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Russia’s 9/11
allows Putin to see the light
By Joshua Bunton
It’s morning and you’ve just completed the “routine” of getting the kids up, fed
and off to school. Nothings different than any other day or is it?
For parents who sent their children to school in the town of Beslan, Russia
(republic of North Ossetia),
this day would be no ordinary day.
On September 1, 2004 about 20 armed men and women of “Chechen” decent seized
control of the school in Beslan.
These “Chechen” terrorists held school children as hostages unless Russia freed
prisoners.
If the prisoners were not released or Russia decided to storm the school,
terrorists threatened to blow themselves up killing whoever was around.
On September 3, Russian commandos heard a series of explosions in the school’s
gymnasium and stormed the school. The end result was some of the terrorists got
away, while some blew themselves up. Four hundred people died in this standoff,
the majority of which were innocent school children.
President Putin addressed Russia in a televised speech on Saturday.
I personally didn’t see Putin’s televised speech. I did, however, read the
excerpts. What I find most remarkable is Putin’s own admission that Russia
failed to recognize the complexity and dangerous nature of the processes taking
place in our own country and the world in general.
World net Daily reports this attack could have been based on a document called
“The terrorism roadmap,” written by Abdel Aziz Al Moqrin, leader of al-Qaida's
Saudi Arabian cell, who was killed in June, which provides a detailed and
simplified "Kidnapping for Dummies" guide.
The three main categories in this book are:
· "How to deal with hostages," advises the following: Separate the young people
from the old, the women and the children. The young people have more strength;
hence their ability to resist is high. The security forces must be killed
instantly. This prevents others from showing resistance.
· “Speak in a language or dialect other than your own, in order to prevent
revealing your identity.”
· Wire the perimeter of the hostage location to deny access to the enemy."
Furthermore, new details are emerging about the terrorists themselves.
Authorities have confirmed that at least 10 of the 32 supposedly "Chechen"
terrorists were Arab nationals.
A statement has been made on the Internet reportedly by a group loyal to Osama
bin Laden's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri that backs Russian claims that
international Islamic terrorist groups were involved in the school siege in
Beslan.
Whether or not these attacks have Osama bin Laden’s fingerprints on them at this
point is irrelevant. Terrorism has struck at the heart of Russia and has taken
the lives of a country’s greatest treasure, its children.
As Putin said, "Sept. 3 in Russia is the equivalent of Sept. 11 in the U.S."
Joshua Bunton is a freelance writer and businessman in Indianapolis. He is
interested in current events and contributes op-ed articles to various websites.
Joshua receives e-mail at jbunton@readjjb.com
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