Russia, like the United States, has a right to act pre-emptively against terrorism outside its borders, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said yesterday, but that it must be ready to explain and justify its actions.
Both he and President Bush have criticized other actions taken by Russian President Vladimir Putin since 338 hostages died at a school in Beslan, Russia, including steps to centralize more political power in the Kremlin.
Referring to Russian claims to a right to act pre-emptively against terrorism anywhere in the world, Mr. Powell told editors and reporters at The Washington Times that such action "is part of the inherent right of self-defense" enjoyed by every country.
But, he said, "You'll have to make your case -- once you've pre-empted something -- to the world and to your own people that it was the right thing to do."
Just as the United States reserves "the right to stop somebody who is coming to do us bodily harm and we know it," the Russians "will have to do whatever they think is in their interest, and then be prepared to defend it to their people and the court of world opinion."
Mr. Powell said a top Russian general may have gone too far when he said last week that Moscow was ready to act "around the world."
"I think the Russians may have overstated how they might pre-empt, and they sort of pulled the statement back a little bit, because of certain nervousness created in the international community," he said.
Mr. Powell also conceded that the Bush administration had been guilty of poor timing when it publicly urged Russia last week to negotiate with moderate Chechens while hunting down the terrorists.
The comment prompted an angry reaction from Moscow, where tempers still were frayed by a wave of terrorist attacks -- including the near-simultaneous bombing of two commercial airliners and a Moscow subway bomb -- that culminated in the Beslan tragedy.
"We, perhaps, might have been a little more sensitive in the heat of the moment," Mr. Powell said.
By Kathryn Watson - The Washington Times
Shirley Sherrod, the Agriculture Department employee whose hasty dismissal by the Obama administration sparked a national uproar over race, said Thursday that she will sue the conservative blog mogul who posted the edited video that led to her removal. Published 12:39 p.m. July 29, 2010
By Shaun Waterman - The Washington Times
updated 1 hour, 47 minutes ago
The Obama administration is asking Congress for new powers to fight identity fraud after undercover government investigators obtained U.S. passports using forged documents for the second time in less than two years. Published 1:25 p.m. July 29, 2010
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Join the Evolution with Adam Omkara! Empowering, cutting edge mind/body/spirit and health dialogue.
