U.S. calls for diplomacy with Chechens(State Department)

AP ^ | 09/07/04 | BARRY SCHWEID

[Pikamax]

WASHINGTON AP) - The Bush administration differed Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and said that only a political settlement could end the crisis between Russia and the breakaway region of Chechnya.

The administration also left open the possibility of U.S. meetings with Chechens who are not linked to terrorists.

Secretary of State Colin Powell and Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage signed a book of condolences at the Russian Embassy over the deaths of at least 330 people, most of them children, during a hostage-taking last week at a school in the southern city of Beslan.

[rudypoot]

Terrorists break into a school and kill women and children and someone, somewhere on this planet thinks you can negotiate with these people? I bet 99% of all State Department employees are going to vote for Kucinich in November.

[monday]

"The Russians would be fools to allow a Chechnayn Islamic state on their borderss-a perfect staging area for more terrorism against the Russian people."

The Russians gave autonomous self rule to Chechnya from 1997 till 1999 and that is exactly what the Chechens did during that time. Kidnapping for ransom became the major Chechen industry and terrorists used Chechnya as a staging area for attacks on hospitals, police stations, apartment buildings, and buses in Russia, Dagestan, and North Osseta.

[nyconse]

Excuse me...the orders came from Chechnyan rebels who wish to establish a Muslim state in Chechnya-a perfect place to train terrorists and launch terrorist attacks against the West. Putin had granted a great deal of autonomy-until the Muslims began killing non-Muslims.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

ping!

[conserv13]

The State Dept. is right. Russia and Chechnya have had a bad relationship for a hundred years. The Russians will end up pulling out like they did in Afghanistan.

[silversky]

As of this moment, unless Bush admits a mistake was made and people are fired, I'm voting for Kerry.

Kerry is worse. This event is not party politics, it's bipartisan politics.

[MineralMan]

"The State Department can't make a move like this without the President's knowledge and consent. He appointed the department heads. As for negotiating with terrorists what do you call what we did with Sadr? Hell he is running in their national elections when just last month we had an arrest warrant out on him for murder. "

That's correct. So, either we support President Bush's policies in these matters or we do not. Apparently, a heckuva lot of folks here do not.

Of course we must negotiate. What are the options? This is a guerilla war, not a conventional one. We found out about such wars in Korea and Vietnam. We are still in Korea. We finally gave up on Vietnam.

I think we've learned some things. President Bush is doing his best to insure that when we leave Iraq, we leave there with at least a nominally friendly government in place. Sadly, I hold out little hope that the situation will remain that way.

That's what Bush meant when he said 'We can never win IT.' He was right. There will always be terrorists. We can stabilize Iraq, but we can never turn it into USA-mideast. It ain't gonna happen.

So, yes, we must negotiate with whatever Chechen leadership there is. They just had elections, so we even know the name of the person to talk to. The Russians haven't done well in their guerilla war in Chechnya. It's damn hard to win such a war.

So, you're either behind President Bush and his policies, or you are not. It's pretty darned simple.

[rrrod]

This is an outrage!.......Islamanazis need to be eliminated. Period!

[nyconse]

Absolutely, correct. When Putin granted these animals a country, they (like the Iraqis, Bin Ladens etc) viewed this act as weakness and began their genocidal program. They want an Islamic government in all of Russian-not just Chechnya. Putin said the Russian government has shown weakness...this caused terrorism. Unfortunately, we have shown weakness in Iraq and Afghanistan, and our soldiers are paying the tab. President Bush is better than Kerry, but in my opinion he has made a huge mistake in Iraq by not acting forcefully against the terrorists.

[r9etb]

I can't imagine why anyone would be surprised at this story.

Well, your first mistake would be to expect rational responses from the "kill 'em all" crowd.

Your second mistake flows from your first: there is no need to address the underlying problem through diplomacy, if one side of the equation is entirely dead.

I will note that the centuries of ugly history between Chechens and Russians will make a diplomatic solution very difficult, if not impossible. Of course, the alternative (war) has already been tried, and is currently being tried, without notable success.... So diplomacy certainly can't make it any worse than it is.

[MineralMan]

"The State Dept. is right. Russia and Chechnya have had a bad relationship for a hundred years. The Russians will end up pulling out like they did in Afghanistan."

Bingo! The Soviet Union dominated Chechnya by remote control and overwhelming strength of force. Russia can't manage that any more, but they're still trying. They'll eventually give up, because guerilla wars are almost impossible to win.

[Cindy]

Is this the same State Department that doesn't like the idea of Israel's fence going up to protect its citizens?

[BlueNgold]

The job of the state department is to talk, and arrange talks, and to keep talking until the President says the time for talking is over. This is nothing suprising in this story. And I firmly believe that if the WH disagree with the statement that came out of Foggy Bottom, then they will issue their own statement making the position of the govt. clear.

[silversky]

The TOP orders are given by king Fahd and the clerics around him. The rest are just followers of the word of Mecca. You can't object that. Anyway, check the numbers I gave in my post 77 - clear international terrorism.

[rintense]

Great. Let's hope this is a detente issue. Show all nicey nice on the surface, but help the Russians kick a$$ otherwise.

Any wish to establish talks with these bastards is equivalent to negotiating with AQ.

[DoctorMichael]

I wouldn't mind seeing him gone for allowing insipidly stupid policy pronouncements like the present one, among others, that have come come out on his watch.

In a word: Yes.

[monday]

"Folks, it's a State Department release, not a Defense Department release. It's diplomacy. Of course they're going to say this. "

Didn't hear anyone make that distinction when the RUSSIAN State department declined to back the US invasion of Iraq, urging instead negotiation? Then everyone was saying how evil Russia was. Guess it's ok for the US state dept. to excuse terrorism but not for the Russian state dept. huh?

[danamco]

Get rid of Colon Bowel and all those lib-dem Klintoon trash hiding out in that State Dept swamp, and drain it.

What don't the Foggy Bottom Skunks remember about The Slaughter at Beslan, just a few days ago?

Negotiate a political settlement? BS. Kill the terrorists, Vlad, and level Chechnya. Well heck, you know what to do.



Hey, Hey; I'm glad that you have so much more information to share with us all that the State Dept. don't know. There must be some deeper reason for that, if it's true!!!

[r9etb]

Terrorists break into a school and kill women and children and someone, somewhere on this planet thinks you can negotiate with these people? I bet 99% of all State Department employees are going to vote for Kucinich in November.

Nobody, even at the State Department, is suggesting that Putin negotiate with the terrorists who committed the atrocity at Beslen.

[Scythian]

So, you're either behind President Bush and his policies, or you are not. It's pretty darned simple.

Exactly, if this turns out to be true, then I am not behind President Bush. Again, my vote, just swung from Bush to Kerry, unless this is proved untrue, and or Bush does not back peddle from it. If true, Bush just lost the election as soon as this hits the major networks, his consistancy message is gone, the killing of children in school is not a matter of diplomacy, ever, ever, ever.