Yesterday 800 hostages were captured by 40 Chechen terrorists in a theatre building in Moscow. Among the hostages are some US, Austria, England citizens, I am not sure who else. Terrorists say they will explode the building if the war in Russia is not stopped in a week or so.

The coming news are not very concrete, some sources contradict others. Some say that terrorists will kill 10 people a hour if their requirements are not fullfiled. Myself I live not in Moscow, so I can not provide full details on the matter.

What do you guys think about the topic? Does Russia have to stop the war against terrorism in Chechnya?

[ 10-24-2002, 06:16 AM: Message edited by: TaSSaDaR ]

The Russian government is equally as justified in undertaking a 'war on terrorism' in Chechnya as the US is in Afghanistan. I think the whole ' war on terrorism' label is a complete sham anyway, a way to make politico-economic war objectives appear ideological and morally sound. So no, they shouldn't stop their war any more than the Americans should. It's all a whirlpool of blood anyway, to hell with them all.

But what should we do with them terrorists, slaughtering civils, taking hostages? Exploding buildings? Not only USA is affected by them... Not only.

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Why is it when civilians are killed by suicide bombers and cheap homemade bombs it is terrorism but when civilians are killed by (Israeli or Russian) tanks or (American) planes it is legit ? Or is it more the skin color and religion of the agressor / agressed that matters ?
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Well said Warhammer. What angers me most about this situation is that the UN still tends to talk about Iraq (which is IMHO not a direct threat at the moment) instead of talking about this problem (which IS a direct threat IMHO). I mean: this is the lives of 800 people were talking about!

I do admit that every war has an impact on the local dwellers. But neither Moscow nor New York are close to war regions.

Or should terrorists go unpunished? A rather close friend of mine died on 11th September. My aunt was killed when a building was exploded in Moscow by chechens. Or should we mark the terrorists as innocents and blame our governments for all?

ADD]Link, not only 800. Numerous groups of hostages are held all through the Chechnya. They are used. As SLAVES! Is not this a violation of human rights??

The info about the hostages changes every single hour. Now, the negotiations began. Terrorists ask some well-known people to be sent as negotiators.

Luckily, terrorists released all children, pregnant women and deseased people from the building. However, the rest are not going to be released soon.

Some explosives are reported to being attached to the carrying columns that support the roof of the theatre. If they explode, all the building will collapse. That means a total slaughter of all hostages. Should the terrorists go unpunished?

[ 10-24-2002, 07:33 AM: Message edited by: TaSSaDaR ]

I think when that happens it's an accident, i don't think they kill civilians on purpose. Places like Gaza, Agghanistan and Chechnia are a warzone, and people die in warzones.

Well, the one thing you can respect about 'terrorists' is that they don't victimize themselves. They fight. They strap on their bombs, load up their guns and kill for their beliefs/wants. They don't sit around debating the moral ambiguities and the integrity of political aggendas. You want action, go take some action. Go do it yourself, get some weapons and train yourself up a little. If you put utmost faith in your government and military you have little voice for crying about things whenever they let you down. Sit back and watch these fools tear each other apart (and tear up all the innocents caught in the crossfire). To hell with the 'terrorists', and to hell with the 'legit' military retaliatory strikes.

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So it is all a question of definitions and point of views. From a Muslim/Arab point of view, Israel is performing state terrorism, Palestinians do not have sofisticated hardware so they use their own children as weapon, to counter-attack.

I also think that if A is at war on B. Than not only B is a warzone but sure as hell A is a warzone too. Thus, if Gaza, Afghanistan and Chechnia are warzones so are Israel, the US and Russia.
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[ 10-24-2002, 08:15 AM: Message edited by: Warhammer ]

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I morn your loss TaSSaDaR, I really do. My point is that two wrongs do not make one right, killing innocent Afghans, Chechens,... to compensate for the lives of those killed in by "terrorism" is like trying to turn off a fire by spilling gas on it.

The fact is the voice of the Chechens is not heard. If there were guys from chechnia on IW they would write pages about Russian Soldiers performing terrorism on their popluation. They would be mourning their loved one killed by soldiers just like you mourn your losses in NY and Moscow.
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[ 10-24-2002, 08:31 AM: Message edited by: Warhammer ]