HEART OF DARKNESS – Terrorism Again in Moscow, Russian Federation.   

Editorial -- Muscovites and Russians in general are great patrons of the arts and especially live theater :  If you are ever in Russian Federation in a major town for any length of time, try to obtain tickets to the theater or a concert.  The tickets are pricey and beware of fake ones that are look – alike, though these arts productions are worth the price and are of a professionally artistic and significant, meaningful stature. 

That terrorists attached to ISIL found another easy target in the Moscow suburb Krasnogorsk Crocus theater is again sickening and has security people scratching their heads about where radicals will strike next.  The attack in Moscow, though this is speculation, has to do with terrorist reaction to Russian military presence in Syria fighting against ISIL and its vandal, terrorist agents and military and paramilitary cells as well as in reaction to the re – election of Putin to Russian head of state for another six years.  The Moscow attack is divisive in the war waged against terrorism given that Russian Federation now sponsors an invasion in Ukraine, contrary to U.S., U.K. and N. A. T. O., and at the same time is in attempts to stop Islamic and related terrorism in unison with Western authorities.  That Krasnogorsk, on the Western side of Moscow is a target for a major terrorist attack does not seem likely at first, though such attacks are based on planning and obviously the ISIL cell or cells carrying out this devastating and destructive effort perceived what are security vulnerabilities at the site of the attack and planned an action there.  The U.S. had issued a travel advisory for Moscow some time before the Crocus attack and an included warning about avoiding the theater for concerns about further terrorist attacks.  This was apparently due to Russian authorities stopping some recent attacks locally, land risks of an impending attack somewhere in the heavily populated city and its overall region. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the U.S. warning an affront and a form of blackmail intended to keep people away from public places including the theater in Moscow.  Security services in America and in Russian Federation are supposed to be cooperating on information – gathering and coordinating anti – terrorist efforts to the extent possible and the Russian reaction to the U.S. warning as well as the destruction of the Crocus theater with many lives lost (133 lives) appears to put a hiccup in this organized apparatus, at least on the Russian side.  The anti – American posture of the Kremlin given the Krasnogorsk terrorist attack could be posturing anyway because in today’s world, no matter how bitter the relations between countries, allies or former allies, even political adversaries, administrations and their peoples must cooperate against terrorist efforts to disturb and destroy.  The Crocus theater is a large theater and the terrorists evidently used firebombs to burn the building and this very effectively as emergency crews were held up in city traffic for more than an hour --the building burned with people in it and the theater roof collapsed to add to the tragedy.  Given the diabolical result of the violence and the burning of the theater itself, it is difficult to remain dispassionate about what has happened that will continue to aggravate, and add to the fitful character of the war on terror and efforts of states, even regionally, to abate these tragedies as carried out given modern warfare and guerilla and suicide tactics as well as their intended impact psychologically which is to instill and institutionalize fear, and expectations of violence as well. 

The perpetrators of the Crocus Theater attack are not just terrorists, and their apparent regard for the value of human life is very low, lower than patent indifference or hate in the extreme.  The Kremlin accusations as to a terrorist connection to Ukraine aside in this instance as the accusations are political, and there is even speculation the attack was planned by Kremlin agents (also probably a “not”), and that Ukraine is accused of orchestrating the attack (again “not”); this horrific event and that it was allowed to happen despite national security measures in Russia is unthinkable.  For the living there must be some hope of resolving what has happened and detecting and abating such extreme violence and destruction in the future, carried out by secret terrorist agents, even in the planning phases.  The renown of such violence is also a thing that needs to be rationalized, though the free world demands information on such events despite their negative and fearful, horrific and disintegrating character.  “What is to be done”?