Monday, January 24, 2011

Suicide Bomber Kills 35 in Moscow




Today, a suicide bomber set off a home made device at one of the busiest airports near Moscow, Russia. The bomb killed 35 people and wounded about 100 people. Although there is not a defenitive identification yet, the president of Russia immediately labeled the attack as terrorist activity and ordered additional security at all transportation facilities.

This event followed a 2004 attack that killed 89 people. The 2004 event was linked to Chechen suicide bombers. Attacks are unfortunately fairly common in Russia because of the many Islamic groups that are fighting to break away from Russia.

Why is this important to us??

This is very important to the United States because Russia is one of our biggest allies in Afaghanistan. Russia is a very important importer of goods, especially in Iraq. Russia is also a very large oil producer and if Russia's instability grows, oil prices may rise significantly which would negatively effect our economy. This is also important to us because of Russia's nuclear power. The United States is an enemy of many Islamic nations and if parts if Islamic power grows in Russia, the US may start worrying about their power. (We really don't want to go to war with Russia)

So what should we do now?

The question is, is the US going to sit by and watch Russia get attacked all the time? Or are we going to help them out with their security problems? Although we are 14 trillion dollars in debt, our debt could get much worse if the problems in Russia grew.

4 comments:

Jack Guan said...

I had a report all written up for this event too... :(
Anyway, I don't think there really is much the U.S. can do in this situation. The political situation in the Russian North Caucasus region is really complex, stemming all the way back to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and earlier. Our wars on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan have been pretty big failures, and we really shouldn't get directly involved in more military operations. But I think the U.S. can help advise Russia on some policy to settle the political unrest in Chechnya. Ultimately, though, it's up to Russia to fix the problems in Chechnya that are causing this terrorism.

Unknown said...

I agree with Jack, that there is not much for us to do to help Russia. We can give them advice on what they should do, but we can't really just go there and help them fight a certain group of people in their country just because those people don't like how the country is being governed. This event is more of a problem that Russia needs to deal with, it is not as domestic unless they are somewhat hooked to the war in Iraq. Russia needs to just be tighter with their security and they won't have many more problems like this.

Vernon Wong said...

I think that Russia is highly capable in handling their own internal issues. After all, they are a super power. I mean what kind of super power are they if they cant handle their own internal affairs.I am also pretty that if we were to aid them on this issue, it would only increase our national debt and cause more relation problems between the U.S and Russia. I am pretty sure that the Russian government does not want U.S Troops present in their own lands which could lead to possible hostile feelings and future issues. In the end, I feel that the best thing we can do to aid Russia is to leave them alone and let them handle their own issues.

Bobby John said...

"if Islamic power grows in Russia, the US may start worrying about their power. (We really don't want to go to war with Russia)"

I don't see this outcome happening. Why would the US start worrying about their power because another country happens to be dominated by a certain religion? Let alone the fact that a religion's influence does not gain a higher approval rate through suicide bombings in airports.