great deal of difficulty understanding how “ISIS-K” can have the motivations that you ascribe to them and yet conclude that the USA, pffft, not worth the effort but Russia, oh, man, we really gotta stick it to those Russians.
Who is the USA cozy with?
Who has the USA been “pounding”?
(a US Marine record for the amount of artillery expended, apparently).
On every point that you make “ISIS-K” the United States of America has done way more to make it to the top of that “problem” list.
But they aren’t, and that’s mighty suspicious in my book.
Yeah, Right,
ISIS-K’s greatest enemies right now are Iran and the Taliban. The Kremlin is cozy with both of them. The Us is not. and ISIS in Syria and Iraq had plenty of run ins with US troops and our Kurdish and Iraqi allies. ISIS-K did attack US troops during the withdrawal from Kabul. In time, I’m fairly sure they would like to attack the US again but it is logistically more difficult. Moscow was probably a fairly accessible target given the Kremlin’s preoccupation with Ukraine. You seem upset that Moscow was hit rather than Washington DC.
ISIS used up more ammo killing “apostate” Shia than they did shooting at the US. I don’t understand why some people don’t get that. Too much anti-US, anti-Israel bias, I suppose.
TTG: “ISIS-K’s greatest enemies right now are Iran and the Taliban.”
Yeah, isn’t it just the most… odd… coincidence that “ISIS-K” is antagonist to the two countries that have done the most to show two-fingers to the USA.
Decidedly… odd.
BTW, you never seem to get around to explaining WHY “ISIS-K” has a bee in its bonnet regarding those two countries.
Again… odd.
TTG: “The Kremlin is cozy with both of them.”
You might also want to get around to explaining what the word “cozy” means in this context.
Russia has normal diplomatic relations with Iran. It also (afaik, please correct me) has normal diplomatic relations with Afghanistan.
Neither are “allies” of Russia. There are no mutual-defense treaties. No proclamation of “Best Friends Ever!!!”.
Russia treats them both like… countries.
It’ll sell them stuff. It’ll buy stuff. It will afford them diplomatic support if they deserve it, and it will criticize them if criticism is warranted.
Indeed, w.r.t. Iran the Russian relationship is no different than BRICS has towards Iran, yet I don’t see “ISIS-K” getting a hard-on towards India or Brazil or South Africa.
BTW: “The Us is not”
Understatement Of The Year.
Again, isn’t it funny that the USA is antagonistic towards both Iran and Afghanistan and…. so is “ISIS-K”
Yet it never seems to occur to you that perhaps, just perhaps, this should make you question the causal relationship in that correlation.
As in, you may just have arrows going all over the place, but all of them pointing in the wrong direction.
TTG: “and ISIS in Syria and Iraq had plenty of run ins with US troops and our Kurdish and Iraqi allies.”
I’m getting rather weary of pointing this out, but you keep doing a pea-and-thumble trick with the words “ISIS” and “ISIS-K” *even* *though* you insist that those are two different organizations.
TTG: “ISIS-K did attack US troops during the withdrawal from Kabul.”
And there ya’ go, you just did it again.
Are you even away that you are doing this?
Yeah, Right,
ISIS-K is an affiliate of the original ISIS, but they are two separate groups. ISIS-K assumed ascendency when the ISIS caliphate in Syria and Iraq was destroyed, a feat in which Russia played a large part. The K stands for Khorasan, a traditional area encompassing Afghanistan, much of Iran, Tajikistan and parts of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
ISIS-K isn’t too keen on any country maintaining relations with the Taliban. That is primarily Russia and China. Why is that hard to understand?
This analysis of ISIS-K looks reasonable to me:
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/03/25/how-moscow-terror-attack-fits-isis-k-strategy-widen-agenda-take-fight-its-perceived-enemies.html
Anybody see any major mistakes?
Keith, I have a serious question regarding this line:
“ISIS-K, short for Islamic State Khorasan Province, is a regional affiliate of the larger Islamic State group.”
Oh, like a MacDonalds franchise, is it?
How does that process work, exactly?
Do the “affiliate” have to fill in some paperwork?
Is there an interview process? A signing ceremony?
Does ISIS hand ISIS-K a certificate to hang on the wall?
In short: what is the process by which ISIS agrees that “ISIS-K” is now “ISIS-TOO”? Has ISIS ever agreed that “ISIS-K” is fit to use that brand-name?
I just have this niggling question at the back of my mind that if an organization (you know, of the three-letter-variety) was intent upon mayhem, murder and destruction then, yeah, why not, let’s prop up *our* terrorists as an “affiliate” of some other terrorist organization.
Instant credibility, as-easy-as.
I’m sorry, but simply because the people doing this shout out “ISIS-K!!!!! ISIS-K!!!!” while carrying out their terrorism to my mind means…. not much.
ISIS, ISIS-K and other sunni jihadist groups are affiliated b/c they all believe in the same strain of Islam. Therefore they recognize and support each other. This is only overly complicated and baffling for conspiracy theorists who want to live in their own make believe reality.
It’s a lot like communism. It emerges in different forms in different countries, but they are all affiliated as it is a global movement – or, for that matter, fascism back in the 1930s and 40s. The fascist governments aligned, even though there were nuances between them. Capitalist countries also align, affiliate, etc. Like ideologies flock together.
Eric: “ISIS, ISIS-K and other sunni jihadist groups are affiliated b/c they all believe in the same strain of Islam.”
Do they now? That sounds mighty like pontification to me, Eric.
Eric: “Therefore they recognize and support each other.”
But that’s my point: where is your evidence for that claim?
Don’t get me wrong: I have no doubt that “ISIS-K” is CLAIMING that it is recognized and supported by “ISIS”.
I would too, if I were intent upon hiding my nefarious activities behind some convenient redirection.
But where is the evidence that “ISIS” agrees with your statement?
Where, and when, did “ISIS” say that “ISIS-K” is its brethren, and the two groups make it a habit of going away for the weekend and having The Best Time Ever!!!!!
Eric: ” This is only overly complicated and baffling for conspiracy theorists who want to live in their own make believe reality.”
*sigh*
IF I were an unscrupulous CIA Director – say, one as self-confessed as Fatso Pompeo – and I was directed to carry out despicable acts against a foreign country that Washington doesn’t like then I would *certainly* do two things:
1) Stand up a new organization to carry out those heinous crimes, and
2) Co-op an existing terrorist “brand” for my all-new bunch of foreign cutthroats.
You know, all the better from the plausibly-deniable angle.
You, apparently, consider that line of thinking to be a “conspiracy theory”.
How touchingly naiave of you, Eric.
Who knew you were born yesterday.
YR,
In your racist conspiracy world, the stupid wogs have no agency. The CIA tells them to give commit their lives to doing something dangerous and ugly and they salute smartly and do the CIA’s dirty work 110%. Do you understand how stupid that sounds?
Eric: “In your racist conspiracy world, the stupid wogs have no agency.”
Niiiiice straw man, Eric. And you built it all on your own? Sweeet.
Leaving aside your well-known and self-documented sense of racial superiority, would you mind expanding on that ludicrous statement some more?
Because at what organizational level are you ascribing “agency”?
That there are many, many, many disgruntled and radicalized Muslims is not something I dispute. There are, and they are legion. As are the events that led to their radicalization.
(BTW, best not to look in the mirror when contemplating that last sentence.)
So at that level, yes, they have “agency”. They are radicalized, and need little incentive to join an organization that promised them the opportunity for some payback.
Again, that is something that is indisputably true.
But it is much, much higher up in the organizational chart that I am looking at, though you appear intent to fix you gaze firmly at your feet.
Who propped up that organization? Who, indeed, organized it, financed it, set its agenda?
You appear (again, hard to tell since you toss your ideas around as glibly as you do oh-so arrogantly) to consider the entire idea to be preposterous beyond words.
Not so. I certainly don’t believe it to be preposterous, and neither do the Russians. And judging by how furiously the State Dept is spinning I suspect very much that they are harboring their own doubts on that score.
After all, if three-letter-agencies had a hand in this then Foggy Bottom would be the last to know.
Well, second-last, as you would hold out until the very bitter end.
Eric: “The CIA tells them to give commit their lives to doing something dangerous and ugly and they salute smartly and do the CIA’s dirty work 110%.”
Again, you are focusing your attention at your feet. At the very bottom rung of the “ISIS-K” organizational chart.
THOSE dudes wouldn’t know who or what was telling them to do anything. Not really.
Heck, even TTG would agree that compartmentalization is the name of that particular game.
Eric: “Do you understand how stupid that sounds?”
Yeah, I do, which is why I don’t think very much of your straw-man argument.
Still, come back at me with another straw man.
After all, it is what you do.
Yeah, Right,
You still seem unable to comprehend that ISIS developed organically and was initially supported and guided by ISIS. When the ISIS Caliphate was dismantled, ISIS-K assumed primacy, mostly in the traditional area of Khorasan. Not everything is a CIA conspiracy.
TTG, you might want to re-edit your first sentence, since you appear to have tied yourself into knots.
Meanwhile….
TTG: “Not everything is a CIA conspiracy.”
Oh, I agree. Would you return the favor and accept that the CIA is not The Salvation Army?
It has done some terrible, terrible things, and if you honestly believe that the CIA has not stood up terrorist organizations then you are not the person you claim to be.
