ISIS: “We did it”
Russia: “Liars”
Americans: “We told you this would happen”
Russia: “You didn’t tell us enough”
Americans: “Actually we were pretty specific”
ISIS: “Seriously though we did it.”
Russia: “No. It was Ukraine”
What motives does ISIS have to attack Russia? If ISIS was doing it out of some Islamic purpose then they would have attacked Israel.
Instead they attack Iran and Russia?
Isis is anti-Shia, considering them infidels, and has a long history of conflict with Iran, especially in Iraq and Syria. Islam isn’t some coordinated power system, it’s a complex, fractious religion with many internal and external conflicts.
Russia, too, has been involved in lots of conflict with ISIS, including in Syria and more recently supporting north African countries’ conflicts against them as well.
If I understand it correctly, and please correct me if I’m wrong, Russian interference in Syria has been exceptionally devastating for Isis in the region.
But so has American and other Western interference.
Terror attacks on Iran and Russia when they are in the middle of fighting the most well accepted common enemy between all parties in the middle east (Israel) certainly is not going to boost ISIS reputation.
You need motive and opportunity. There are not many opportunities to carry out attacks in Israel at present.
Maybe most people do not know about the relationship between the Russian Empire and Islam. Today, over 10% of the population is Muslim. When you think of soviet soldiers fighting Nazi Germany, you need to assume an even higher percentage of the conscripts being Muslim; state atheism notwithstanding. I know these things, and yet Islam is not something I intuitively associate with Russia.
During the European Middle Ages, vast areas of what is now in the south of the Russian Empire were converted to Islam. In later centuries, these areas were conquered by the expanding Russian Empire. It’s not quite a happy relationship. You may have heard of the genocide of the Crimean Tatars, particularly under Stalin. During the Cold War, majority Muslim Turkey was the only NATO country to have a border with the Soviet Empire. Nuclear missiles were stationed at that border, until they were removed as part of the secret agreement that came out of the Cuba Crisis.
Afghanistan has a long border with the Russian Empire. In the 1980ies, the Soviet Union embarked on an ill-conceived intervention to aid an even more ill-conceived revolution in Afghanistan. After 10 years of war, the troops were pulled out. This was then followed by another decade of civil war, which may have been dying down leading up to 9/11.
When the Soviet Empire dissolved, many ethnic groups achieved independence. That was not always peaceful. The fighting in Afghanistan seems to have had a certain spillover effect. For whatever reason, the Russian Army fought to maintain imperial dominance over some of these territories. Chechnya was especially brutally fought over.
Multiple terror raids have taken place in the last 30 years.
The Russian Afghanistan invasion is fifty years ago.
The American invasion of Afghanistan is only four years ago.
Sure there are motives and bad blood everywhere. But this timing just loses them all legitimacy if they truly want to “start an Islamic caliphate”.
The Russian invasion of Afghanistan is just one chapter in an extensive history including genocide of Islamic peoples within its borders with many more recent events as well. Putin himself rose to power carpet bombing Chechnya. Even more recently, Russia literally going to Syria to attack Isis, where they still are stationed and fighting. Their efforts to keep Bashar Al Assad in power infuriated Isis. They also have their African forces recently assimilated from Wagner group attacking Islamic militants across Saharan Africa, some of which consider themselves branches of Isis. If “literally being attacked by them across the world as we speak right now” is not motive enough for them to attack back for you, I don’t know what would convince you. This isn’t even the first time Isis has claimed to attack Russia, there’s been a string of attacks from Isis going back to 2015.
And Isis is opposed to the Taliban in Afghanistan and actively fighting them as well. I don’t know what you’re on about.
All you need to know in order to know that Ukraine was not responsible is Ukraine outright stating that they are not responsible.
Because if they were responsible, they’d be telling everyone in no uncertain terms that Moscow was not safe from Ukrainian reprisals and this was just a warning.
