Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal: A Weblog

maybe the Russians will negotiate with the terrorists instead of ignoring their plight. The Russian gov't ignores other nationality, other people.
Violence gets attention. The Russians aka Soviets colonized many of these nations. Is anyone surprised that payback is on the menu now? What of all the children killed by the Soviets? Who can remember that?

My sympathies go to the people of Beslan and Russia. Russia must stand up to these terrorists and the world must provide them with assistance. Perhaps the west should take a long hard look at itself because the acts of killing innocent civilians and children were commited by moslem terrorists in Kosovo and they turned a blind eye as well as providing the arms to do it. Now those moslem terrorists feel these intimidating acts worked in kosovo they can apply the same tactics for chechnya. Why does the west look to Putins policy in Checenya as the reason that children are killed. There is no reason to kill children, why cant they fight armed russian soldiers that are staioned in chechnya, its because those terrorists are evil people once and for all.

155 children. Dead.

Goddamn, confound and fuck all those responsible.

While we shed a tear for the innocents killed yesterday in Beslan, let us also remeber the scores of thousands of innocent Chechyns who have been killed by the Russians over past decade, and who are stil being killed out of sight of the Western media.

One hopes that in the end there will be justice not only for the Chechyn terrorists and Yeltsin and Putin, but also for the likes of Clinton and Bush, who, for reasons of cynical political calculation, did nothing to stop the slaughter.

Latest is 330 dead and 260 missing.

Steve Renko,

Sir, I'ld suggest you brush up on your facts. Chechnya was a part of Russia before the communist revolution. As for their plight, perhaps their beef should be with Basayev who invaded Dagestain in august of 1999, when Chechnya had de facto independence.

Arnold,

...but also for the likes of Clinton and Bush, who, for reasons of cynical political calculation, did nothing to stop the slaughter.

It's not that simple. UN is impotent and refuses to do anything. There's real genocide going in Sudan and UN is doing nothing right now. Also, when we invaded Iraq to depose the ruler who was slaughtering his own people we got some people upset and were called unilateral.

We have to make a choice, Arnold. Either we are multilateral and do nothing, or we're unilateral and do what's right. What say you?

"We have to make a choice, Arnold. Either we are multilateral and do nothing, or we're unilateral and do what's right. What say you?"

Googling the White House website I can't find anything that indicates that the GWB administration is willing to go it alone and do what's right in Sudan. The impotence and inactivity claim is certainly correct but it is not limited to the UN.

ogmb,

We are already over extended in Iraq and Afghanistan. The rest of the civilized world needs to pick up the slack. France, who's the most outspoken in its criticism of US, hasn't done a thing. They sure acted fast when their interests in the Ivory Coast were threatened. Unfortunately, Europe is high on rhetoric, little on action. Why did they need our presence in their own backyard (Balkans), anyway? Can't they do *anything* on their own?

Putin today blames the collapse of the Soviet Union for the weakness of the security services. Guess what's in store for the rest of Russia? A return to the police state. Maybe it looks more like the 19th Century version but I suspect not. Fodder for good novels in 2030s?

Sadly we are doing same here. Only novelists win. Right, Mr. Baker?

Shorter wren. If the Islamistas killed 2000 kids a month and we kept our freedoms, it would be worth it.

NB I have an 11-year-old and I live in Manhattan.

My comment was made specifically with regard to the United States' position on the Russian war on Chechnya. My recollection was that Clinton essentially gave Yeltsin a free pass, positioning it as an internal matter. I find the notion that the US wasn't able to exert any influence on the conduct of the war in 1994-96 absurd. Bush has been even worse, neatly folding Chechnya into the broader 'War on Terror' and rewriting history so it comes out as the sort of nonsense that Mr. Owen writes above.

neatly folding Chechnya into the broader 'War on Terror'

Actually, putting Chechnya into the "War on Terror" folder would bes pretty accurate if you look at the facts. The whole conflict was engineered with arab money. Look. Chechnya had its de facto independence untill Basayev chose to invade Dagestan in 1999. He wanted to establish a Taliban like state.

