Despite the obvious immorality in taking a school full of children hostage, the Chechen militants ensconced in the school have put the Russian government in a delicate situation. While it is in their best interests to solve the standoff as soon as possible, I doubt the Russian public would allow them to use the same tactics that resolved the Nord-Ost theatre crisis in Moscow. I assume that the unidentified fentanyl-derived gas used to disable the terrorists in the theatre would be even deadlier to the young children that make up the majority of hostages. On the other hand, Putin has repeatedly stated that he will not negotiate with the Chechen rebels, including the moderate Aslan Maskhadov. If both the government and the hostage-takers are unable to compromise, I am not sure that this crisis can have a positive resolution.
-
‹ Home
-
Meta
Contents
-
Archives
- June 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004
- November 2004
- October 2004
- September 2004
- August 2004
- July 2004
- June 2004
- May 2004
- April 2004
- March 2004
- February 2004
- January 2004
- December 2003
Bookmarks
The Beslan Trial and the Dangers of Government Secrecy
It has been almost a year since the fatal hostage situation in Beslan (see posts here and here). Only one of the hostage-takers, a young man named Nurpashi Kulayev, survived the storming of the school by Russian security forces. Both Slate and The Gua…