Double Standards: Bandits Are Good, Terrorists Are Bad (CNN calls Chechen terrorists "rebels")

We should all question this. When are rebels really rebels and when are they just bandits? Historically speaking- the Communists labeled every challenge to their rule- every armed insurgency in Russia as "bandits". It was a mantra of Pravda. Ukranians fighting guerilla war against Soviet collectivisation were "bandits". Cossacks doing the same in the Kuban region were likewise labeled "bandits". This despite the fact that both had anti Communist ideologies, leaders, clearly defined political platforms, and internal discipline. But do the Chechynans pass this test? I don't think so. Chechyans were historically the organized crime ethnic group of the Soviet Union and leaders in the black market and drug trade (with KGB approval and payoffs.) And they remain so today. They fight among themselves and they are only nominally "Muslem". Their chief grievance seems to be that they are not free to conduct their criminal activities without interference from Moscow. Thus I think the Chechyan "rebellion" is about as legitimate as the Columbian "leftist" guerillas whose number one agenda is to sell drugs. Russia is correct in trying to stamp this "rebellion" out.

Signed. Can anyone describe the general mood of Russians today especially in Moscow? I'd like to know how it might compare with the reaction here should something similar happen. Obviously Susan Sarandon and Babs would be wailing against Bush for murdering innocents and praising the "freedom fighters" for keeping the hostages alive so long. Democrats = Communists = Hate Freedom = Cowards.

By the way -- anyone in Russia reading this. If you know anyone that thinks terrorism must be fought and not surrendered to and that what the Special Forces did was not murder then direct them to the Free Republic. They probably belong more than most of my neighbors would.

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