September 7, 2004
NOT ANOTHER COWBOY!
Angry Putin rejects public Beslan inquiry (Jonathan Steele, The Guardian, Tuesday)
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, last night refused to order a public inquiry into how the Beslan school was captured by gunmen and then ended with such a high death toll, and told the Guardian that people who call for talks with Chechen leaders have no conscience."Why don't you meet Osama bin Laden, invite him to Brussels or to the White House and engage in talks, ask him what he wants and give it to him so he leaves you in peace? Why don't you do that?" he said with searing sarcasm.
"You find it possible to set some limitations in your dealings with these bastards, so why should we talk to people who are childkillers?
"No one has a moral right to tell us to talk to childkillers," he added.
Well, to answer your question directly, Vladimir, if you were a sophisticated European progressive who understood all the complexities, you would see that is exactly what you should do. Haven’t you ever heard about root causes? Pity about the kids, but we’re talking HUMAN RIGHTS, here. What about the Chechen street?
Posted by Peter Burnet at September 7, 2004 6:18 AM
And when Russia flattens an entire city in retaliation will the press notice this and compare it to Bush and the US who have bent over backward not to kill non-combatents? Probably not.
Posted by: AWW at September 7, 2004 8:18 AMBush shouldn't have to talk to child-killers, correctly in my view. Putin shouldn't have to talk to child-killers, correctly in my view.
WHY SHOULD ARIEL SHARON HAVE TO TALK TO CHILD-KILLERS?
Posted by: Bart at September 7, 2004 8:24 AMI like the part about Putin blasting the US for the role it plays in Chechen terror.
On the other hand, what are friends for?
Posted by: Barry Meislin at September 7, 2004 8:34 AMPutin's problem is much bigger than one city in Chechnya - see WindsOfChange for an excellent round-up on exactly who is fighting in the Caucasus.
Russia has already been down the road of 'scorched earth'. They have to do something different this time.
Posted by: jim hamlen at September 7, 2004 8:42 AMAmerica has wrongfully sided with the Eurotrash in pressuring Russia to be soft on Chechnya. This is a function of Saudi influence in DC, with its armies of bought and paid for politicos, lobbyists and bureaucrats.
This hypocrisy, not unlike that which the Israelis and Serbs are victimized by, does not go unnoticed in the Kremlin. And it most definitely should not go unnoticed.
Posted by: Bart at September 7, 2004 8:44 AMJim, but they haven't tried the "glowing earth" method yet.
Posted by: ray at September 7, 2004 10:01 PM