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Opinion / Op-Ed Contributors

West unfair on Sochi security

By Jiang Yi (China Daily) Updated: 2014-01-17 07:58

As the 2014 winter Olympics, which are scheduled to be held in Sochi, Russia, from Feb 6 to 23, draw near, super strict security measures are being implemented to ensure the Games are safe.

The enormous efforts and resources being used to secure the Games have aroused some doubts in the Western media, which claim they might dim the Olympic spirit. There have even been calls to boycott the Sochi Olympics.

Such comments seriously underestimate the necessity of the strict security measures. Since October, there have been a series of suicide attacks in Volgograd, Russia, and Russia's most wanted man Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov has called for attacks on the Games.

It was only after decades of crackdowns on once rampant illegal armed groups that Chechenya, and the whole North Caucasus region, got a precious opportunity to start national rebuilding. However, terrorism has not been rooted out in the region. The terrorists now form smaller cells, even individuals, which make it harder for the authorities to locate them. Obviously, the vast territories and large number of ethnic groups adds to the difficulties of preventing attacks.

Also so-called black widows have been the perpetrators of many attacks. Since June 2000, young women have launched or participated in 26 terrorist attacks that have claimed more than 800 lives. The emergence of these black widows has its roots in the two wars in Chechenya - the loss of family members, even though they were terrorists, too, has caused these widows to inflict their hatred upon their compatriots. Terrorism bosses have seized the opportunity to make use of them.

The reason that the organizers of terrorist attacks have chosen these women to be the perpetrators is more than just they are easy to hide. Those controlling the net of terrorism also use these women for propaganda purposes, because they want to attract global media attention and make certain human rights groups feel inclined to "save" them. But their efforts are doomed to fail, as it is already the common sense of most people that these women are as cruel and cold-blooded as any other terrorists, and must be stopped.

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