Here in the U.S., top security officials get to keep their jobs, even after terrorists sneak onto airplanes and fly them into skyscrapers. In Russia, they’re not so forgiving. After last month’s deadly bombing at the Moscow airport, the Kremlin is responding with two simple words: you’re fired.
Two officials from Russia’s domestic security outfit, the Federal Security Service (FSB),
were fired today. The deputy chief of the anti-terrorism bureau and the chief of the economic security were kicked to the curb for their failure to prevent the airport bombing, which killed 36 — and marked the second major terrorist incident in Moscow in less than a year. In March, Islamist suicide bombers from the North Caucus region killed 40 on
Moscow’s subway system.
Russian approaches to terrorism from the Caucasus have varied over the years from harsh crackdowns to softer attempts at addressing so-called “root causes.” President Dmitry Medvedev’s plan to develop the North Caucasus by turning it into a ski resort now seems unlikely, to say the least. With few new options, the Russian government has opted to respond to the public anger with largely symbolic dismissals of relatively low-level officials.
This isn’t the first time the FSB has been (very publicly) blamed for security lapses. Late last year, the domestic spook agency caught the rap for missing a set of mysterious — and likely fictional — colonels said to be responsible for betraying Russia’s sleeper network in the United States.
But it’s not just the intel community that’s been in the crosshairs over the airport attack. Russian police and transport officials have also been booted for their apparent security lapses. Shortly after the airport attack, President Dmitry Medvedev cited “systemic shortcomings” in security, claiming that authorities should have picked up on the plot since “Moving such an amount of explosives requires real effort.” Medvedev subsequently fired four police officials.
And not to be outdone by the Robin to his Batman, today Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin canned Gennady Kurzenkovas, head of Russia’s Transport Inspection service, “at his own request.”
Whether Russia is able to move beyond the political theater and settle on an effective strategy, though, remains to be seen. In the meantime, Dokka Abu Usman, the leader of a Caucus-based Islamist terrorist group based in the Northern Caucasus has claimed responsibility for the airport blast, pledging that such “special operations” will continue.