Yeah, Right,
The CIA has indeed done some dastardly deeds. I consider the overthrow of Árbenz in Guatemala to be a prime example. At least that was done competently. Their support of “good jihadis” in Syria was not only shameful, but incompetently executed. There are more examples.
https://www.dni.gov/nctc/ftos/isis_khorasan_fto.html
Riiiiight, so a US three-letter-agency that exists within the organizational structure of a larger US three-letter-agency is your go-to proof-positive that “ISIS-K” is not the creation of a US three-letter-agency.
You might want to keep that in mind when mulling just how much of a George Tenet-style “slam-dunk” your linked article actually is.
As Mandy Rice-Davies once so memorably said: “Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he?”
Yeah, Right,
You’re continued insistence on this absurd conspiracy theory is getting tedious.
Time will tell, TTG.
Tim will tell.
Yeah Right –
No certificates, no paperwork, no franchise contracts. They did it by pledging allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s ISIS back in 2014. That is the same way that ISIS branches in the Philippines, Indonesia, Yemen, Somalia, North Africa, and others became part of the ISIS caliphate. And back 1400 years ago, that is the same way the Arab tribes pledged allegiance (Bay’ah) to Muhammad. ISIS-K was blessed by the main ISIS Shura Council in 2015.
Wikipedia has 30-plus references on the history and formation of ISIS-K.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Islamic_State_%E2%80%93_Khorasan_Province#
West Point’s ‘Combating Terrorism Center’ website has a dozen articles on ISIS-K activities including one on the formation.
https://ctc.westpoint.edu/situating-the-emergence-of-the-islamic-state-of-khorasan/
By the way, The U.S. State Department’s Rewards for Justice Program has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the emir of the Islamic State Khorasan Province: Sanaullah Ghafar AKA Shahab al-Muhajir.
https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2022/02/u-s-offers-10-million-reward-for-leader-of-islamic-state-khorasan-province.php
And Blinken has designated Ghafar and three of his ISIS-K associates as specially designated global terrorists (SDGT).
https://www.state.gov/taking-action-against-isis-k/
The best reference I’ve found is Antonio Giustozzi’s book ‘The Islamic State in Khorasan: Afghanistan, Pakistan and the New Central Asian Jihad’.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/26515463
Ah yes, Russia’s “burdens of empire”. Those 3 words neatly encapsulate exactly what Russia is fighting against. Not for the retention of a fictitious empire, but against the mindset which considers the Russian Federation needs to be broken up. It’s exactly that kind of thinking that led to the present war in Ukraine and which may get us all killed. What is “schadenfreude” in Lithuanian? Sorry TTG but I can’t let that go.
Unlike the model employed by some others, Russia’s diplomacy is based on mutual cooperation and respect and is second to none in terms of its effectiveness. Consequently Russia is fortunate enough to have many friends with which to share her burdens. M. K. Bhadrakumar did a good article on Russia’s improving relations with the Taliban a while back: https://www.indianpunchline.com/china-russia-pip-us-to-the-taliban-hearth
Barbara Ann,
That improving relationship with the Taliban and alliance with Iran are what makes Russia a target for ISIS-K.
But I still believe the way the Kremlin handled/is handling its relationship with Damascus is a model of the best form of international intervention. Russia was invited in to assist. Russia came in with a light footprint and did not try to mold the Syrian Army into a mirror copy of the Russian Army. They allowed the SAA to grow organically. Their Reconciliation Centers remain a marvel of diplomacy and counterinsurgency. Unfortunately, all that also contributed to their becoming a prime target of ISIS.
I agree on both those points TTG.
What’s very dubious is the fact there is a genocide going on in Gaza right now, something every Muslim on the planet is keenly aware of, yet ISIS decides not to attack Israeli targets (outside Israel if necessary) but Russia, which is one of the countries that doesn’t support this bloodbath and repeatedly tries to bash it at the UN.
Honestly, if there wasn’t that ongoing war, an ISIS claim wholly unrelated to the war in Ukraine would be quite realistic. As it is, either they’re manipulated, or they’ve just burned bridges with pretty much every Muslim by showing they don’t give a damn with the main issue of the Islamic world right now, and don’t give a damn about their fellow Muslims being slaughtered by the thousands.
Clueless Joe,
Gaza is not the main issue of the “Islamic World” as you put it. Furthermore, there is is no Islamic world much like there is no Christian world. ISIS-K views the Taliban and Iranians as mortal enemies, yet they are all Muslim.
TTG,
Social justice warriors in the west hate Israel so much and suck up so much Hamas propaganda that they believe Gaza is a main focus for Muslims. However, as I keep saying, the Palestinians are a convenient political object d’art for Iranian propagandists to take off the shelf and pass around every so often – and that’s about it. The Muslim world could rescue and absorb all the residents of Gaza if it wanted to, but it doesn’t want to. They really don’t like the Palestinians or want them in their societies. ISIS killed so many Shia during its glory days in Syria and Iraq that its crazy. ISIS also killed a lot of Christians who never did anything to harm muslims. The jihadist mindset is not as linear as westerners want it to be. There are many inputs to their calculus that westerners don’t understand. Also, I suspect they are just plain afraid of Israel. Israel will strike back – and without the restrictions that make America weak when it tries to do the same.
Anyhow, nice take on the impact for Russia – “burdens of empire”. One line that says a book’s worth.
I started reading this site for truthful analysis when Colonel Lang disagreed with the NYTimes, Washington Post, & BBC the that Iraq War 2003 based on ‘Iraq has active WMDs that can hit London in 20 minutes’ & “the Iraq insurgency is in it’s last throes & will die quickly in the next 6 months” —
also,
declassified NSA documents below https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB132/press20051201.htm show that the August 4th Gulf of Tonkin incident that President Johnson used as a pretext to escalate & send troops to fight North Vietnam was a LIE,
that North Vietnam did not attack area of the US Maddox and didn’t even know where it was,
and that on Aug 2nd, USS Maddox was actually on a support mission for a secret South Vietnamese sabotage operation to blow and kill North Vietnamese radar station
From my personal experience of Western propaganda vs the truth:
1) During the Vietnam War/Cambodian Civil War, my father was a Deputy Minister in the US-supported government while I had 2 uncles who were a Colonel & Captain that had US Special Forces/Green Berets trainers/advisors & a CIA liason officer
–despite official US gov/CIA denials in the news media that they had no idea of the coup by General Lon Nol, everyone knew & the CIA liason officer admitted the US gov/CIA supported & encouraged General Lon Nol to overthrow Prince Sihonounak
—
-and later, despite Western news media saying the US-backed gov was winning for years, the CIA liason officer and US Special Forces told my family to pack their bags & get ready to escape because the US-backed gov was going to fall
Al-Jazeera is owned by Qatar, which the US officially designates as a US ally with close military & intel/CIA cooperation
-Al Jeezeera was promoting the propaganda of ‘US helps Syrian moderate rebels’ (which Colonel Lang often referred to correctly as unicorns as did most of the commentators here)
instead of telling the truth they are actually al-Nusra & other Al-Queda/jihadist off-shoots
To better find the truth, here’s an expert that Colonel Lang has cited/referenced many times in his posts https://turcopolier.com/?s=alastair
Alastair Crooke, who is retired British MI6 agent & diplomat to Middle East/Saudi Araba with DECADES of experience working as a MI6 agent boots-on-the-ground in Saudi Arabia & Middle East with jihadists during the
1980s MI6/CIA funding/arming & training jihadists to fight the Soviets/Russians in Afghan
and
expert on ISIS & jihadist movements (must read on ISIS, Al Qeda, Taliban & their Wahhabist origins in Saudi Arabia https://www.huffpost.com/entry/isis-aim-saudi-arabia_b_5748744 ) –
– Alastair was the whistleblower in 1980s that warned US gov that some of the jihadist Islamist groups were too dangerous in Afghan, out of control and that some would be in our cities, but he was told to ‘forget it’ because “the jihadists were good at hurting the Russians” (nothing has changed since the 1980s)
Alastair’s interview with FoxNew’s Judge Napolitano
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uy6KVHRB30&t=832s
Transcript:
“you know someone was saying you know maybe this is getting out of control and
you know something bad might happen and something bad it looks as if it has happened and that’s why we see such panic in America and Europe I mean they are not doubling down on the Isis case
Story I mean they’re absolutely going flat out on the Isis K story and I can tell you these people were not jihadists because I’ve looked at the uh the videos and I I I know what uh these jihadists are like I’ve actually you know I’ve worked being with jihadist so I know first of all you know jihadists generally go on shooting until they’re killed they are Martyrs they want to be martyrs they don’t plan an exit and grab a car and head off down south I mean that’s very much unlike it um secondly you know this is Ramadan and they don’t usually do this during a holy month start killing civilians like like this anyway it’s fairly clear these people did it for money they were recruited first of all in Tajikistan incidentally there’s a a major not only a US Embassy in Tajikistan but there’s a Ukrainian Embassy there um and the Ambassador is the former head of Ukrainian intelligence uh in Kiev now I’m not suggesting anything because we don’t know at this stage uh but I would say um it’s highly unlikely these were jihadists they didn’t act as jihadists they didn’t operate in that way um clearly the whole attack was pre uh planned was organized the weapons were put in and apparently all of this was done by telegram Channel it wasn’t done directly there wasn’t any direct interaction between um the the actual perpetrators and the people who were behind the scenes providing the weapons and and other parts and then they headed off and the Russians let them go I mean it was I mean bizarrely badly organized in in respects I mean you know they arrived in a white um ma car with a black roof which is quite rare I’m told in Moscow and then they arrived in that with their weapons and started shooting wildly and then they tried to escape in the same car well of course I mean you know a white car with a black roof and the Renault Sigma was quite obvious and the Russians just followed it they wanted to see where it was going who they might be contacting who they might meet and then finally when it was quite clear that were heading through through Bryansk down to Ukraine at that time they stopped the car in a forest because they didn’t want these people getting out and taking hostages or shooting civilians um in the process so they stopped it in a forest and then one of them was detained then and the others ran into the forest where they were subsequently caught alive I think they’ already dumped their weapons uh by that spot by that point so a very um badly executed but obviously carefully planned pre-plan uh operation say can you draw a line between uh the statements … ”
P.S. Note that Ukrainian Embassy in Tajik had advertisment on it’s website hiring/recruiting Tajiks to go fight Russia & join Ukraine’s Foreign Legion or work for Ukraine –as Alaistair Crooke noted,
the Ukrainian Ambassador to Tajik was UKraine’s former head of UKrainian intelligence
also note there is video of one of the shooters walking down the sidewalk holding an assault rifle after the shooting and getting into the white Renault as well as traffic/security camera footage of their faces in the car
and news media reports that some of them were making phone calls from their cell phones into Ukraine while driving and that their phones & call logs have been de-encrypted
Note that just like NSA, all phone calls/electronic communications (metadata & full) is monitored & tracked via cell towers; that Telegram was banned in Russia until a few years ago when it agreed to give backdoor access to the government for terrorism/criminal cases)
Also note that if they were real jihadists, they would never use their left hand to swear on the Quran as seen in their videos..
