This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Jihadists from Russia join opposition fighters in Syria
- Russia withdraws forces from Syria as tensions escalate
- Terrorist attack in Iraq kills 19 Sunni ‘traitors’
- Southern Europe gives up the siesta, thanks to German demands
Jihadists from Russia join opposition fighters in Syria
Top Chechen jihadist Doku Umarov. Some reports say he was recently killed.
Jihadists from Russia’s North Caucasus provinces, particularlyChechnya, are achieving growing prominence in Syria’s civil war, muchto the distress of the Russians, who fear that they’ll get trainingand develop terrorist skills in Syria and then come back and usethose skills in Russia. Furthermore, their active participation in the Syrian jihad has brought greater worldrecognition and appreciation among jihadists for the North Caucasusjihad movement, which had formerly been fairly isolated.
Doku Umarov,leader of the Caucasus Emirate and the North Caucasus jihadistmovement, experienced a sharp flip-flop in policy about the Syria war.A year ago, he was condemning any North Caucasians who went to fightin Syria, saying that the jihad in the Caucasus was more important.But the Syrian war has been so popular with North Caucasus jihadiststhat recently Umarov proudly bragged about the fine work that hisfighters were doing in Syria. Jamestown
Russia withdraws forces from Syria as tensions escalate
With tensions rising in Syria, Russia has been withdrawing allmilitary personnel from Syria for weeks. Russia’s Deputy ForeignMinister Mikhail Bogdanov said that no military servicemen remain inRussia, although his claims have been disputed with respect toRussia’s naval base in Tartus, Syria, on the Mediterranean Sea.According to Bogdanov:
Russia decided to withdraw its personnel because ofthe risks from the conflict in Syria, as well as the fear of anincident involving the Russian military that could have largerconsequences.
He added that such an incident would likely have some unfavorablereaction from the international community. Russia TodayandDebka
Terrorist attack in Iraq kills 19 Sunni ‘traitors’
Over 19 people were killed on Friday in a series of terrorist bombingsin Iraq targeting Sunni militiamen who joined forces with U.S. troopsfighting al-Qaeda during the Iraq war, therefore considered tobe “traitors” by Sunni jihadist terrorists. The Sunni militiamen wereprotecting Shias attending the funeral of a Shia leader. Sectarianviolence in Iraq has been increasing steadily since December 2011,when the American troops completely withdrew from Iraq; the country hasnow become a major battlefield in the sectarian war between Sunnis andShias that’s spreading throughout the Mideast.
Meanwhile, in a major twist that sounds like it came from a late nightcomedian, a senior advisor in Iraq’s Shia government is saying thatIraq is no longer opposed to receiving further military help from theUnited States to fight the terrorist violence. LA Times and AP
Southern Europe gives up the siesta, thanks to German demands
The financial debates caused by the financial crisis in Europe areforcing southern Europeans “to live like Germans,” according to Italianphilosopher Giorgio Agamben. The debate, he says, has escalated intoa battle of mentalities between a Protestant work ethic against a Catholicsavoir vivre. There’s even a war against sleep, since you should beworking instead of sleeping. In particular, the siesta hasn’t existedin Spain since the fall of 2012, when the financial crisis forced theSpanish government to eliminate it. Spiegel
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Russia, North Caucasus, Chechnya, Syria,Doku Umarov, Caucasus Emirate, Mikhail Bogdanov, Tartus,Iraq, Spain, siesta
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