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Beslan Changed Russia...and the world.
National Review Online ^ | September 07, 2004 | Barbara Lerner

Posted on 09/07/2004 9:35:10 AM PDT by xsysmgr

The world began to change on September 1, 2004, the day the Russia-held-captive ordeal began in a little school in a little southern town called Beslan. When it ended on September 4 after an agonizing three-day orgy of Islamofascist torture and slaughter, it changed Russia, much as September 11, 2001, changed America, and in the end, that will change the world.

The Beslan victims were not as numerous as ours — hundreds died, not thousands — but the national shock is comparable, because their suffering was so great and so prolonged, and because Russia's children were not collateral damage in this attack. They were the chosen victims of the global Islamic terror network, and all Russia watched in horror, day after day, as they were shot, stabbed, raped, and blown-up, along with their helpless parents and teachers, while other little ones perished in slow agony from thirst, dehydration, and heat stroke, inside a Russian school where the water fountains ran but dying captives were not allowed to drink anything but their own urine. Something like 1,200 Russians were subjected to this ordeal; more than a third — possibly as many as half — are dead, and most of the dead are children, crammed in on top of each other in an explosive-rigged basketball court in a stifling, sealed-up gymnasium in a school where the toilets worked too, but the victims were not allowed to use them. And while it is not yet clear exactly who all the 20-30 Islamist terrorists who tortured and killed these children were, it is as clear here as it was, early on, in Spain that local, homegrown terrorists are not the only ones involved in this carefully planned and viciously executed assault on all that civilized people hold dear. International Islamofascist barbarians with imperial designs masterminded the attack on the children of Beslan, and that has changed everything.

Before Beslan, it was easy for the civilized world's Isamofascist enemies to play and win the old divide, conquer, and sell-out game, easy for Russians to believe that only local, Chechen terrorists were attacking them, easy to believe that America's war on the global Islamic terror network was a separate, unrelated thing, a war that Russia might exploit but had no reason to join, a war that had no connection to the one that Israel is fighting or the one that Spanish voters, like French, German, Belgian, and Canadian voters declined to fight. Before Beslan, it was easy for Russia to join France, old Europe, and the U.N. in a policy of temporarily profitable appeasement, propping up the Iraqi terror master, Saddam Hussein, by exploiting the oil-for-food scam, easy for Russia to make a quick bundle by helping Iranian terror masters develop the nuclear weapons they crave, easy for Russia to join the French-led Euro-Arab axis and its corrupt international court in embracing Palestinian terror masters and condemning their victims.

After Beslan, some Russians will argue that continued appeasement of the global Islamist terror network is the best policy still. After all, some Americans still think so too, but there, as here, it won't be easy to sell that policy anymore. There, as here, some Russians will swallow their grief and vent all their rage against their own government, insisting that official incompetence caused all these deaths. There, as here, some will cling to all the other self-defeating old lies, insisting that local Islamofascist groups have no connection to the international terror network, that anyway, "there is no military solution," and/or that the growing terrorist mayhem is all the fault of greedy Russian capitalists, crude, reckless American "cowboys" or scheming, manipulative Jewish war mongers, and that deals with the Islamist devil are still possible and desirable.

But in the end, these voices of blind bigotry and defeatism won't prevail, because millions of Russians have learned the same hard lessons most of us learned on September 11: That we are at war with a vicious global enemy, an Islamist enemy that hates Christians, Hindus, and progressive Muslims as much as it hates Jews, an enemy that cannot be appeased, bought off, or safely sicced on others; an enemy we must unite to cut down wherever it rears its ugly head, or have our own heads and those of our children cut off by it. This Russian transformation won't happen quickly or all at once, but in the end, it will happen, and it will make Russia a powerful ally again, as it was in World War II, after the Hitler-Stalin Peace pact, like the Munich Peace Pact, proved that pursuing paper-peace agreements and short term advantages by appeasing evil is a roadmap to death and defeat. In the end, Russia will fight with us again, and with our most steadfast allies, England and Australia, as it did in the 1940s. This time, a free Poland, a democratic Italy, and a host of smaller, recently liberated states in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia will not only join with us but will retain their God-given liberties, after our victory.

Already, Putin is getting the message. In an unprecedented burst of candor, he told the Russian people, "We were weak, and weak people are beaten." Already, he is reaching out a tentative hand, looking for help from us and from the Israelis. Israel will respond, generously, as long as the much-maligned Israeli Right retains its shaky hold on power, and we will too, as long as George W. Bush continues to lead us. And if you think Russia is too weak, corrupt, and divided to repay our generosity, think again. She looked that way in the early Forties too, but in the end, she fought fiercely, and made an essential contribution to our victory in World War II. World War III, the Cold War, is over. We won, and with Russia on our side, we will win what Norman Podhoretz rightly calls World War IV much more quickly than we would without her.

