Whoever it is behind the Washington and New York attacks, in Russia and Israel they have already placed a role comparable to the burning of the Reichstag. Far-right politicians - "upholders of the values of western civilization" - have already spoken out calling for revenge. Over and over, one and the same thing is repeated: "Moslems are subhuman barbarians and you cannot conduct negotiations with them. They are not like us, and thus our criteria of democracy and human rights do not apply to them." "No need to fear unpopular measures," some say. "No need to limit ourselves to democratic conventions," others chime in.

At a minimum they are after: arrests without warrants, mass deportations and wide-scale searches. Already reports are coming from the United States of racist attacks against Islamic communities. It is clear that mass repressions will lead to mass resistance. That is how you make enemies. Do those who are trying to scare us with the Moslem threat really not understand that? They understand it full well. They simply believe that a final solution is possible - if not globally, then at least on a more limited territory. As a maximum, they are baying for ethnic cleansing and genocide.

(From an article titled "Bin Laden? Better Be Sure" by Boris Kagarlitsky, a Moscow-based sociologist and polical commentator.)