Russia's School Siege: Now Kids Can Be Hostages (Joe Gandelman)
Joe Gandelman
The death toll is now zooming at the Russian school where terrorists took kids, their parents and their teachers hostage: 322 dead, about half of them children.
Meanwhile, a group loyal to Ayman al-Zawahiri, second-in-command to al- Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, proudly claimed responsibility for the carnage in a so-far-unverified statement posted on an Islamic Web site, Islamic Minbar: ``The killing of the Russian Crusader Butchers in Ossetia is the start of a street and gang war the heroic mujaheeden will conduct against the European security forces,'' it said.
Make no mistake about it: there are grave implications in this attack because the tactic of siezing children as hostages has not been typical, despite all other terrorists outrages, including bombings which also take young victims. It strikes to the most vulnerable in civilized society and at the heart of the sacred institution of family. Read some details of what happened with the kids and the implications of it here.
It's worth going through some of the latest details since schools are classic "soft targets" — and this is unlikely to be the last time we see this obscene tactic:
Officials are also turning up some interesting tidbits on the terrorists:
Now just try applying that to some school events in other countries...including here. But can't the kids escape?
If you look at recent terrorism history over the late 20th and early 21st centuries, it's clear that once one tactic is used it is used AGAIN. Ralph Peters writes in today's New York Post:
Read the whole thing — and weep for ALL our kids.
Meanwhile, a group loyal to Ayman al-Zawahiri, second-in-command to al- Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, proudly claimed responsibility for the carnage in a so-far-unverified statement posted on an Islamic Web site, Islamic Minbar: ``The killing of the Russian Crusader Butchers in Ossetia is the start of a street and gang war the heroic mujaheeden will conduct against the European security forces,'' it said.
Make no mistake about it: there are grave implications in this attack because the tactic of siezing children as hostages has not been typical, despite all other terrorists outrages, including bombings which also take young victims. It strikes to the most vulnerable in civilized society and at the heart of the sacred institution of family. Read some details of what happened with the kids and the implications of it here.
It's worth going through some of the latest details since schools are classic "soft targets" — and this is unlikely to be the last time we see this obscene tactic:
Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) — At least 322 people, half of them children, died at the Russian school where terrorists took hundreds of parents and pupils hostage, state news service Itar-Tass reported, citing Russian Deputy Prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky.
Russian troops stormed the school in Beslan, North Ossetia, yesterday, ending a two-day siege by militants demanding independence for neighboring Chechnya. A group linked to al-Qaeda terrorist chief Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the assault on a Middle East Web site.
``We have had many losses,'' Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a broadcast by Moscow-based Rossiya television. ``We weren't preparing to storm. The events were developing in a fast and unexpected way. This terrorist attack was special because children were attacked.''
The school raid, the biggest hostage-taking assault Russia has experienced, was the fourth Chechnya-related terrorist attack in 10 days and pushed the combined death toll to more than 300. Russian authorities have blamed international Islamic terror groups.
Officials are also turning up some interesting tidbits on the terrorists:
Of 20 gunmen killed by Russian troops at the school, 10 were from Arab countries, the Federal Security Service's Andreev said. A hostage, identified as Teimuraz, told Rossiya there were 28 people in the armed group, including women who wore camouflage uniforms.
They wired the school with explosives, he said. The armed group had demanded the separation of Chechnya from Russia, North Ossetian President Alexander Dzasokhov told AFP.
Militants took at least 1,000 people, mostly children, hostage on Sept. 1 as they assembled for the first day of the school year, an occasion celebrated in Russia with children and parents wearing their best clothes and carrying flowers for teachers.
Now just try applying that to some school events in other countries...including here. But can't the kids escape?
The two-day standoff broke into a shootout as a group of about 40 children tried to escape, Russian security forces said.
If you look at recent terrorism history over the late 20th and early 21st centuries, it's clear that once one tactic is used it is used AGAIN. Ralph Peters writes in today's New York Post:
The mass murder of children revolts the human psyche. Herod sending his henchmen to massacre the infants of Bethlehem haunts the Gospels. Nothing in our time was crueler than what the Germans did to children during the Holocaust. Slaughtering the innocents violates a universal human taboo.
Or a nearly universal one. Those Muslims who preach Jihad against the West decided years ago that killing Jewish or Christian children is not only acceptable, but pleasing to their god when done by "martyrs."
It isn't politically correct to say this, of course. We're supposed to pretend that Islam is a "religion of peace." All right, then: It's time for Muslims to stand up for the once-noble, nearly lost traditions of their faith and condemn what Arab and Chechen terrorists and blasphemers did in the Russian town of Beslan.
If Muslim religious leaders around the world will not publicly condemn the taking of children as hostages and their subsequent slaughter — if those "men of faith" will not issue a condemnation without reservations or caveats — then no one need pretend any longer that all religions are equally sound and moral.
