Posted on 09/04/2004 8:34:37 AM PDT by traumer
Russia's President Vladimir Putin has said his country had shown weakness in the face of danger and most now respond to the threat of terrorism.
"We did not understand the complexity and the danger of the process which was emerging in our country and in the entire world," Putin said of the school hostage crisis in which at least 322 people are now known to have died.
"We did not know how to react in the appropriate fashion. We have showed weakness in the face of danger and the weak get beaten up," he said in a televised address.
Officials in North Ossetia say 155 children were among the dead in Beslan, as well as parents, school teachers and Russian special forces soldiers.
It is believed 32 terrorists died when Russian troops stormed the building after an explosion and gunfire were heard inside.
It is not known if any of the gunmen - believed to include Arab mercenaries - escaped.
There are reports that the explosives and arms used by the gunmen were smuggled into the school in summer during building work.
An estimated 700 are in hospital, most of them children. Some are badly injured.
On Saturday morning, Mr Putin visited the hospital where hundreds of wounded are being treated.
He ordered security forces to seal Beslan and close the border between Chechnya and North Ossetia.
"All Russia grieves with you," said Mr Putin during a meeting with local officials."Even alongside the most cruel attacks of the past, this terrorist act occupies a special place because it was aimed at children," he added.
There has been worldwide condemnation of the siege and messages of condolence including one from the Queen.
The EU has also expressed its sympathy, although it is demanding to know "how this tragedy could have happened".
Freed hostages described the mayhem which followed the explosions on Friday afternoon.
The blasts came 53 hours after the hostage-takers first threatened to blow up the building.
"Bombs were strung all over the gym," one teenage girl told state television. "Tape came unstuck on one and it blew up."
"There were two big explosions," said a women in her forties.
"We started pushing all the children out of the windows... Everyone who was there started pushing them out."
Authorities said they had been forced to launch a rescue operation when the gunmen opened fire on fleeing children.
So far no terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the siege.
"Breaking: explosion at LA airport.. "
HUH ?
Here's an interesting thread. It seems that some among the muslims are seeing that the horror of the terrorists is actually bad for Islam.
This is an article written by the General Manager of Al Arabiya.
EXCERPT:
"...“Our terrorist sons are an end-product of our corrupted culture,” Abdulrahman al-Rashed, general manager of Al-Arabiya television wrote in his daily column published in the pan-Arab Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper. It ran under the headline, “The Painful Truth: All the World Terrorists are Muslims!” Al-Rashed ran through a list of recent attacks by Islamic extremist groups — in Russia, Iraq, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen — many of which are influenced by the ideology of Osama Bin Laden, the Saudi-born leader of the al-Qaida terror network..."
"...“If all the enemies of Islam united together and decided to harm it ... they wouldn’t have ruined and harmed its image as much as the sons of Islam have done by their stupidity, miscalculations, and misunderstanding of the nature of this age,” Bahgat wrote.
'A new low' The horrifying images of the dead and wounded Russian students “showed Muslims as monsters who are fed by the blood of children and the pain of their families..."
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1207315/posts
And you can bet your a$$ that there will not be a Kean Folly type commission to politicize the tragedy!
My guess is that within a year we and Russia partition Iran.
And that will be just a start.
Kill them all and build a hog feedlot and packing plant on the mass grave.
Once upon a time Russia KNEW how to deal with evil people. PC will get a lot of people killed.
If so, expect Israel to 'take it out'.
Thank God! Now maybe Russia will join with us to rid the world of this terrorist scum.
Rest of EU...you might want to take note.
Red
It must hurt Putin to say that. How can Russia ever possibly be strong again? 20,000 nukes are useless for this.
Putin knows there was no way Russia could have prevented this tragedy, barring some bit of good luck. But I think Russians will be DEMANDING for retaliation in some overwhelming, one-sided use of force that will leave the Chechens in "shock and awe", and the EU in utter disbelief.
islam wants this area to replace Afganistan. They think they can beat the Russians as they did in Afganistan. The USA needs to provide a couple of Daisy Cutters for the eradication of EVIL in the islamic world of terror in chechya. (sp)
Yes, as evidenced by Clinton's inaction which only invited more attacks.
If Bush is re-elected, is there any chance of flushing those souless men out of the state department?
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