Quote Originally Posted by Hanna View Post
But the main perpetrator of foreign executions at the moment is the USA - or are you denying that?
No, I am not. USA abroad killings count is very high and there are rightful concerns about civilian casualties. But USA justifies its actions using the war on terror. Senior members of Al-Qaeda and Taliban are main targets for USA, just as leaders of Chechen terrorists are main targets for Russia.

Putin usually emphasizes that terrorism is a threat to the whole world and that acts of terror in Russia is a part of worldwide Islamists agenda. You may watch BBC documentary "Smell of paradise" - there is the last interview with abovementioned Yandarbiyev and it's all about political Islamism and religious zealotry. He tried to look respectful and wise, but one should remember his direct involvement in financing terrorist activity on Russian soil (including infamous Moscow theater hostage crisis).

Several ethnic groups in Russia are historically Muslim (Tatars and Bashkirs from the Volga river basin, and numerous ethnicities of North Caucasus and its outskirts - including Chechens). Putin urges their religious leaders to promote what he calls "traditional Islam" as he rightfully concludes that many ideas of radical Islamism are stemming from the abroad. In the 90s mainly Chechens were notoriously known for falling for these ideas (spurred by Chechnya's failed independence attempt), but these days Islamic radicalism is spreading to neighboring Dagestan. There are also attempts to bring it to Tatarstan and Bashkiria - federal districts with significant ethnic Russian population and long history of peaceful coexistence as part of Russia. The extremists even manage to occasionally lure ethnic Russians to convert to Islam and join terrorists (unthinkable, but there are several examples). Of course Putin tries to counter these trends, and targeting notorious terrorists to stop them from exercising their influence is part of this struggle.