in Muslim/Middle Eastern cultures where water & toilet paper was or is scarce, the left hand is traditionally seen as ‘unclean’ because it used to wipe your butt and do other dirty tasks
while the right hand is reserved to handle food; sacred items -the left hand is never used to touch sacred items like the Quran
If you don’t like what’s here write your blog, though with “I’ve looked at the uh the videos and I I I know what uh these jihadist” type writing maybe not in English.
T vs P –
I’m sure you will find that most if not all here still believe as Colonel Lang did about the asininity of our so-called pre-emptive 2003 invasion of Iraq.
As for the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, on 2 August, the USS Maddox definitely came under torpedo and machine gun attack by the North Vietnamese VPN. And your link calls the 4 August shoot-up a mistake, not a lie.
Sihanouk was given the crown as a French puppet over the heir to the throne. His jealous royal cousin Sirik Matak was the one that encouraged Lon Nol’s coup. That coup was also inspired by the 30,000 anti-Hanoi rioters in Phnom Penh who looted and burned the North Vietnamese & Viet Cong embassies.
Colonel Lang was correct that the moderate Syrian rebels were rare as unicorns. They did exist however back in 2011/2012/2013. They were thousands of ordinary Syrians who joined during the Arab Spring after 15 high school students in Daraa were arrested and tortured for writing anti-Assad grafitti. Unfortunately starting around 2014 they faded out as they could not compete with al-Qaeda and later ISIS.
Alastair Crooke was right about Afghanistan. It did eventually bite us in the arse. But he is getting old now. He was certainly wrong when he said ISIS-K was not real. Although he may be right that the Crocus killers probably did it for monetary reasons and not for 72 virgins in paradise. But they were not recruited in Tajikistan as he implies. They had been working in Russia for a very long time, along with 8-million other Muslim immigrants from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan & Uzbekistan.
Leith,
The empirical hard evidence shows there was an Aug 2nd was battle (that was never in dispute, with radio intercepts & North Vietnamese agreeing there was a battle on Aug 2nd) –but the empirical hard evidence on Aug 4th there was was not as shown
&
written excerpt by below US Navy Commander/US Naval Academy graduate; now US Naval Academy professor of history) that the declassified & released in 2005-2006 (which the NSA vigorously fought against)
shows there was no North Vietnamese attacks in the area that the NSA altered, deleted, & mistranslated the SIG radio intercepts to mislead/coverup NSA mistakes misidentifying non-existent attacks that there was supposed attack that Sec of Def McNamara & Johnson MISLEAD Congress the US public into believing that they was certainty of an attack when privately Johnson on his audio tapes expressed doubt while McNamara actually lied to Congress/US public/newspapers:
Below is excerpt from US Naval Institute
https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2008/february/truth-about-tonkin
“More than 40 years after the events, that all changed [“thinking it was just a mistake”] with the release of the nearly 200 documents related to the Gulf of Tonkin incident and transcripts from the Johnson Library.
These new documents and tapes reveal what historians could not prove:
There was not a second attack on U.S. Navy ships in the Tonkin Gulf in early August 1964.
Furthermore, the evidence suggests a disturbing and deliberate attempt by Secretary of Defense McNamara to distort the evidence and mislead Congress.
Among the most revealing documents is a study of the Gulf of Tonkin incidents by NSA historian Robert J. Hanyok.
Titled “Skunks, Bogies, Silent Hounds, and the Flying Fish: The Gulf of Tonkin Mystery, 2-4 August 1964,” it had been published in the classified Cryptological Quarterly in early 2001.
Hanyok conducted a comprehensive analysis of SIGINT records from the nights of the attacks and concluded that there was indeed an attack on 2 August but the attack on the 4th did not occur, despite claims to the contrary by President Johnson and Secretary McNamara.
According to John Prados of the independent National Security Archive, Hanyok asserted that faulty signals intelligence became “vital evidence of a second attack and [Johnson and McNamara] used this claim to support retaliatory air strikes and to buttress the administration’s request for a Congressional resolution that would give the White House freedom of action in Vietnam.”
Almost 90 percent of the SIGINT intercepts that would have provided a conflicting account were kept out of the reports sent to the Pentagon and White House.
Additionally, messages that were forwarded contained “severe analytic errors, unexplained translation changes, and the conjunction of two messages into one translation.”
Other vital intercepts mysteriously disappeared.
Hanyok claimed that “The overwhelming body of reports, if used, would have told the story that no attack occurred.”
“Relying on faulty and misinterpreted intelligence about the 4 August incident, an overanxious President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered retaliatory U.S. air strikes, which he announced to the American public at 2336 Washington time that night.”
“The historian also concluded that some of the signals intercepted during the nights of 2 and 4 August
were FALSIFIED to support the retaliatory attacks.”
“Moreover, some intercepts were altered to show different receipt times, and other evidence was cherry picked to DELIBERATELY DISTORT the THE TRUTK.”
According to Hanyok, “SIGINT information was presented in such a manner as to preclude responsible decision makers in the Johnson Administration from having the complete and objective narrative of events of 04 August 1964.”24
“And what about the North Vietnamese battle report that seemed to provide irrefutable confirmation of the attack?
On further examination, it was found to be referring to the 2 August attacks against the Maddox but had been routinely transmitted in a follow-up report during the second “attack.” The North Vietnamese were oblivious to the confusion it would generate.”
What should have stood out to the U.S. leadership collecting all the data of these attacks was that, with the exception of the battle report, no other SIGINT “chatter” was detected during the attacks on 4 August.
In contrast, during the 2 August attack NSA listening posts monitored VHF communications between North Vietnamese vessels, HF communications between higher headquarters in Hanoi and the boats, and communication relays to the regional naval station. None of these communications occurred on the night of 4 August.
The Defense Secretary’s Role
“Subsequently, Secretary McNamara INTENTIONTALLY MISLEAD CONGRESS and THE PUBLIC about his knowledge of and the nature of the 34A operations, which surely would have been perceived as the actual cause for the 2 August attack on the Maddox and the apparent attack on the 4th.
“On 6 August, when called before a joint session of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees to testify about the incident, McNamara eluded the questioning of Senator Wayne Morse (D-OR) when he asked specifically whether the 34A operations may have provoked the North Vietnamese response.
“McNamara instead declared that “our Navy played absolutely no part in, was not associated with, was not aware of, any South Vietnamese actions, if there were any.”
“Later that day, Secretary McNamara LIED when he denied knowledge of the provocative 34A patrols at a Pentagon news conference.”
When asked by a reporter if he knew of any confrontations between the South and North Vietnamese navies, he responded:
“No, none that I know of. . . . [T]hey operate on their own. They are part of the South Vietnamese Navy . . . operating in the coastal waters, inspecting suspicious incoming junks, seeking to deter and prevent the infiltration of both men and material.”
Another reporter pressed the issue, “Do these [patrol boats] go north, into North Vietnamese waters?”
McNamara again eluded the question, “They have advanced closer and closer to the 17th parallel, and in some cases, I think they have moved beyond that in an effort to stop the infiltration closer to the point of origin.”26
In reality, McNamara knew full well that the 34A attacks had probably provoked the 2 August attacks on the Maddox.
On an audio tape from the Johnson Library declassified in December 2005, he admitted to the President the morning after the attacks that the two events were almost certainly connected:
“And I think I should also, or we should also at that time, Mr. President, explain this OPLAN 34-A, these covert operations. There’s no question but what that had bearing on it.
On Friday night, as you probably know, we had four TP [sic] boats from [South] Vietnam, manned by [South] Vietnamese or other nationals, attack two islands, and we expended, oh, 1,000 rounds of ammunition of one kind or another against them.
We probably shot up a radar station and a few other miscellaneous buildings. And following 24 hours after that with this destroyer in the same area undoubtedly led them to connect the two events. . . .”
Intelligence officials realized the obvious. When President Johnson asked during a 4 August meeting of the National Security Council, “Do they want a war by attacking our ships in the middle of the Gulf of Tonkin?”
