Among the Tombs

This Associated Press story from Russia contains many details of the recent seizure of schoolchildren by Chechen Islamic terrorists in Russia. It includes a slideshow which doesn't tell you anything you don't know already and nothing you are likely to ever forget. Gore in abundance, but the heart-stopper is a woman in a black dress stooped over the body of her child, rearranging his hair to make him look like the day she saw him last. And then there is this window into the terrorist soul:

Alla Gadieyeva, 24, who was taken captive with her 7-year-old son and mother, said the militants displayed terrifying brutality from the start. One gunman, whose pockets were stuffed with grenades, held up the corpse of a man just shot in front of hundreds of hostages and warned: "If a child utters even a sound, we'll kill another one."

When children fainted from lack of sleep, food and water, their masked and camouflaged captors simply sneered, she said, adding that adults implored children to drink their own urine in the intolerable heat of the gym.

There are reports, like this one from the International Herald Tribune, that some of the terrorists were from Arab countries. "The Federal Security Service chief in North Ossetia, Valery Andreyev, said in the evening that 10 militants killed in gunfights with security forces were from Arab countries, and President Vladimir Putin’s adviser on Chechnya, Aslanbek Aslakhanov, said nine were 'Arab mercenaries.'" It provides us with the kind specificity that is so comforting, as if knowing brought us closer to understanding. Yet for some understanding has been too near at hand, something to evade at any price. It has beckoned to us from the eaves of the dark wood, haunted us in our dreams as a familiar. But we awake determined never to let it see the light of day, lest it shatter our world. We know you, shadow, but dare not speak your name. Dateline Europe: the EU seeks Russian explanation for school siege toll:

Valkenburg, Netherlands, Sept 3 (Reuters) - The European Union asked Russia to explain the bloody end to the siege of a school by Chechen gunmen on Friday with huge loss of life. In a statement in the name of the presidency of the 25-nation EU, Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot said all countries should work together to prevent such tragedies. "But we also would like to know from the Russian authorities how this tragedy could have happened," he added.

EU ministers avoided direct criticism of Moscow's handling of the hostage crisis and expressed sympathy with the Russian people and government. ... British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said "terrorists" were to blame for the death toll and declined to comment when asked whether Russian authorities had bungled the chaotic rescue bid.

Yeah, and if only the Russian people would be a tad more sensitive, try to understand why the "freedom fighters" were driven to desperate acts, maybe the Russians -- who have after all have been guilty of oppression in the past -- could find it in their hearts to forgive the attackers and the seeds of peace will grow. Besides, it is only 350 deaths in a nation with millions. More people die in Russia each year form the flu. No need to over react and use this tragedy for political purposes. Sarcasm Off.

A friend who lived in that area wrote me a little about the events over there:

A na schet chechni.... a podderzhivayu tvoe mnenie. U lyudey v krovi i v gennakh voyna, za stol'ko vekov voevat'. I na samom dele, slozhno prinimat' kakoe libo reshenie dlya pravitel'stva i lyudey kotorye s takim stalknulis'. Mne kazhetsya, chto vse dumayut i nadeyustsya na razum, a zdes'... prosto instinkt... kak u zhivotnykh. Im vse ravno kogo oni vzyali v zalozhniki... Ya ponimayu zhenshchin, kotorye idut na takoe (u nikh ubili brata ili muzha) i vse taki ehto ne povod delat' takie postupki... Odnim slovom, Kavkaz, gortsy...
"Well, about Chechnya... I support your opinion. People have war in their blood and in their genes, so many centuries of fighting. And at the same time, it's hard for the goverment or people who have run into this to decide what to do. It seems to me that everyone thinks and hopes for reason, while here... simply instinct... like animals. They could care less who they've taken hostage... I understand women who go into this (someone killed a brother or husband) but all the same it's no excuse for such... In a word - the Caucasus, highlanders..."
Okolo nas, gde ya rosla, bylo selenie sotoyashchee iz odnikh chechentsev. Dlya menya bylo diko videt'... zhenshchiny molchat, khodyat postoyanno v platkakh, za muzhchinami. A kak vyzyvayushchie veli sebya mal'chiki... Oni koroli, vokrug nikh ves' mir krutit'sya... "Chistilishche"... ya ne smotrela. Vernee ya nachala smotret' i vyklyuchila... Ne smogla. Ya boeviki i uzhastiki prakticheski ne smotryu. Redko smotryu takie sobytiya, esli sploshnoe nasilie pokazyvayut... ya ukhozhu. U menya serdtse zamiraet i nachinayut sploshnikom slezy idti.
"Where I grew up, nearby there was a village made up entirely of Chechnyans. For me it looked so wild... women were silent, went about always with scarves, behind the men. But oh how challenging the boys conducted themseves... they were kings, the whole world revolved around them... I didn't see 'Pugatory' (my note: film about the first Chechyan war). More truthfully, I started to watch and turned it off... I couldn't. I practically don't watch war and horror films. Rarely I watch news such as this, if they show outright violence... I leave. My heart dies and tears come."

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