Oh please. Not everything has to do with 9/11, you know...
No, it has to do with Islamism, and Islamism's ongoing war with the West. The Chechen struggle may have started secular and nationalist, but it is not staying that way. This Chechen attack was preceded by a full Islamist suicide-bomber farewell videotape. You cannot ignore this. When anyone puts on that mantle, everyone else must assume that they are not kidding.
The Russian state has always had a heavy hand and here is that heavy hand at work again - improperly calculated concentration of gas, negligence, and my personal favourite, keeping secret the identity of the gas so that the patients cannot be treated.
Yes, they have a heavy hand. But in this case, the idea was sound and must be regarded as successful over all -- the terrorists are dead, most of the hostages are alive, and the building is still standing. If the Russians had used too little gas, the terrorists might have had time to blow the building. That doesn't excuse the lack of proper treatment for the survivors, but Russians are not Germans or Americans when it comes to efficiency of planning (not that we Americans have much to boast of after Waco, a disaster that the ATF had 57 days to plan for), and legacy of Soviet callousness to their own citizens is still alive. |