CIA Director John McCone answered matter-of-factly, “No, the North Vietnamese are reacting defensively to our attacks on their offshore islands . . . the attack is a signal to us that the North Vietnamese have the will and determination to continue the war.”
Johnson himself apparently had his own doubts about what happened in the Gulf on 4 August. A few days after the Tonkin Gulf Resolution was passed, he commented, “Hell, those damn, stupid sailors were just shooting at flying fish.”
“During comments to reporters on 6 August, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara LIED when he denied knowledge of the nature of the provocative OPLAN 34A raids, which were organized and overseen by his department.
Three days earlier he had told the President that some of the raids had led to the 2 August attack on the Maddox”
…
The Tonkin Gulf Resolution, essentially unchallenged by a Congress that believed it was an appropriate response to unprovoked, aggressive, and deliberate attacks on U.S. vessels on the high seas, would open the floodgates for direct American military involvement in Vietnam.
McNamara’s intentional distortion of events prevented Congress from providing the civilian oversight of military matters so fundamental to the congressional charter.
Some historians do not let the Johnson administration off so easily. Army Colonel H. R. McMaster, author of the highly acclaimed 1997 book Dereliction of Duty, accused Johnson and McNamara of outright deception:
“To enhance his chances for election, [Johnson] and McNamara deceived the American people and Congress about events and the nature of the American commitment in Vietnam.”
“They used a questionable report of a North Vietnamese attack on American naval vessels to justify the president’s policy to the electorate and to defuse Republican senator and presidential candidate Barry Goldwater’s charges that Lyndon Johnson was irresolute and “soft” in the foreign policy arena.
“For his part, McNamara never admitted his mistakes.
In his award-winning 2003 video memoirs Fog of War, he remained unapologetic and even bragged of his ability to DECEIVE:
“I learned early on never answer the question that is asked of you. Answer the question that you wish had been asked of you. And quite frankly, I follow that rule. It’s a very good rule.”
We may never know the whole truth behind the Tonkin events and the motivations of those involved. However, it is important to put what we do know into context.
The administration’s zeal for aggressive action, motivated by President Johnson’s election worries, created an atmosphere of recklessness and overenthusiasm in which it became easy to draw conclusions based on scanty evidence and to overlook normally prudent precautionary measures.
Without the full picture, Congress could not offer the checks and balances it was designed to provide.
Subsequently, the White House carried the nation into the longest and one of the most costly conflicts in our nation’s history.”
T vs P –
I agree with you that McNamara was an evil arsehole. He was a beancounter, and perhaps in peacetime may have been a mediocre SecDef. But during that war all of his policies were a disaster.
We seem to agree on the first attack on an American naval vessel on the 2nd of August. I fail to understand why you and others insist that America’s involvement started with the “questionable report” of 4 August.
Yeah, sure.
Carry on from my March 25, 2024 at 5:55 pm .
On reflection (intense reflection), Nord Stream is also Isis-K. First of all, it’s true because nobody’s said so until now. Incidentally, the Swedish and Danish courts abandoned their respective investigations because they couldn’t point the finger. Understandably, they don’t want Isis-K assassinations on their territory.
False flag? Never.
My motto in all this is: ‘When the line is crossed, there’s no end in sight’.
TTG – a story that the Russians interrogated the perpetrators, learned they had been trained in a secret camp in Turkey and icontacted the Turkish authorities. The Turkish authorities immediately rounded up all at the camp.
Is this true or have I fallen for speculation?
EO,
Don’t know. Haven’t heard that. May be the same kind of story as the one where one of the terrorists was a recent Ukrainian soldier.
Dude gets around. He was also a CIA stooge at some CIA/SF installation in Afghanistan, according to some lunatic with a substack, but hey, it’s on the internet. So it must be true.
Something of an aside, CIA MK ULTRA must have been an extremely effective program. Islamic extremists from Bin Laden to ISIS have no agency or will of their own at all. Under the CIA’s spell they, like zombies, albeit quicker in action, if not wit, do whatever the shadowy side of the evil colonizer government wants them to do via mind control techniques.
EO & TTG –
According to Turkish media, two of the attackers “visited Türkiye briefly to renew their residency permits in Russia.” Rajabalizoda came to Istanbul from Russia on Jan. 5, 2024, and left two months later. Fariduni flew from Russia and spent 11 days in Istanbul in late February – early March.
https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/war-on-terror/turkiye-questions-why-anti-us-daesh-hit-it-russia-iran
Leith,
Yes, I read that too.
So now Turkey is on the Russian/Ukrainian/ CIA/MI6 conspiracy of the fake concert attack, lol. As more evidence comes in, the conspiracy will grow to ever larger dimensions (for those who are challenged to accept the reality that crazy jihadis do evil things).
Eric: “So now Turkey is on the Russian/Ukrainian/ CIA/MI6 conspiracy of the fake concert attack, lol”
Laughable indeed, Eric. Who other than your straw man is claiming that the concert attack was “fake”?
Looks very, very real to me.
The question isn’t whether the concert was attacked (it was) nor whether anyone was killed (they were).
The question revolves around the motivation of those who carried out that attack, and the motivation of those who organized that attack.
I know, I know, to even think that is to be a “conspiracy theorist”.
But here’s the thing: if it was planned by and financed by anyone other than an “ISIS-affiliated” group then, by definition, there is a conspiracy.
Not a “conspiracy theory”, but a “conspiracy”.
That you cannot conceive of the notion that someone else could conspire to perpetrate an attack of this nature to be conveniently blamed on “ISIS-affiliates” is, again, an almost touching display of naivety.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed because a ship hit it. Who was piloting the ship – ISIS , China, Russia or Ukraine? Who did I leave off the suspect list? Homegrown terrorists or stupidity?
https://twitter.com/kf18616835/status/1772566837571539264
Technical problem? Hijack? the above video is fake?
LeaNder,
Everything points towards a technical problem aboard the ship that caused it to lose steerage. A harbor pilot was on the bridge of the ship. fortunately the ship issued a mayday and the controllers of the key bridge were able to stop all traffic preventing a lot of casualties.
It’s damn good thing that didn’t happen during rush hour, is all I can say.
It sucks, but sometimes stuff like this happens and then you just mitigate the damage as much as you can.
A fairly detailed look at what preceded this disaster is in this six-minute video:
https://youtu.be/qZbUXewlQDk
An expanded version showing both the track of the Dali through the shipping channel AND the awful video of it nearing the bridge is here:
https://youtu.be/N39w6aQFKSQ
The narrator gives some excellent information on what is going on, like pointing out the power failure on the ship.
Also, the comments to both videos seem to be from very knowledgeable people.
Definitely several steps up from TV news.
A further thought on attribution to ISIS – or at least whoever runs ‘Amaq News Agency’. Sorry it is a long one:-
Yesterday at the end of the previous thread I posed the question as to why the perps’ faces where blurred out in both the selfie with the black ISIS flag and the body cam footage. I’ve thought more about it since and think I have a plausible explanation: I suspect the flag selfie if a fake and the 4 pictured may not even be the perps. Look at their T-shirts. We see a tan, green and gray shirt (the other guy has a long-sleeved top on). The OSINT crowd on Twitter were very quick to point out the color matches to 3 of the captured guys. But the shirts actually don’t match.
– Tan shirt on one-eared captured guy has a logo on it, not present in the selfie.
– Similarly green shirt captured guy’s T-shirt also has a logo. But not in the selfie.
– And gray T-shirt on captured guy has a pattern on it not seen on the gray shirt in the selfie.
So they just changed the shirts before committing the act right? Given the large coincidence of the shirt color similarity, the immediacy with which this was noticed and pointed out and the inexplicably blurred faces, I smell a rat. Note also the hats and neck wear conveniently cover the lower face so we can’t match hair or beard style too. I’d suggest a different explanation: Someone set the flag selfie up with 4 guys with similar looking shirts after the event so as to claim ISIS attribution. The selfie was released after the event and shortly before the body cam footage was released. When the selfie came out many were skeptical it was our guys – until the body cam footage came out. In this you can clearly identify the tan shirt logo (body cam footage at 21 seconds) matching tan shirt captured guy – i.e. this is some evidence the Tajiks are the culripts.
My working theory of what happened is this: body cam footage was uploaded to part(y)ies so far unknown. This made its way to ‘Amaq News Agency’. They then added their logo, captioning, blurred the faces and for some reason altered the voice audio too. They then got 4 randoms in lookalike shirts to pose in front of an ISIS flag, blurred their faces too and added their logo etc. They released the flag selfie first because it was easier to persuade folks it’s genuine if they released the (genuine) body cam footage afterwards. Clever.
I’ll be very happy to have all this shot down if the unaltered flag selfie if released showing our guys. But currently this is my best explanation for why the faces needed to be blurred (it is much less suspicious if faces are blurred in both the selfie and the body cam footage) and why the shirts so nearly match, but don’t.
Do ISIS-K have a motive to attack Russia? Sure, join the queue. But I remain to be convinced the Amaq News Agency and ‘ISIS’ had any prior access to/knowledge of the perps’ actions. Where do I go to for their comment on this? OK I’ll try and shut up now.
Barbara Ann,
I’ve copy pasted this translation of the statement of FSB Director Bortnikov from Telegram today. He is more definite than Putin was about who the “customers” of the attack are. It was posted by Elena Panina at 8:49 AM Eastern time. There’s a brief video of him speaking at the link for those who are fluent in Russian.
https://t.me/EvPanina/13272
FSB of Russia: The USA, Britain and Ukraine are behind the terrorist attack in Crocus City
The director of the FSB of the Russian Federation reported what logically followed from the entire outline of events before, during and after the massacre at Crocus City Hall.
