Beslan: One year on….

[Mancunian]

1st September 2005 sees the 1st anniversary of the Beslan school siege.

I watched a harrowing documentary on BBC last night, ‘Children of Beslan’. The child survivors of the siege gave their own accounts of what happened over the three days in September 2004. As one 8 year old boy says: 'We're not the same happy kids we used to be. Even little ones became adults. Now, kids understand everything'. Another showed us where his father was shot and then thrown out of the window. Another explained how he was splattered with someone’s brains when he tried to escape. There were many more horrible but real stories.

“…in September 2004, Shamil Basayev claimed credit for planning the appalling tragedy at a school in Beslan, North Ossetia. His letter to Chechen website Kavkaz Center claimed that the multiethnic hostage-takers included two Arabs (not ten, as original leaked reports indicated) and a frightful sampling of militants from nearly all of the North Caucasian peoples, including one ethnic Russian. To date, the body count from Beslan stands at nearly 350, the majority of them children. Some believe the raid was carried out in North Ossetia not to show Basayev's reach outside of Chechnya, but to rekindle animosities between the Ossetes and neighbouring Ingush, who fought a short but brutal civil war over the disputed raion of Prigorodny in 1992. The Ossetes are primarily Orthodox Christian, while the Ingush share the same religion, language, and during the Soviet era, the same republic with the Chechens.” ​

http://www.diacritica.com/sobaka/dossier/basayev.html

Basayev fights for his own cause and Chechnya’s independence (although another reference in the link above suggests the people he wants to liberate would rather kill him) but he fights by killing innocent women and children.

Now, I am against the war in Iraq because I believe the reasons given for attacking hid another agenda (I think most people can agree on that part, but some of you still think it’s worth invading), but the authorities would have little trouble persuading me to support the Russian government in a concerted effort to crush Shamil Basayev and the other Chechen warlords.

My question is, if policing the world is our intention, why are we not spending more time helping the Russians catch these b*stards?

http://www.terrorists-suck.org/why_suck/images/dead_children_beslan.jpg

 

[cnredd]

1st September 2005 sees the 1st anniversary of the Beslan school siege....

I am not donning my "Moderator" robes here...This is more of a suggestion...

Some people may not have the stomach for pictures such as this...

In the future, I suggest providing a link to the picture and a warning that it contains graphic material...

That way, the person reading your comments can use their own discretion as to whether or not they want to see what you want them to...

Thank you:2wave:

 

[Mancunian]

I am not donning my "Moderator" robes here...This is more of a suggestion...

Some people may not have the stomach for pictures such as this...

In the future, I suggest providing a link to the picture and a warning that it contains graphic material...

That way, the person reading your comments can use their own discretion as to whether or not they want to see what you want them to...

Thank you:2wave:

Noted

I thought I could edit the post but can't see how??

In fact, I can edit this one but not the original?

 

[Mancunian]

I didn't see this earlier on but it seems ABC news had little trouble finding Basayev!

http://www.siberianlight.net/siberianlight/2005/08/chechenpress_ha.html
http://chechenpress.co.uk/english/news/2005/08/08/01.shtml

Comments?

 

[cnredd]

Noted

I thought I could edit the post but can't see how??

In fact, I can edit this one but not the original?

There is a 10-minute "edit" window before it becomes concrete...

I changed the picture to a "link" of the picture for you...:2wave:

 

[Mancunian]

There is a 10-minute "edit" window before it becomes concrete...

I changed the picture to a "link" of the picture for you...

Very kind. Thanks :lol:

 

[superskippy]

My question is, if policing the world is our intention, why are we not spending more time helping the Russians catch these b*stards?

The Russians are fighting a war that makes the insurgency in Iraq look like a fly. Every day gun battles and bombings occur all across the region and fighting is spilling out into other regions, Plane Bombings, Car Bombings, Bus Bombings, Gun Battles, Subway Bombings, Open Warfare. These are common occurences and it is no police action, but Russian war action, the Russians are dealing with it themselves how they see fit, the Islamic Fundimentalists in Chechnya are fighting a war against Russia, and Russia is not going to pull out of this region like they did in many others, they are here to stay as they demonstrated when Russian Tanks stormed into Grozney. It's a war that Russia can handle better on it's own, adding American elements would only inflame the intensity of the conflict as I'm sure you would agree. The methods Russia uses to claim victory are unorthidox and cause Amnesty International to wail, but after the Plane Bombings, and Subway Bombings and Beslan siege no one really gives a damn what Russia does to achieve victory, and for good reason.

 

[superskippy]

Sorry for the double post but to give you an example 11 hours ago 6 Chechens were killed in a Raid, and 16 hours ago a terror group was destroyed in the village of Novoterskoye, they had caches of shoulder launched grenade launchers, and sub-machine guns.

 

[Mancunian]

My question is, if policing the world is our intention, why are we not spending more time helping the Russians catch these b*stards?

The Russians are fighting a war that makes the insurgency in Iraq look like a fly. Every day gun battles and bombings occur all across the region and fighting is spilling out into other regions, Plane Bombings, Car Bombings, Bus Bombings, Gun Battles, Subway Bombings, Open Warfare. These are common occurences and it is no police action, but Russian war action, the Russians are dealing with it themselves how they see fit, the Islamic Fundimentalists in Chechnya are fighting a war against Russia, and Russia is not going to pull out of this region like they did in many others, they are here to stay as they demonstrated when Russian Tanks stormed into Grozney. It's a war that Russia can handle better on it's own, adding American elements would only inflame the intensity of the conflict as I'm sure you would agree. The methods Russia uses to claim victory are unorthidox and cause Amnesty International to wail, but after the Plane Bombings, and Subway Bombings and Beslan siege no one really gives a damn what Russia does to achieve victory, and for good reason.

You’re right and sending our troops in isn’t the answer. However, the fact that ABC news were able to interview Basayev a month ago suggests he isn’t elusive, yet this man’s terrorist acts put him up there with bin Laden.

If we are fighting a ‘war on terror’ (personally, I think the phrase is used as a smokescreen to gain support for other agenda’s but that’s another thread!) at least if we want to appear to be fighting a war on terror, we have to catch terrorists and this one is a damn big fish. The Russians have been trying to catch him for years and have been unsuccessful. I understand why Mr Babitsky is distrustful of the Russian authorities and so didn’t inform them of his interview with Basayev but perhaps if we were involved, at least in regard to gathering intelligence, he could have informed someone else (CIA, MI5?) of Basayev’s whereabouts.

Am I being naive? :unsure13:

 

[superskippy]

My guess is that it was exactly like the Interview with Bin Laden, the Journalist had no idea where he was going, Blindfold, driving in circles for a while etc.