April 2, 2024 (EIRNS)—In an interview on March 29 with the Schiller Institute, Pino Arlacchi, former head of the UN Office of Drugs and Crime, reports about the controversy he raised with his assessment of the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow.
In a March 27 article in AntiDiplomatico, Arlacchi raised three hypotheses on who had mandated and executed the attack: 1. ISIS alone, without external support or superior order; 2. Ukrainian secret services, who recruited Islamic terrorists to show that Putin and his government are unable to guarantee security for the population and that his law enforcement is unable to control and prevent it; 3. (which drew a lot of criticism, but more consensus: 20/80) CIA, Ukrainian secret services, and Islamic terrorists as executors.
Although Arlacchi wrote that these were three hypotheses, there was a strong reaction in mainstream media, especially to the third hypothesis, saying that a) he had no evidence for that, and b) the U.S. secret service had warned their Russian colleagues about a possible attack.
Wrote Arlacchi: “For someone in Italy, my interpretation went too far, it was not logical. A commentator wrote: It is as if a thief called you two days before coming into your apartment, warning you that he is going to do that.” That is a stupid proposition, Pino replied, because it is highly possible that among intelligence agencies of two nations at war, one agency sends wrong or distorted information. “This is very common, it is a practice used to build an alibi before the crime.” This occurs often, not only in major crimes, but also in minor crimes.