▪️ The terrorist attack, which was prepared by Islamist radicals, was facilitated by the Ukrainian special services. Kyiv trained militants in the Middle East, and after the terrorist attack, the perpetrators, as is known, were planning to flee to Ukraine.
“I’ll tell you a secret: on the other side they wanted to greet them as heroes,” noted Alexander Bortnikov.
Work is now underway to identify all those involved in the terrorist attack, especially those who ordered it. But we can already say that the USA, Britain and Ukraine are behind the terrorist attack , the FSB director noted.
The SBU needs to be recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia , Bortnikov emphasized. Also a legitimate target for a strike is “the head of the GUR Budanov – like everyone who commits crimes against Russia.” When asked why they were still alive, the FSB director replied: “Everything is ahead.”
▪️ This is the most important point. For the first time, those behind the terrorist attack in Crocus City were officially named. The SBU and GUR are fully characterized. And the status of their leadership is also clearly indicated – this is a target for Russia.
Serves it right. The persons listed by Bortnikov, personifying their organizations, which have been attacking Russia and its citizens for years, have long since settled into existence. “Crocus City” has clearly become a line beyond which it is no longer possible to harness for long.
The FSB director also commented on the “Warnings from the USA”: although the information was of a general nature, the Russian intelligence services responded to it. The terrorist threat in the Russian Federation remains, Bortnikov added.
The figures are arranged. Let’s see how the game goes now.
But I remain to be convinced the Amaq News Agency and ‘ISIS’ had any prior access to/knowledge of the perps’ actions. Where do I go to for their comment on this? OK I’ll try and shut up now.
I actually like that. Good luck! 😉
https://awfulavalanche.wordpress.com
Yalensis translates an op-ed by Maria Zakharova. To be continued. The US is forcing the Ukrainian hand. Compare the interview with the Iranian prof in the Al-Jazeera article, as Israel and/or the US did in Karbala?
Maria Zakharova: American political engineers painted themselves into a corner [literally: cornered themselves in a trap] with their fairy tales claiming that the Crocus City Hall terrorist act was committed by ISIL* (an organization which is banned in Russia). Why are they doing this? It’s clear why. They have no other way out [of their predicament].
So evil geniuses cooked up a fake attack and even Putin agrees it was ISIS, but these same geniuses, like grade B movie directors, fail to maintain costume consistency among the actors? Really?
Or maybe people change shirts and maybe they have more than one shirt in their favorite color. Maybe where they live there isn’t a wide variety of colors and styles available for what they can afford. Maybe people put on work clothes and don’t like blood splatter all over their cloths? Maybe conspiracy theorists themselves sometimes photoshop to promote their “theories”?
Eric Newhill
More straw man chaff. Attribution requires evidence, unrecognizable individuals in front of a flag ain’t that. Show me the Tajiks’ faces in the flag photo and I’ll be happy to accept it is them in the picture.
Barbara Ann,
You should be careful to not mistake media indiscretions for evidence of conspiracy.
Bit bull attacks man. Man dies. Media tells story with stock pit bull photo. Conspiracy theorist notes that witnesses say the killer dog was a brindle, but the media photo was a piebald brown and white.
The man still died due to being attacked by a pit bull. There’s a dead guy with dog bites on his corpse and lots of witnesses that saw that dead guy being mauled by a pit bull when he was still alive. Bad on the media for their laziness and bad on conspiracy theorists for getting carried away with obsessive and unrealistic expectations. Not saying that’s what is specifically going on with the photos that concern you, but it is typical of what often happens in conspiracy theory development. I don’t know about those specific photos and neither do you. You’re leaping to conclusions, on flimsy clues, that go far beyond the preponderance of the evidence at this time.
So you are telling us that no one died at the Crocus? Hundreds of people are lying and in on the conspiracy? No one is willing to sell “the truth” for a decent amount of money to some media outlet? Lots of fake tears?
Just like 9/11 conspiracy BS. It’s an insult to the thousand who died, especially those on the airplanes. They are happily enjoying themselves on a beach in the Caribbean under fake identities? Their families either think they are dead or are in on the whole thing? Nothing but a bunch of psychopaths scamming the entire world? Amazingly keeping quiet about it too? Not one single leak? Yeah sure.
Nope, you and your fellow conspiracy advocates are the ones throwing out chaff. It’s all could have been this, could have been that, fast and loose with facts, scatter shot approach, see what sticks nonsense.
OK, I can’t stay quiet on this. In order of depth down the rabbit hole (feel free to start at the bottom and work back):-
Some odd behavior among the victims: https://edwardslavsquat.substack.com/p/a-very-curious-crocus-video
The whole thing may have been staged and blanks were used: https://swprs.org/the-moscow-concert-hall-attack-may-have-been-a-staged-event
The whole thing was staged and the Men in Blue (FSB) coordinated their action to close the doors: https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1772292883560694064
TTG, the massive sparking from the rifle fire in the body cam footage struck me as very odd before. Are these sparks caused by blanks?
Barbara Ann,
Oh wow. This is like 9/11 “truther” stuff; e.g. “I don’t understand how an airplane can make a hole like that in the Pentagon. Therefore it was a missile” (despite hundreds of witnesses that saw an airplane, the airplane parts inside and outside the Pentagon and photos available publicly of some of that, the shreds of dead passengers who have never been seen or heard from again other than the little shreds, and the supposedly incompetent federal govt being able to pull off a massive conspiracy). Or, if you prefer, Alex Jones saying that the dead children and grieving parents at Sandy Hook were crisis actors and no one really died.
I saw the video where there are sparks when the AK is being fired. Those rifles are AK 74s in 5.45 x 39mm caliber. The round they fire has a steel core. The rounds that are causing sparks are hitting the steel in an elevator (maybe after going through a person or people that we can’t see due to camera angle). Steel core bullet meets steel doors and steel elevator walls at 3,000 feet per second. Yeah, it’s gonna spark.
As for how people are acting, people do weird things under stress. One of those weird things is to deny that they are in great danger. Their minds just can’t process what is going on around them and they either freeze or convince themselves that it’s not what it appears to be. A handful of people in the building seem to be suffering from that syndrome. Notice that most are not.
Also, shorter barreled rifles do throw sparks and fire balls due to unburned powder. Here are some examples. The muzzle break on the AK 74 breaks the fire ball up so that parts of it fly off at different angles, just like in the Crocus footage. Catching the sparks/fireball depends on camera angle and timing. I note that the conspiracy theorists don’t mention all the footage of the terrorists shooting where the “sparks” cannot be seen – and there is plenty of footage like that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bptuHfZ19M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjNi61wRPVM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZmR8U1wqTU
Eric Newhill
Thanks for the videos. Muzzle flash and some sparks I’ve seen before but nothing like in that body cam footage with crazy sparking all over the place, hence the question to TTG.
Barbara Ann,
I haven’t viewed the videos and am not familiar with the crazy sparking you saw. I do know that even copper jacketed .45 and 7.62 lead bullets can spark off of metal plate targets. Erik Newhill’s explanation of the steel core Russian rounds makes perfect sense to me.
TTG
Thanks. The crazy sparking is from the breech, not ricochets. I’ve subsequently read this can be due to dirt in or damage to the barrel or breech – i.e. poor weapons storage or care.
Barbara Ann,
Sounds like muzzle flash, a common occurrence especially with a short barreled weapon firing intermediate or full sized cartridges. Weapons storage or care have little if anything to do with it.
Barbara Ann,
Here is a vid of an actual AK 74’s muzzle flash.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LotU0qjZQY
Now imagine a different camera angle, different lighting and different camera speed. It should seem reasonable that you could see the kind of “sparks” that are concerning to you. That AK 74 muzzle break design throws the flash out at crazy angles.
Again, there is also ample footage of the Crocus shooters firing away without the “sparks”. The difference is perspective – lighting, camera angle and timing. You don’t seriously think that sometimes they used blanks and sometimes live rounds do you?
Here are some 5.45mm rounds hitting steel and throwing a shower of sparks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACfBBqwzCtg
Barbara,
1) The links you posted were are run by guys who also posted that the BOSTON MARARTHON bombings & 9/11 were ALSO STAGED FALSE FLAGS too with CRISIS ACTORS
if
you explore their site & links –
– that really lowers their credibility –like Eric noted, the links are ‘they are all crisis actors just like the Newton school shootings in USA’
—
One of my friends served in Iraq 2003-2008 in US Army Special Forces & later military intelligence & NSA & he said the 1st time he was in combat & a AK-47 round whizzed by him, he actually FROZE before he moved because
The strange behavior:
2) also note that actual genetic biological instinct in mammals is NOT just the ‘FIGHT or FLIGHT’ reflex but the ‘Fight or Flight or FREEZE” reflex (‘deer in headlights’) — ‘freezing’ allows an animal to hide or avoid notice by a moving predator & bypass the still mammal
&
some snakes will often bite a mammal that makes a sudden move (which is why most mammals evolved to instinctively ‘freeze’ & be silent if you a ‘hissing’ or ‘shhhh’ sound like a hissing or moving snake
3) Interviews with the hundreds of survivors, both women, children, men –all stated that they thought the gunshots were firecrackers or fireworks or car backfiring at first,
..only when they heard screaming later that they realized it was actual gunshots
——————
1) Nexta is a YouTube/Telegram channel headquartered in Warsaw, Poland & started by a 17-yr old who is anti-Lushenko, anti-Putin living in exile in Poland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nexta
2) Someone saying ‘shut the door’ is because they only heard gunshots & did not realize the gunmen were in the audience hall yet –that is the natural response & what even standard
US emergency response is:
—
shut all doors to your rooms if you hear gunshots in your schools, business, hospitals, etc to prevent gunmen from coming inside
3) Blue jeans & blue shirts are the most common color jeans & shirts sold in Russia -and worldwide actually – and most sold color suits are blue/navy & black in Europe & Asia –few wear khaki or beige —
— according to multiple marketing studies & sales data in my MBA marketing classes, blue is the favorite color of most people & color most sold besides the required white shirt in most work dress codes or white t-shirt –
sweatshirts are considered cool & common in Russia, especially in blue, gray, etc …
also, blue, black, & gray shirts, pants, & shoes are also the most sold colors in Europe & Asia
You can also point out multiple women in the videos wearing yellow also –are they FSB also? And the multiple women also wearing pink?