Barbara Lerner is a frequent NRO contributor.


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Russia
KEYWORDS: beslan; chechnya; globaljihad; ossetia; putin; terror
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To: xsysmgr

Could someone give me a breakdown of the casualties?

Out of 350 dead:

How many of those were Islamic terrorists?

How many were innocents?

How many innocents did the Islamists kill?

How many of the innocents were killed by friendly fire from the Russian police?

THANKS.


41 posted on 09/07/2004 10:28:35 AM PDT by fishtank
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To: jpsb

There is much evidence that some of the jihadists are trying to usher in a world caliphate, a muslim ruled theocracy over the entire world, adminstrated by sharia law. There have been websites with current muslim conquests, and ongoing conquests, and future quests, where all the world is ruled by a muslim theocracy.

The latter sounds impossible. In America, people would rather die than live under such a system. I am guessing Australia would do so too.

But I am not sure that is what has to happen. Most ofthe attacks, especially 9-11, have attacked economic symbols. Stating the obvious, but if the jihadists did nothing more than conquer all of the middle eastern states, and those states south of russia, that controlled probably more than half of the world's oil exports, the limited muslim theocracy could rule the world through economics. How long would it take for America to abdicate its support to Israel when the price of a gallon of gas was $75.00? 50 years ago, I would have said probably never, now, I am not sure that there aren't enough people to place their own economic comfort against the security of Israel.

If anyone has any articles, books on this issue, I would be interested in seeing them.


42 posted on 09/07/2004 10:29:11 AM PDT by job ("God is not dead nor doth He sleep")
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To: bobjam
Wait until those al-qaida backed terrorists meet the 21st century version of Ivan the Terrible.
Not a good comparison.
Just an example

BREAKING

- the two terrorists who made the reservations and bought the tickets fpr the two terrorists that triggered the bombs August 24, were caught now (TWO WEEKS LATER)
43 posted on 09/07/2004 10:30:10 AM PDT by Truth666
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To: xsysmgr
Beslan Changed Russia...and the world.

................Church bells to ring throughout the whole world.

44 posted on 09/07/2004 10:33:20 AM PDT by maestro
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To: fishtank
Just an eyewitness quote to further show what a barbaric bunch of subhuman animals these muslimes are.

"The older pupils were forced to carry desks to barricade the windows. When the assault started one of the bandits shouted 'I'll save you'. Everybody ran towards him and then he blew himself up, killing many people."

45 posted on 09/07/2004 10:37:04 AM PDT by Colosis
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To: fishtank

Out of 350 dead:

How many of those were Islamic terrorists? not enough

How many innocents did the Islamists kill? too many


46 posted on 09/07/2004 10:40:13 AM PDT by SF Republican
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To: dfwgator

A "progressive muslim" is one who would actually give Christians a choice to convert, or be killed.""

A "convert" to Muslin would still be treated differently. They would never be trusted. Look at the "converts" to ANY other religion or cult. They never quite "belong".

I wouldn't trust one word out of a Muslims mouth. If I need gas and I find myself in a Muslim establishment, I buy the absolute minimum I can get away with to get to another gas station. BTW- every bust in LA area of gas stations that were watering down their gas or selling a lower grade as a higher grade were in Muslim owned/operated stations. Thieves- every one of them. I don't trust ONE SINGLE word out of any of their mouths. I feel like I am a target whenever I am near one, and I feel they are laughing at the naive Americans who welcomed Muslims into USA and they are either sending $$$ to groups plotting against us, or they are doing the plotting themselves.

Negative- you decide. I just feel I have a stronger sense of survival than most people under 40. After 9/11/01 and 9/1/04, these monsters have proven they cannot be trusted. They are raising more and more monsters. They all need to be eradicated from the earth, and they have showed us why.

Anyone who doesn't believe that, I suggest they be the front line "negotiators" when more crap is hitting the fan. As the blades fall upon their necks, perhaps they will realise how naive they were.


47 posted on 09/07/2004 10:42:24 AM PDT by ridesthemiles (ridesthemiles)
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To: shield

Those terrorist have NO SOULS!!!""

Isn't that redundant?

Tell me what terrorist you believe does have a soul, Please.


48 posted on 09/07/2004 10:44:53 AM PDT by ridesthemiles (ridesthemiles)
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To: duckln

All the propaganda fed us then, is being proven wrong at the Hague by Milosevic
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1207954/posts


49 posted on 09/07/2004 10:48:49 AM PDT by Truth666
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To: Revolting cat!
Progressive Muslims are the ones living in free, non-muslim countries that send money to al-quida, hammas, etc.

