Chechen Terrorist Shirks Accountability
Basayev took responsibility for organizing the school massacre and the two planes that were taken down.
But what chaps my hide is his blaming the Russian government for the deaths of the children.
“In the statement, Basayev blamed President Vladimir Putin (news – web sites) for the tragedy which he said had been brought about by Russian special forces storming the school after two days on September 3 in an operation that had been planned from the beginning.
He said the group, who held more than 1,100 people hostage inside the school, had been demanding the withdrawal of Russian forces from Chechnya (news – web sites) and, in the absence of this, the resignation of Putin.
Basayev said the group had told intermediaries who came to the school that the hostages would be given food and water and the youngest children released if the Russian side began to meet their demands.”
He made demands that he knew were never going to be met and it is upon his head and the other terrorists. When you go after children this way there is no excuse, none.
Jack's Shack September 19, 2004 at 6:08 am
I can’t place blame on Putin for this. The Chechens had every opportunity to pick a different target. They are responsible.
mquest September 19, 2004 at 5:16 am
http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=3925918
Putin needed this to happen. All those deaths only help him with his long term plans. Those children never had a chance.
Jack's Shack September 18, 2004 at 7:29 am
The Russians dissemble and reassemble as needed. It is as if the institutional memory of communism has never left.
mquest September 18, 2004 at 2:16 am
Yes the rebels were wrong to do what they did. Yes- if they never went into that building this would of never happened. But . . . .
The state run media kept telling us that they had no demands. We were even told that they were a ragtag group of idiots that had no demands because they did not think that they could take over the school. We were told that they were armatures with no clue. Now we find out they did have demands and long term planing.. The truth is gone- whatever it was.
mquest September 18, 2004 at 2:11 am
As the events unfolded prior to the horrific ending most people in that area believed that the Russian military would screw the whole thing up. (Remember how they screwed up the standoff at the society play.) They also seemed to believe that the whole chechen crackdown was wrong.
As a person that likes to view the world as a set of conspiracies- I felt that the only solution was for Russia to go in with guns blazing and kill as many people as necessary to turn the public opinion toward continuing an unpopular war. The winner in a terrible event like this can dictate what happened. I stand in disbelief that it was a single piece of tape coming unstuck that caused the Russian military to open fire on that building. The propaganda machine continues to roll in favor of the winners.
Yes the rebels were wrong to do what they did. Yes- if they never went into that building this would of never happened. But . . . .