Pink, yellow, red, orange are most sold colors for females in Europe & Asia
What about the multiple people wearing black? What about the multiple people wearing white socks?
If you have thousands of people in a concert hall, by coincidence, you WILL have multiples of them wearing the same color just by random chance, especially blue, black, gray
which are the top selling colors in those countries & worldwide
Nuland did tell Ukraine Russia was going to have some “nasty surprises”. I believe however this was before she got passed over for promotion meaning she also got a nasty surprise herself so touche’.
Who would even go to a mass crowded event while at war with a neighbor? I stopped going to crowded events when the CIA unleashed BLM and antifa in the US. Haven’t gone to any events since.
Crocus. The fear and suspicion felt by the average Russian that Budanov was somehow involved in the Crocus killings has been attributed to Russian propaganda. I read in the English media of the sinister Putin dropping dark and entirely unwarranted hints that the Ukrainians were involved.
Me, I don’t reckon Putin’s “sinister”. Finicky and legalistic, OK, like Lavrov used to be. Very much a details man. The greatest statesman of the 21st century as well, true. That gets my approval since I’ve an aversion to mushroom clouds – though that could be just me doing the eco-freak thing – but sinister? And is the fear that Budanov might have been in on the killings just creepy Russian paranoia?
I spent a little time looking at our media yesterday. It was like having to wade through a sewer. “We have always been at war with Eastasia”, we chant dutifully in England, and the function of our media is to ensure we stay on track.
The English media therefore spends a whole lot of time implanting in us the notion that Putin’s sinister. And that Putin is saying creepy stuff about that true and fearless Freedom Fighter, Budanov. Budanov of the Black Sun crowd, though the media’s gone quiet on that crowd since 2022. That’s the media’s function as well. Cramming the Black Sun crowd down the memory hole.
It’s someone else’s function – don’t know whose – to ensure we don’t always find it easy to get the other side of the story. This site is unavailable in England, seems, or at least for me. But Google gives us the gist of it in this fragment. Put out a few hours ago:-
“Ukrainian Security Services admits involvement in terrorist …”
X · SputnikInt
60+ likes · 5 hours ago
… (SBU), Vasyl Malyuk, has admitted the involvement of his department in the murders and assassination attempts on a number of Ukrainian and
A well known youtuber expands on the fragment. At around 8.44:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuZDnyimCus&t=524s
But do our journalists assume we are all amnesiacs? That’s not news! It’s been tumbling out for months! A brief selection:-
Washington Post.
“Ukrainian spies with deep ties to CIA wage shadow war against Russia”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/23/ukraine-cia-shadow-war-russia/
The Economist:–
“Inside Ukraine’s assassination programme
Its agents have become expert in dark revenge. But some worry a clear strategy is absent”
https://www.economist.com/europe/2023/09/05/inside-ukraines-assassination-programme
The Times.
“Ties fray between Ukraine and western spy agencies”
“US and UK security services fear Kyiv’s lack of transparency about its plans. Its strategy of launching attacks inside Russia could play into Putin’s hands”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ties-fray-between-ukraine-and-western-spy-agencies-bhwfvmr2j
Nehanda Radio:-
“Ukraine’s SBU claims killing of ‘traitor’ former MP Illya Kyva in Russia”
https://nehandaradio.com/2023/12/06/ukraines-sbu-claims-killing-of-traitor-former-mp-illya-kyva-in-russia/
The BBC.
Ukraine claims killing of ‘traitor’ ex-MP Illya Kyva in Russia
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67641500
Tass. Caution. This one from an enemy site. We’re still allowed to read it though, and the Kremlin site also. Just as well. The Russians are close-mouthed bastards and not always above a little information warfare of their own, I find; but if you want to find out what’s happening over in Ukraine the little they put out officially is about as near to reality as you’ll get:-
“DONETSK, September 15. /TASS/. Law enforcers of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) have found out that the assassination of DPR leader Alexander Zakharchenko was prepared by officers of Ukraine’s Security Service (known as the SBU) with participation of western special services, DPR acting head Denis Pushilin said on Saturday.”
https://tass.com/world/1021753
In parenthesis, pity about that one. Zakharchenko was reckoned to be instrumental in pulling DNR top level politics out of the corrupt shambles it had become. A lot of people respected him. He didn’t like the Black Sun crowd. A lot of people in the LDNR were funny like that.
Back to the sewer. Here’s the pride of the sewer rats, Galleotti, back again, The Spectator:-
“Why has Ukraine admitted that it assassinates people in Russia?”
Then, though, Budanov told western journalists that ‘we’ve been killing Russians and we will keep killing Russians anywhere on the face of this world until the complete victory of Ukraine.’
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-has-ukraine-admitted-that-it-assassinates-people-in-russia/
……………………………..
“… we will keep killing Russians anywhere on the face of this world until the complete victory of Ukraine.” If the English media itself, others confirming, has been telling us loudly and often that the Ukrainians run agents into Russia for the express purpose of killing Russians, is it “sinister” for the average Russian to wonder whether Budanov has somehow been involved in the latest such incident? Or for Putin to state that the Tajiks were heading for the western border?
That’s the last border you’d want to head for. It’s a war zone. Eyes all over the place. Your chances of getting shot by the soldiers on either side of the border high. They should have merged with their fellow countrymen and got out over the easier border to the east. It’s permissible for anyone to wonder why they didn’t. Why do the sewer rats not wonder about that as well?
Thanks, EO. And others below expressing the same reasoned doubts ( Walrus especially)
That sounds convincing.
Pro-Russian activists have been murdered by the SBU, pen or Kalashnikov in hand.
Ukrainian attacks on the northern border did kill civilians, but in small numbers. They were too close to Ukraine and far from [-God-] Moscow.
Crocus is apparently a different matter. Civilians with no connection to the ongoing war were targeted. But this rise to extremes fits in well with the inflammatory statements of the heads of the security services and others, including Nuland.
If we compare these facts with other peripheral ones, it seems to me that the case is clear: Crocus is a false-flag terrorist operation. With inevitable breaks between the executors and the final order giver.
/*************/
‘peripheral’:
I’m referring in particular to the site of the Ukr embassy in Tajikistan. It recruits local fighters for a legion of foreigners. Even better: the ambassador is a former member of the Ukr Services. The hiring page has been deleted.
Another, less well known: Macer Gifford. UK man. He fought bravely on the side of the Kurds. Back when Twitter was available without registration, I followed him regularly. Then he turned pro-Ukrainian (nobody’s perfect…). In one of his Ukrainian tweets, he expresses surprise and disapproval of a Daesh leader coming to Ukr to scout out other moderate ex-head-choppers.
Going to extremes – in this case, murdering uninvolved civilians – is an old technique employed by the weak, weak but resolute. Just think of the Ashidin sect, the Viets in Indochina or the FLN in Algeria. To say “asymmetrical warfare” is ridiculous. Any war becomes unbalanced when one side loses and employs other, unrecognized means.
I was pleased to see you quote Zakarchenko and his unyielding commitment to fighting corruption. Other murdered stars include ‘Givi’ and ‘Motorola’ in Donestk and another charismatic regimental commander in Lugansk. I’ve forgotten his name, but not his memory, including his fight for children and against corruption.
There was Mozgovoi too.
It’s not so bad to die in May
It’s easy to dig the grave
Nightingales will sing
For the last time –
incomparable
I remember him not so much for that but for just one sentence. “If they knew who the real enemy was the fighting would stop tomorrow.”
The original article produced by Al Jazeera is worthless propaganda – look at the authorities the article quotes, none of them are credible because none are independent.:
1. Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Washington-based Wilson Center .
2. Amira Jadoon, assistant professor at Clemson University in South Carolina and co-author of, The Islamic State in Afghanistan and Pakistan: Strategic Alliances and Rivalries.
Her university bio: “Amira Jadoon is an assistant professor in the department of Political Science at Clemson University. Prior to joining Clemson, she worked at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, jointly appointed in the department of Social Sciences and the Combating Terrorism Center (2017-2022).”
3. Kabir Taneja, a fellow at the Strategic Studies Programme of the Observer Research Foundation – a think tank based in New Delhi, India.
walrus,
I can’t follow your reasoning for discounting the article and the cited sources beyond you not liking the content. Surely you don’t accept Simonyan, Macgregor or Ritter as reliable or credible sources.
Well, there’s Larry Johnson, too, going full Simonyan on the story.
