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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epsteinbd who wrote (54921)	10/27/2002 10:36:52 AM
From: carranza2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Then, and just to make matters worse... The shooting in the theater lasted for an hour or so... and no Russian trooper died or was even hurt ? (Same with hostages!) So, what was all the shooting about ? The Russian security forces were probably killing the terrorists. There were many explosions heard by reporters during that hour : yet there are no blasted bodies. So, what were the explosions about ? Flash/bang grenades, probably. It sure looks like the Chechens were bluffing. I seriously doubt it. You don't bluff an ex-KGB chief--I wouldn't. The loss of the hostages was probably a result of not having on-scene medical care to take care of the hostages whose respiration was affected by inhaled vomit resulting from the effects of the gas. A failing, no doubt, but a negligent one, not malicious nor intentional. In the stress of the moment, it is likely that someone forgot about this potential effect. My opinions only.

To: epsteinbd who wrote (54921)	10/27/2002 11:58:24 AM
From: Nadine Carroll	Respond to of 281500

Now I don't say that it isn't fair for them to die. It's just that they were murdered. Possibly twice gassed then shot. Didn't Putin ignited the chemical war here ? Did he have a choice ? We are bound to see developments on this aspect It is also true (unfortunately) that one way to render terrorism less effective is to consider hostages as "casualties of war", saving only as many as you can manage while defeating the terrorists. This lessens the value of hostages to the next set of terrorists. It will be interesting to follow the Russian FA attitudes toward Saudia in the following days and weeks. If many of the Chechens are from Saudia and AQ, some princes are going to get their ears pulled in an unusual (read non American) way. I'll be watching for signs of it. The German papers are already reporting that the Chechen hostage-takers are AQ training camp alumni.