Islam has been a great and humane faith in the past. Now far too many of its adherents condone, actively or passively, the mass murder of school kids. Instead of condemnations of the Muslim "Jihadis" responsible for butchering more than 200 women and children in cold blood, we will hear spiteful counter-accusations about imaginary atrocities supposedly committed by Western militaries.
Well, the cold fact is that Western soldiers, whether Americans, Brits, Russians or Israelis, do not take hundreds of children hostage, then shoot them in cold blood while detonating bombs in their midst. The Muslim world can lie to itself, but we need lie no longer.
Read the whole thing — and weep for ALL our kids.
I dare to be Politically Incorrect. Islam is the Religion of Death, the Religion of Slavery. The very name "Islam" or "Muslim" means "Submission", Slavery. Islam is: Totalitarian Monotheism
I will not submit.
"It's time for Muslims to stand up for the once-noble, nearly lost traditions of their faith and condemn what Arab and Chechen terrorists and blasphemers did in the Russian town of Beslan."
I totally condemn those murders and all the other atrocities of Islam, past and present.
The Muslims lost all that was noble in their past when they abandoned the Gods and Goddesses of their ancestors for the false God of Islam.
"If Muslim religious leaders around the world will not publicly condemn the taking of children as hostages and their subsequent slaughter ? if those "men of faith" will not issue a condemnation without reservations or caveats ? then no one need pretend any longer that all religions are equally sound and moral."
No, they most certainly are not, not in my dogma anyway. Religions are _not_ equal. Judaism and Christianity and Objectivist atheism are, both ethically and theologically, superior to Islam, just as Polytheism is, theologically, superior even to Judaism and Christianity and Objectivist atheism. There is _no_ equality. period. Equality is a Politically Correct delusion.
"Islam has been a great and humane faith in the past."
There was a brief period in Islam's history when this was so, i.e., when Islam was influenced by other religions and philosophies, Hinduism in India, Zoroastrianism in Persia, Aristotle in the Near East, North Africa, and Spain. During that brief time, Muslims were more humane to Jews than were Christians in Europe.
But that age is long past and Islam has long gone back to being the totalitarian monstrosity that Muhammad originally founded it to be. It is now the mortal Enemy of America and the West and of all non-Muslim religions and civilizations, and we must recognize it as such and deal with it accordingly. We are at War.
"Religions are _not_ equal. Judaism and Christianity and Objectivist atheism are, both ethically and theologically, superior to Islam, just as Polytheism is, theologically, superior even to Judaism and Christianity and Objectivist atheism."
I stand by that statement. I know that Arnold Harris, Mark Noonan, Scott Harris, and others whom I respect will disagree with that last part, and I respect their convictions even if I disagree with them.
You can get more details on my blog, but basically it's like this:
There are 2 billion Muslims. If Islam was our enemy we would have been wiped out a long time ago.
The enemy is an ideology wrapped in a religious cloak. It is exactly the same as all of the other fatal isms we have been up against.
Fascism wrapped itself in religion, but religion was always a predicate to nationalistic fervor. Fascism was used to commit unfathomable atrocities.
Communism wrapped itself in the prophetical teachings of Marx (another ism), but marxism was always a predicate to a workers paradise. Communism was used to commit unfathomable atrocities.
Islam-ism is no different.
With what, Joel? Rocks? :) Numbers aren't everything. Take the battle of Plassey, for example... And Islam hasn't done much innovation in the past thousand years.
But I agree with your main point; we aren't up against Islam, but (my preference) Islamofascism.
BTW, Steve, you really should check your meds. You've been coming up with these over-the-top, absolute, black-and-white proclimations for a while now. Yes, "Islam" means "submission," but where is it written that this means slavery?
If I marry a woman, and submit to the demands of marriage, am I now a slave? If a politician runs for office and loses, is she a slave for submitting herself to the people's will?
Are soldiers slaves because they submit themselves to the orders of their superior officers?
Can you say the same thing about Christians, because they submit themselves to Jesus, or God?
What about those who devote their entire lives to helping their fellow men and women, in an act of submission to the needs of society? Are they slaves?
Whoops, hold on! Just caught Joel in a boo-boo. :)
"Fascism wrapped itself in religion..." Um, no. While Fascism provided lip-service to Christianity, truly Fascist countries ended up with Christians as their opponents, even in Italy. No Fascist state could ever tolerate Christian organizations over the long run as the Fascist could not tolerate any competition for the sole and absolute allegiance of the "people."
No you didn't catch me in a Boo Boo - you just said better exactly what I meant. You also, handily, underscore my overall point. It's not about religion - it's an ideology.
Thanks for helping - sincerely.
Again I highly recomend The Battle for God for a concise but complete overview of fundamentalism in the major religions.
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.