In breaking news today it turns out that the Russian school stand-off has had a tragic ending:
From CNN.com:
Journalists report seeing about 100 corpses in the burned-out school gym where hundreds of students, teachers and parents were held hostage for two days in a southern Russian school. Russian troops stormed the building today and a gunbattle continues at the school.
A local official from Russia's FSB intelligence service told Russian media the troops had been ready for a long siege.
But the forces stormed the building around midday after Russian officials, under a cease-fire agreement with militants, tried to collect bodies lying outside the building.
There was an explosion, hostages fled, and hostage-takers opened fire on the children and rescue workers. One of the workers was killed and another was wounded.
More here: '100 bodies' in siege school
Incidents like this just tend to remind me how important this election is. President Bush has shown his resolve to bring terrorists like this to justice, and to make a safer world for everyone, especially our children. I'm not so sure that his opponent would deal with situations like this with the same resolve that Bush would. He has said he would "respond to any terror attacks", but what about tracking down these terrorists before these things happen?
Unfortunately it is too late for the poor families that have lost young ones in this stand-off in Russia, but we can't take things for granted here at home either. If we do we could end up having a tragedy just as bad or worse.
As Powerlineblog.com puts it:
It is hard to imagine that there are many Americans too dull-witted to understand that this kind of attack is in store for us unless we track terrorists down where they live and kill them first.
Update:
More thoughts on the tragedy from PeakTalk:
In 1976 South Moluccan terrorists seized a Dutch school and held teachers and children hostage for a few days. They forced the children to stand in front of the window and call on the then Prime-Minister that they “wanted to live”. That was as far as it went; the terrorists lacked the cold blooded pathology to harm any of the children physically. Thankfully, the children were released unharmed and Dutch marines sized the school with the remaining teachers in a raid where no one was hurt. That was the mid-1970s and this is 2004 where the seizing of a school by Chechen rebels in North Ossetia has ended in a bloodbath with reports of the terrorists, with an Arab contingent among them, firing on fleeing children. Words fail me, but in three years we have moved from flying planes into office towers to executing children, you have to wonder what’s next, and where.
Indeed.
UPDATE II:
Some of the story is starting to come out now. These terrorists don't seem human - how could you do these things to other humans? How could your heart become so filled with hate?
Holding up the corpse of a man just shot dead in front of hundreds of hostages at a Russian school, the rebel -- his pockets stuffed with ammunition and grenades -- warned: "If a child utters even a sound, we'll kill another one."
Read more here: CNN
From CNN.com:
Journalists report seeing about 100 corpses in the burned-out school gym where hundreds of students, teachers and parents were held hostage for two days in a southern Russian school. Russian troops stormed the building today and a gunbattle continues at the school.
A local official from Russia's FSB intelligence service told Russian media the troops had been ready for a long siege.
But the forces stormed the building around midday after Russian officials, under a cease-fire agreement with militants, tried to collect bodies lying outside the building.
There was an explosion, hostages fled, and hostage-takers opened fire on the children and rescue workers. One of the workers was killed and another was wounded.
More here: '100 bodies' in siege school
Incidents like this just tend to remind me how important this election is. President Bush has shown his resolve to bring terrorists like this to justice, and to make a safer world for everyone, especially our children. I'm not so sure that his opponent would deal with situations like this with the same resolve that Bush would. He has said he would "respond to any terror attacks", but what about tracking down these terrorists before these things happen?
Unfortunately it is too late for the poor families that have lost young ones in this stand-off in Russia, but we can't take things for granted here at home either. If we do we could end up having a tragedy just as bad or worse.
As Powerlineblog.com puts it:
It is hard to imagine that there are many Americans too dull-witted to understand that this kind of attack is in store for us unless we track terrorists down where they live and kill them first.
Update:
More thoughts on the tragedy from PeakTalk:
In 1976 South Moluccan terrorists seized a Dutch school and held teachers and children hostage for a few days. They forced the children to stand in front of the window and call on the then Prime-Minister that they “wanted to live”. That was as far as it went; the terrorists lacked the cold blooded pathology to harm any of the children physically. Thankfully, the children were released unharmed and Dutch marines sized the school with the remaining teachers in a raid where no one was hurt. That was the mid-1970s and this is 2004 where the seizing of a school by Chechen rebels in North Ossetia has ended in a bloodbath with reports of the terrorists, with an Arab contingent among them, firing on fleeing children. Words fail me, but in three years we have moved from flying planes into office towers to executing children, you have to wonder what’s next, and where.
Indeed.
UPDATE II:
Some of the story is starting to come out now. These terrorists don't seem human - how could you do these things to other humans? How could your heart become so filled with hate?
Holding up the corpse of a man just shot dead in front of hundreds of hostages at a Russian school, the rebel -- his pockets stuffed with ammunition and grenades -- warned: "If a child utters even a sound, we'll kill another one."
Read more here: CNN
Comments