What a senseless waste of human life this was.
My heart goes out to the Russian parents, relatives and friends. I also have a great deal of sympathy for Russian leaders. Once this sort of thing gets going, there's almost no good way to end it.
Russians did not mishandle this nearly impossible situation, despite extremist Muslim INTERNET sites that had the gall to blame the children's deaths on their rescuer's actions.I consider this account to be plausible: A booby trap was set off in the extremely crowded gymnasium, blowing up children near it, bringing down a roof, starting a fire, and triggering a panic of children who tried to flee the building. The terrorists were shooting them in the back when the Russian forces returned fire in an attempt to provide cover. It was logical to launch an invasion of the building at that point. This was not an overkill such as with the theater hostage situation and the use of over-powerful gas.