Chechens have been trying to return to normal life for a while now. There are many more chechens being killed in Chechnya, daily, then russians by these rebels. Teachers, gov't officials, policemen, etc.

Chechens, traditionally, do not practice wahhabism . Arabs began exporting it in the early 90's. Can you name one rebel leader that's not a wahhabi? Thought so.

Read this.

SLS: "We are already over extended in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Thanks for making my point.

"Can you name one rebel leader that's not a wahhabi?"

How about Aslan Maskhadov, the elected president of Chechnya, who favors negotiations with Russia and has always been rebuffed by Putin?

Look, the Russians conquered Chechnya in the 19th century, and every time they get a chance to, they rebel against Russian rule. During World War II, Stalin deported the entire population to Central Asia, and half of them died. Most of them didn't get to come back until the 60's.

I think it is perfectly understandable why the Chechens don't want to be part of Russia, and treating this as another front on the war on terror is misguided.

Hektor, ogmb,

Maskhadov is partners with Basayev. Not only did he not do anything to stop Basayev's invasion of Dagestan, but he refused to even denounce him after the invasion took place.

Some say that Maskhadov has no real power amongst the "rebels". As for Stalin, he deported them cause they sided with the Nazis in the World War 2.

ogmb,

I don't see what your "point" has to do with the topic at hand. The reality is that those who pretended to care the most about civilians when we invaded Iraq, are the ones who are not doing anything about Sudan.

Can we stop the "blame game", please ? Who is to blame won't make anybody dead alive again and stop the conflict. I am sure both sides can point to plenty of atrocities and unsavory actions of the other side.

I believe a lasting solution to the problem will have to be political. And that means talking to even to terrorists, as much as that grates against any moral principles. Politics is that "dirty game" of compromise.

Kill the terrorists dead!

Wipe the scum off the face off this earth.

Let the scum die a horrible death.

I can't wait to read what Putin is going to do in response to this cowardly action by the scumbag garbage who took over a middle school to broadcast their terrorist aims.

Destroy them!!!

Chechnya is a internal part of Russia and no one has the right to interfere, not even the WEST. Chechens are not only a Russian problem they have been linked with al qaeda, hezbelloah and other terrorist organisations, so in reality the Russians should be supported by everyone who is against terrorism. I support the Russians 110% against the checen terrorist scumbag and i hope they are successful. Good Luck Russia!

Please people... wake up... there are no "accidents" in this universe. we are all being played as skillfully as Shakespeare's plays appear...on a global scale. No more gold and silver (value) behind our currency; serious talk of a United Nations "One World Order" and while we witness the "sacrifices" of troops, civilians and children, history takes me back to the "sacrifices" in the arenas of Rome so long ago... to the elite, blood sacrifice has always played a major part in their religions. History repeats itself, everything looks different but nothing changes. we have sacrificed our future for our gains today... that's simply old lessons relearned... and so we trip thru each day at the mall searching for new clothes. duh!

To add some balance to this discussion, I recommend this article (http://slate.msn.com/id/2106287/) posted at Slate.com yesterday.

Dr. Delong:

Why the absolutist rhetoric about us all being Russians? Shouldn't you approach this issue with the same analytical rigor and skepticism you bring to economics and other political questions?

"We are all Russians" is the sort of unhelpful sentimentality I would expect to hear from the Bushies. The question is not whether we are all Russians, which is meaningless anyway. The quesiton is how we avoid such disaster in the future. I would be willing to bet big that the answer does not involve a reliance on absolutes.

And who cares what the Mufti says? The force of a religion is not determined by its sacred texts or self-appointed leaders. Religion is as religion does. Islam is a cause of great violence, just like Christianity. Like Christianity, Islam inspires murder. That is its TRUTH. TRUE Islam does indeed involve murder. Such is inherent in the irrationality of religion.