These guys write what RT/Kremlin pays them to write.
walrus,
affiliation of these young authors does not mean they have no integrity, quite to the contrary. Even this being published in Jazeera does not detract from the fact that Amira Jadoon wrote together with Andrew Mines the book on Khorasan Province (released last spring, worth a read). They’re a few accounts out there to rival hers, she is one of the few researchers who can read the Urdu announcement in the original.
And due to their affiliation to specific American institutions they got access to material few researcher ever see, thanks to the 75th Ranger Rgt. (most of it they could not quote – but it informed the book).
One thing the Colonel always emphasised was that you need to understand how the others think. That requires learning the language, understand references and patterns of speech.
Kugelman, Jadoon & Taneja are young academics who pack the skills and have devoted their time to study the problem. If that book is too long, I recommend this account written by an Afghan who worked with us: https://twitter.com/AGTAfghanistan/status/1772700575676658123
With all best regards to someone who is interested in Sicily and Fredericks.
Hi, TTG
Article from US-funded RadioFreeLibertyEurope interviewing the people in the village who knew the terrorists said they were not religious, who never said prayers nor fasted, drank alcohol, etc and 1 was a convicted sex offender — https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-attack-tajikistan-suspects-relatives-families-hometowns/32878446.html
P.S. Sorry, I didn’t realize that the transcript copy/paste from Judge Napalito’s interview with British MI6 agent/diplomat removed the line breaks/formatting
so
for easier readability, here is the transcript & link with hopefully the line breaks included after posting
(British MI6 agent/diplomat Alastair Crooke’s s interview with FoxNew’s Judge Napolitano:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uy6KVHRB30&t=832s:
To better find the truth, here’s an expert that Colonel Lang has cited/referenced many times in his posts https://turcopolier.com/?s=alastair
Alastair Crooke, who is retired British MI6 agent & diplomat to Middle East/Saudi Araba with DECADES of experience working as a MI6 agent boots-on-the-ground in Saudi Arabia & Middle East with jihadists during the
1980s MI6/CIA funding/arming & training jihadists to fight the Soviets/Russians in Afghan
and
expert on ISIS & jihadist movements (must read on ISIS, Al Qeda, Taliban & their Wahhabist origins in Saudi Arabia https://www.huffpost.com/entry/isis-aim-saudi-arabia_b_5748744 ) –
– Alastair was the whistleblower in 1980s that warned US gov that some of the jihadist Islamist groups were too dangerous in Afghan, out of control and that some would be in our cities, but he was told to ‘forget it’ because “the jihadists were good at hurting the Russians” (nothing has changed since the 1980s)
Alastair’s interview with FoxNew’s Judge Napolitano:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uy6KVHRB30&t=832s
Transcript:
“you know someone was saying you know maybe this is getting out of control and
you know something bad might happen and something bad it looks as if it has happened
and
that’s why we see such panic in America and Europe I mean they are not doubling down on the Isis case story
.. I mean they’re absolutely going flat out on the Isis K story and I can tell you these people were not jihadists because I’ve looked at the uh the videos …..
and I I I know what uh these jihadists are like…
I’ve actually you know I’ve worked being with jihadist so I know…
….. first of all you know jihadists generally go on shooting until they’re killed …..
they are Martyrs …
they want to be martyrs …
they don’t plan an exit and grab a car and head off down south …
I mean that’s very much unlike it um ….
secondly you know this is Ramadan and they don’t usually do this during a holy month start killing civilians like like this ….
anyway it’s fairly clear these people did it for money ….
they were recruited first of all in Tajikistan…..
incidentally there’s a a major not only a US Embassy in Tajikistan …..
but there’s a Ukrainian Embassy …. there um and the Ambassador is the former head of Ukrainian intelligence uh in Kiev …..
now I’m not suggesting anything because we don’t know at this stage ….
uh but I would say um it’s highly unlikely these were jihadists ….
they didn’t act as jihadists they didn’t operate in that way ….
um clearly the whole attack was pre uh planned was organized the weapons were put in and apparently all of this was done by telegram Channel ….
it wasn’t done directly there wasn’t any direct interaction between um the the actual perpetrators and the people who were behind the scenes providing the weapons and and other parts …
and then they headed off and the Russians let them go I mean it was I mean bizarrely badly organized in in respects ….
I mean you know they arrived in a white um ma car with a black roof which is quite rare I’m told in Moscow …
and then they arrived in that with their weapons and started shooting wildly and then they tried to escape in the same car …
well of course I mean you know a white car with a black roof and the Renault Sigma was quite obvious ,,,,
and the Russians just followed it ……
they wanted to see where it was going ….. who they might be contacting who they might meet …..
and then finally when it was quite clear that were heading through through Bryansk down to Ukraine …..
at that time they stopped the car in a forest
because
they didn’t want these people getting out and taking hostages or shooting civilians …..
um in the process so they stopped it in a forest and then one of them was detained then ….
and the others ran into the forest where they were subsequently caught alive ….
I think they’ already dumped their weapons uh by that spot by that point so a very um badly executed …
but obviously carefully planned pre-plan uh operation say can you draw a line between uh the statements … ”
====
P.S. Note that Ukrainian Embassy in Tajik had advertisment on it’s website hiring/recruiting Tajiks to go fight Russia & join Ukraine’s Foreign Legion or work for Ukraine –as Alaistair Crooke noted,
the Ukrainian Ambassador to Tajik was UKraine’s former head of UKrainian intelligence
also note there is video of one of the shooters walking down the sidewalk holding an assault rifle after the shooting and getting into the white Renault as well as traffic/security camera footage of their faces in the car
and news media reports that some of them were making phone calls from their cell phones into Ukraine while driving and that their phones & call logs have been de-encrypted
Note that just like NSA, all phone calls/electronic communications (metadata & full) is monitored & tracked via cell towers; that Telegram was banned in Russia until a few years ago when it agreed to give backdoor access to the government for terrorism/criminal cases)
Also note that if they were real jihadists, they would never use their left hand to swear on the Quran as seen in their videos..
in Muslim/Middle Eastern cultures where water & toilet paper was or is scarce, the left hand is traditionally seen as ‘unclean’ because it used to wipe your butt and do other dirty tasks
while the right hand is reserved to handle food; sacred items -the left hand is never used to touch sacred items like the Quran
Alastair’s interview with FoxNew’s Judge Napolitano:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uy6KVHRB30&t=832s
This link points me to a video of a far right dude talking nonsense :))
TonyL,
British MI6 agent & diplomat Alastair Crooke is a moderate/centrist & regular columnist for center-left British newspaper The Guardian who as MI6 agent stationed in Pakistan worked with
CIA to arm, fund, train jihadists to fight the Soviet Union
&
also warned US gov that some of the jihadists were ‘out of control’ & would turn up in our cities”
&
he has a successful track record as MI6 behind-the-scenes chief negotiator between Israel, Arafat, & Hamas during his decades long career
–his bios https://powerbase.info/index.php/Alastair_Crooke
&
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alastair_Crooke:
“Crooke later worked for nearly 30 years in the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6)[8]
under diplomatic cover in Northern Ireland, South Africa, Colombia, Pakistan and the Middle East.
His early work included helping provide weapons to jihadists fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan and assisting in the Northern Ireland peace process.[6][9]
In 1997, he became a security adviser to the EU special envoy to the Middle East, and operating out of the British Embassy in Tel Aviv was involved in British attempts to draw Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian groups into the political process.[10]
He was involved in negotiations to end the Israeli army’s siege of Yasser Arafat’s compound in Ramallah and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. He assisted the negotiation of several local truces between the Israelis and Palestinians during the early 2000s. Crooke had good contacts with the Israeli military and intelligence services.[10]
He was a member of the Mitchell Committee into the causes of the Second Intifada in 2000.[3][11]
In 2001, British ambassador to Israel Francis Cornish described him as “a person who worked with the security apparatuses of both sides. He went into action after they stopped trusting each other and developed a special skill to persuade them of the logic of things and to bridge the lack of confidence between them.” He had a central role in establishing a Hamas ceasefire in 2002.[10]
His MI6 background was exposed by an Israeli newspaper in 2002.[9]
In September 2003, he was instructed to leave the Middle East, against his wishes, because of “personal security reasons” with a British embassy spokesman saying “We do think he’s done a really difficult job in difficult conditions and has been outstanding at doing it.”[10]
===
If you mean Judge Napalitano from Fox News/Fox Business –
-he’s a Ron Paul civil Libertarian supporter that is against US military wars overseas unless the US is directly attacked & he has criticized/condemned W. Bush, Trump, Obama, etc for NSA warrantless monitoring, torture, etc
TruthVsPropaganda,
Indeed, I agreed with what you said above about Alastair Crooke and Napalitano.
My point is Youtube videos nowadays are gamed by the alt-right. The first thing people see when they view video like this is some far right propaganda right up front, and then the real content.
TonyL
I’m intrigued by what you mean by “YouTube videos nowadays are gamed by the alt-right”. If this is YT’s algorithm at work promoting ‘associated content’ or ads it is that algorithm doing the gaming, not the alt-right. I do not see anything before the video I am looking for on YT, are you perhaps talking about ads/content pushed at you in YT’s smart phone app? If so I’d recommend switching to a laptop browser with an ad blocker.
TruthVsPropaganda
“I can tell you these people were not jihadists because I’ve looked at the uh the videos…” I can easily believe that the four are not hardened jihadists. But having made the point (with some good supporting detail) Mr. Crooke has just acknowledged that they are not the people to whom his expertise applies. Unless he has some other useful categorization of them, he should refrain from speculating about their motives.