They leave the baby-killing / raping / torture to others and try to wash the blood of innocents off of their hands.

The news media is their greatest ally.

50 posted on 09/07/2004 10:58:46 AM PDT by Walkin Man
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To: xsysmgr
Unfortunately we have been unwilling to do the hard thing to end terrorism....

They swim among us as if they owned the place

They maintain close ties to our own leaders....

Some of them enjoy protected status and their strongholds are sanctuaries off limits to our troops and bombs..

We can never defeat them until we are willing to do what ever it takes to kill them all....
and deny them sustenance,sanctuary, weapons, materials, , financing...& support of any kind..

imo
51 posted on 09/07/2004 11:03:48 AM PDT by joesnuffy (Moderate Islam Is For Dilettantes)
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To: this_ol_patriot

You know I have to take issue with the whole 'world changed on 9-11' angle that I hear more and more on forums and on documentaries and news programs.

In fact, it was the same world on 9-10 as it was on 9-12. The difference was that the US felt the damage that other countries had been feeling for decades. The US may have got a 'wake up call,' or maybe it was 'gut check' time, but the whole 'world changed' talk is nonsense.

That mindset is pervasive - it really demonstrates American's arrogance more than anything else. Other nations suffer terrorism on their homeland and for the USA, it's largely business as usual for the typical American. Finally, the natural progression of events hits the American homeland and all of a sudden 'the world changes?'

That is a self centerdness that many in the world, for all their problems, has the clarity to see. It isn't flattering. Much of the American post 9-11 reaction has been rooted in self pity and self centeredness. To anyone with an ounce of clarity it's obvious.

The world didn't change. The US was kocked upside the head by reality. To suggest that this somehow changed the world doesn't help our image around the world.


52 posted on 09/07/2004 11:11:48 AM PDT by HitmanLV (I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.)
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To: Revolting cat!
progressive Muslims What's that? Why must conservatives always try to appease the gods of political correctness and multiculturalism?

Because the ones doing so are not "conservatives," but CINOs. Despite the disagreement of the republicRat bots on FR who place party above philosophy and country.

53 posted on 09/07/2004 11:22:39 AM PDT by Indie (Ignorance of the truth is no excuse for stupidity.)
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To: MizSterious
Unfortunate, but as I have read and understand the State Department situation: IT WILL TAKE AN ACT OF GOD TO FIRE "a State Dept. Employee" OR SHAKE UP THE State Department.

Incompetence breeds incompetence and the State Department proves that 100%
54 posted on 09/07/2004 11:29:07 AM PDT by Tannerone
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To: All

countdown to pre-emptive strike started long ago - while there's life there's hope ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/994313/posts


55 posted on 09/07/2004 11:30:10 AM PDT by Truth666
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To: xsysmgr

Unfortunately it probably didn't change the world. The world has a very short memory that's very good at forgetting unpleasant things. The world has already forgotten the Holocaust, is deep into the process of forgetting 9/11, and will begin forgetting Baslan in a couple of weeks. Some will remember, but in the end most will get on with their life, that's how the world works.


56 posted on 09/07/2004 11:31:48 AM PDT by discostu (That which does not make me stronger kills me)
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To: xsysmgr; All
The Beslan Horror- When Hell Came Calling
 

57 posted on 09/07/2004 11:32:43 AM PDT by backhoe ( Islam has become the 21st century version of Nazism.)
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To: HitmanNY
The world changed on 9/11 because the USA was finally hit hard enough to do something about all this crap. It is not arrogance to recognize that we are the most powerful and most influential nation in the world and when we decide to do something, things happen. The biggest problem is that too much of the rest of the world is content to live with this stuff and unwilling to deal with it head-on.

I'm not even convinced that Russia will be motivated to do what really needs to be done yet, but I am hopeful with Putin's statement. We must convince them that our fight is their fight.

"Much of the American post 9-11 reaction has been rooted in self pity and self centeredness."

What a load of crap!! You sound like John Kerry and his allies in France and Germany with a mindset more willing to tolerate terrorism and 'not make them more angry' rather than actually do something about it. They have been hitting US every chance they have had for 2 decades, only now we have started doing something about it. That's not self pity and self centeredness, that is self defense too long delayed.
58 posted on 09/07/2004 11:43:21 AM PDT by Flying Circus
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To: duckln

All good points. I agree.


59 posted on 09/07/2004 11:45:15 AM PDT by WashingtonSource (Freedom is not free)
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To: xsysmgr

BTTT


60 posted on 09/07/2004 11:49:14 AM PDT by Fiddlstix (This Tagline for sale. (Presented by TagLines R US))
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