When did Russia join the EU? I must have missed that.

I would expect that Russia's correct and proper response will be quite similar to what Cheney said to Leahy on the Senate floor recently.

Raoul -- I was just going to say much the same thing, and I hope Putin really does consider it, or at least the Russian translation of it.

"Yob tovyu maht" would work quite well.

Europe disgusts me. Every time I think they have plumbed the depth of the term "craven." They demonstrate to me how much farther there is to go.

oj is kidding . . . this is parody . . . right?

Fred, it's worse. I listened to an interview on the BBC with one Andreas Gross, a Social Democrat German (or Austrian) head of some EU parliamentarians's committee on foreign relations.

Following a token condemnation of the terrorists, this gentleman was beside himself with moral outrage at the Russian government.

"This was inevitable!

"If you push these people against the wall, of course they will push back!

"It's like in soccer!

"After the sham elections in Chechnya, who could be surprised!"

... and the kicker...

"We Europeans are much too soft on Putin! When even someone like US Pres. Bush is more critical of Putin than our European leaders, then our moral authority is seriously compromised!"

Eugene S:

Even if you're quoting the BBC, be very careful about referring to 'soccer' in the heat of a Red Sox/Yankee pennant race.

Fred -- "on this blog!" :-)

This is a huge opportunity. There is a large community of Europhiles in the Russian apparat. Putin can appeal to the nationalist faction in Russia very effectively by giving this puny Austrian the Cheney response.

Quite simply, 'Russia is a sovereign nation and will decide how to defend its borders as we have been doing from invaders for centuries. We do not need advice from outsiders.'

Bush could easily profit from this by declaring Putin a partner in the war on terrorism, by offering any and all aid that Putin wishes to help fight the terrorists who 'threaten Mother Russia', especially by offering to work together on counterterrorism training and information sharing, by stating that he thanks G-d that he was not placed in a situation which forced him to make the difficult decision that his good friend Putin had to make, and by offering the good offices of the US to help alleviate Chechen suffering due to being caught in a crossfire created by foreign terrorists from the Arab world. A substantive action Bush could do immediately is to send the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Ankara to have a little heart-to-heart talk with the head of the Turkish military about the continued presence of Chechen terrorists(the Chechen Sinn Fein if you will) in Turkey. I do not think the head of the Turkish military needs to be reminded of Ataturk's opinion of militant Muslims. But he does need to know that the US and Russia share that opinion.

Strange! My understanding is the decision was made by the military on scene, initiated when the terrorists set off the first explosion. True they might have done so because of an attempted intervention, but how can anyone question the judgement at this time. If they are seeking information in order to respond more effectively to the next event, and there will be one, possibly in the EU or even here, the inquiry should have been couched in those terms.

Otherwise, Cheney's response would be appropriate ... "Big time."

Knowing as we do that these vermin refused these kids food and water (which was available) in stiffing conditions, can there be much doubt as to what the plan was? Those troops saved hundreds of lives. Whatever faults there were in the attack itself or how the "negotiations unfolded is for the experts to debate, not for sanctimonious politicians to use for poltical cheapshots. Boy the Euros are awful.

I'm given to understand, according to news reports, that the Russians started verbally biting off some Dutch heads after Bot's whine. A Russian Foreign Ministry official called the EU statement close to blasphemous, and it's reported they've called in the Dutch ambassador to demand an explanation from _him_.

When you try to defend the molesters of the bear's cubs, do not be surprised if you are mauled in your turn.