“anyway it’s fairly clear these people did it for money.” No. It seems likely that they did it for some reason other than ISIS jihad. Since you only claim to know who they were not, you can’t identify a motive. Again, I don’t doubt that there was some money promised, but a promised payoff does not by itself motivate anyone to go on a suicide mission. There had to be other powerful emotions involved.
“clearly the whole attack was pre uh planned” OK, but just as clearly the escape was not. In the absence of any notable benefit for anyone from the escape saga, I have to think that it came as a surprise to everybody. Everybody involved expected that security would have killed them by then. So everybody was winging it when that failed to happen. Neither the four nor the security forces showed any evidence of planning or competence.
We’ve all be conned folks. One 2 minute video shows the whole thing was a set up.
For those with Telegram: https://t.me/nexta_live/73657
For those without: https://filetransfer.io/data-package/jnAcaERV#link
Watch it once and count the men in the immediate vicinity of the cameraman in matching blue jeans and a dark blue top. I count at least 4 the cameraman pans across.
Watch it again and note at around 50s how blue man 1 is amplified by blue man 2, who then immediately decides (at 57s) his done his job and leaves. There’s a scream and then the shooting starts at 1:05. There is nothing to see after that. Apparently the shout is “close the doors” – can a Russia speaker here please confirm this?
This is how it’s done folks. These guys are pros. Here’s the (now deleted) tweet the video came from (Nexta). A case is made that the men in blue are FSB. Whoever they are they knew exactly what was coming.
Barbara,
1) Nexta is a YouTube/Telegram channel headquarted in Warsaw, Poland & started by a 17-yr old who is anti-Lushenko, anti-Putin living in exile in Poland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nexta#:~:text=Nexta%20(pronounced%20niekh%2Dta%2C,through%20Telegram%20and%20YouTube%20channels.
2) Someone saying ‘shut the door’ is because they only heard gunshots & did not realize the gunmen were in the audience hall yet –that is the natural response & what even standard
US emergency response is:
—
shut all doors to your rooms if you hear gunshots in your schools, business, hospitals, etc to prevent gunmen from coming inside
3) also note that actual genetic biological instinct in mammals is NOT just the ‘FIGHT or FLIGHT’ reflex but the ‘Fight or Flight or FREEZE” reflex (‘deer in headlights’)
Interviews with the hundreds of survivors, both women, children, men –all stated that they thought the gunshots were firecrackers or fireworks or car backfiring at first,
..only when they heard screaming later that they realized it was actual gunshots
-which is,
when encountering danger, the instinct is to ‘Fight, flight (run), or FREEZE’ (freezing has survival value in that snakes can/will bite if you move and freezing may cause predators to miss you, not notice as they move past you”
4) Blue jeans & blue shirts are the most common color jeans & shirts sold in Russia -and worldwide actually – and most sold color suits are blue/navy & black in Europe & Asia –few wear khaki or beige —
— according to multiple marketing studies & sales data in my MBA marketing classes, blue is the favorite color of most people & color most sold besides the required white shirt in most work dress codes or white t-shirt –
sweatshirts are considered cool & common in Russia, especially in blue, gray, etc …
also, blue, black, & gray shirts, pants, & shoes are also the most sold colors in Europe & Asia
You can also point out multiple women in the videos wearing yellow also –are they FSB also? And the multiple women also wearing pink?
Pink, yellow, red, orange are most sold colors for females in Europe & Asia
What about the multiple people wearing black? What about the multiple people wearing white socks?
If you have thousands of people in a concert hall, by coincidence, you WILL have multiples of them wearing the same color just by random chance, especially blue, black, gray which are the top selling colors
in those countries &
worldwide
TruthVsPropaganda
Thanks for your various responses, it’s good to have your expert input here.
I know who Nexta are and what they do. In fact I commented elsewhere that if the “men in blue” are spooks they could just as easily be GUR as FSB. One of the factors that led me to believe this video was significant was the fact that literally within 2 minutes of my posting this view, the tweet (which was pinned on Nexta’s Twitter account) had been deleted. When stuff I’m commenting on disappears from the internet in real time you’ll forgive me for thinking it may be significant.
I have watched the video many times playing devil’s advocate and trying to convince myself the cluster of “men in blue” are, as you say, just random Russians with bad dress sense acting independently. I still find the behavior of man in blue 2 on his own a few rows down very odd, but I’m prepared to accept they may not be acting in concert.
Nexta are clearly trying to sell a FSB false flag story and as you noted other parties are trying to spread nonsense conspiracy FUD that the thing was faked etc. However, if the attack was orchestrated by the Ukrainians or a Western intelligence agency I can see how it may be useful to plan an attack to make the conspiracy angle plausible – for example instructing the perps to film use of blanks as well as ball ammo. The sparking from the breech seemingly has has an explanation which I’ve mentioned above.
I agree with Crooke’s view that these guys are clearly not hardcore jihadis – more likely just losers ‘radicalized’ and maybe paid to do the deed.
Barbara,
Also, news reports show :
1) One of the terrorists was caught on camera 2 weeks earlier scouting at the concert hall during famous packed concert with the pro-Russian singer during Putin’s election period & security was too tight.
2) TV interviews of the oligarch owners of the concert hall who were also there 2 weeks with his MANY ARMED bodyguards
–this is probably why the terrorists post-poned their attack until 2 weeks later since security was too tight & armed
3) In the videos on the day of the attack, you see blue camouflaged security guards armed ONLY WITH TASERS & a dog but none carried guns
— security cameras showed that the security guards armed with ONLY tasers were immediately SHOT by the terrorists as they entered concert hall
The remaining security guards armed only with tasers sought cover or fled along with most of the concert goers
4) This is why most security guards in Russia/Moscow should be armed with guns
FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov: The USA, Britain and Ukraine are behind the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall – Tass
So buckle up pilgrims, you just picked one hell of a fight….
How is your bridge doing? Do you know the Ukies are gloating about that?
ISIS-K ,,,,,2000 Sunni Special Operators…(Saddam Hussein Photos on thier Walls)….Who Hate Iran…and Have a Nack for Bloody K Bar Operations..Iraq.
Afghanistan…Russia..Austria…Pakistan…Iran…India…130 Incidents..over 7 years.
.Since The USA was In Iraq…Liberating The Shia..Bin Ladens Operation
was the First..??… They Go Any where…The K..is for KILLERS..No Wonder..Eh
Most security guards at privately concert halls in Moscow are like security guards in most privately owned shopping malls/concert halls in the USA in that MOST are armed only with TASERS
&
not guns –and once they hear or see guys with guns, they are more apt to run
&
call police instead of confronting the shooters because most tasers have only a short effective range of under 20 feet do not go through body armor, thick leather jackets or thick denim coats or coats that are thicker than 2 inches
TTG, just a suggestion:
Write a top-level post on the Key bridge calamity.
While you demonstrate great interest in what is going on in Eastern Europe, how about some concern for what is going on in the U.S.?
WRT the bridge catastrophe, there are obviously questions that will arise.
We should have a place to discuss those.
For some informed commentary from people who know something about the technicalities, one source is
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlQy6FlDBO3WlxlBsanJJVQ1wdK-ZaU8
Some of the people writing comments there sound very knowledgeable.
Keith Harbaugh,
I’ll do that.
A change of pace.
Forward to 32:45 for a hilarious and brilliant performance of the Barbie song in a humorous Russian version with Klava Koka as Barbie and Alexander Revva as Ken.
Barbie – Klava Koka and Casha Revva (go to 32:45).
https://youtu.be/LK8guJOGwKc
This one Barbie isn’t bad either. 😀
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N33wD1mENas
Where did they get AK-74’s? There are over 50 different countries and non-state actors that use them. Over 5-million were made. But surely Bortnikov’s FSB can trace the serial numbers and variants to a last known location. Although the party line out of the Kremlin will continue to blame Ukraine and the West no matter where they came from.
FWIW here is the Taliban’s take on the Crocus City Concert attack. They say that ISIS is firmly under the control of “foreign intelligence.” You may compare it to Seymour Hersh’s brief substack post this morning in which he sounds like an understudy to Admiral Kirby. I found Hersh so puzzling that I wondered if he is blurring the truth in the interest of Keeping Joe Biden in office for another term.
———————
https://t.me/boris_rozhin/118311
Taliban spokesman in Qatar Sohail Shaheen said that the main bases of ISIS operating in Afghanistan are outside the country and are under the control of foreign intelligence. He also noted that the Americans, with their statements about the involvement of ISIS, are trying to shield the true customers.
The Islamic Emirate strongly condemned the tragic attack on Crocus. We eliminated the ISIS threat in Afghanistan after the end of the occupation, while they were still present in eastern and northern Afghanistan during the foreign occupation. Now ISIS centers are located outside of Afghanistan under the control of foreign intelligence. The attack in Moscow must be carefully studied to identify the true masterminds. Senator Lindsey Graham is trying to distract the investigation at this sensitive stage.”
In fact, the Taliban also confirms that the militants who killed people in Crocus had a customer among foreign intelligence services. Previously, the Taliban has repeatedly accused the United States of direct ties with ISIS (wilayat Khorasan) and the use of ISIS by the Americans to carry out terrorist attacks.
After some flip flopping by Putin it looks like Russia is definitely going with the “attack was sponsored by Ukraine” story. This today from the RF’s official investigative body:
https://sledcom.ru/news/item/1871554 (in Russian)