Moscow

you guys heard about that theater in Moscow that gone taken over by Chechnyan rebels? theres about 600 hostages, one killed already. the rebels demand is that the russian troops be pulled out of Chechnya. what do you guys think about this? i think that one country having their military in another country in a time of unofficial war (i use unofficial meaning the war isnt officially declared) is wrong. but then again so is war

I know none of the reasons on both sides. But Russia isnt going to pull out. But they cant let the people die. Its a catch 22. were gona see how a catch 22 ends.

We can ask the simple question, who is right and who is wrong but as far as I can see it’s more a question of how stop the killing. As far as I can see it’s a bit like the Irish situation, where the chechnyan rebels feel that the only way to gain independence is through unconventional war, something not wanted by russia. I would like to think that if I was in their situation I would never take innocent people hostage but sometimes drastic action is needed for drastic change. It may be the only way to get the international community to take action of some sort to help resolve the conflict. As far as I can see this should have been solved a long time ago.

agreed, you summed it up better than i did. But i still view the situation as a catch 22 and i think ill finnaly learn how to resolve one through watching what happens.

ok first lets set the record straight, if Al Quead are terrorists the Chechns are terrorists, they are trying to use terror tactics to persuade a people/government, they are terrorists. secondly, it is almost certain that no Chechn will leave that theater alive if they start the killings, the building is surrounded by Spetznaz, who by the Pentagon’s own admission are far better soldiers than Delta Force (e.g. they don’t need laser designators to fight a war).

as for the situation in Chechnya, yes the war is illegal, but so to was Vietnam, Panama, Grenada, etc etc. - the americans have absolutly no credibility in labelling a conflict illegal. although the current situation in need of resolving is the hostage crisis, which is the Chechns fault, whether or not they are there as revenge for another attack. they are the terrorists and by the american definition have “absolutly no footing for such a henious crime”, hell by america’s own definition it’s a wonder that Delta force aren’t suiting up to kill the “Rebels”.

Stop talking bollocks and admit that the Chechns are terrorists, just like the Russians, Americans, British, Irish, Israelies and Palestinians. it solves nothing by adding tags, what will solve something is stopping this violence or there will alot of toe tags on young soliders comming home.

ok, so lets break the situation down a bit…you’re a checnian, camping out in Georgia, your home city has been destroyed, your home, workplace, friends are dead, and your future is looking pretty bleak because your fellow countrymen wanted independence.

It’s not exactly a new revelation…you thought the russians would get the point when your countrymen fought with the germans in ww2, but for some unknown reason they wont let you have your “freedom” (for want of a better word). Now you know that fighting is wrong because suprisingly enough you were actually brought up with some morals but when you’re forced to live in another country because yours is riddled with armed troops that will pull their trigger at the first thing that gives them a fright, because they really don’t want to be there, and all they want to do is stay alive, serve their time in “hell” (for want of a better word) and go home and carry on their career as an accountant.

So you’ve no home, no job, because you’re from chechnya, and why??? Now as nice as it sounds and all, that you might fight for your countries independence through diplomatic means and by raising international awareness that hasn’t really worked in the last fifty years and doesn’t exactly look like a light at the end of the tunnel. So, I don’t know about you, but seeing as I’ve never been in the situation I’m not going to rule out the possibility of me performing terroristic acts. So, until you’ve actually been through the situation, don’t be so quick to condemn those actions of others. They have not the positions we have in life. We cannot imagine what they have been through or what they are feeling.

Yours truly, the man behind behind the mask

While I am for freedom. Not every person/country will get it. Sadly in this world some will be pressing othes will be opressed.

And now with this situation is over. with 100 people dead we see the result of a catch 22. The catch was people are gona die vs people are dead. And we see both. Some mysterious gas sweeps in killing 100 civilians on scene. Not the best way to do it, but its the only way they did it.

anonymous i never condemned anyone. as a matter of fact, im sure that i would resort to something like this if i were in that situation.

what really pisses me off is that the other people i talk to about this (mostly just my friends) think that the russians are stupid for doing what they did to free the hostages. now, im not saying i think that it was necesary for those 100 people to die from the gas, but what else should they have done? lets put ourselves in that situation for a minute, shall we?

-if you withdraw the troops (which i think they should have done,) other countries will assume you are weak and perhaps try to conquer russia.
but if you keep the troops in chechnya, you have more dangerous options:
-sit it out and wait for an opportunity or forgein aid, risking that the chechnyans will continue to kill hostages.
-get the troops ready and storm in guns blazing, risking that a chechnyan may set off a bomb, killing everyone. this also risks hostages getting killed in crossfire.
-gas the building and hope for the best.

what would you have done?

oh, I agree with you completly! As someone already said its a catch 22 situation. Obviously I dont know all the options the russians had (gas etc) but considering their options they didnt do too badly. I would have considered pulling the troops out of Checyna a long time ago but its a bit like the Israel Palistine conflict. You can see the reasons behind everyones actions and they all seem reasonably logical but just impossible to solve the conflict as a whole as even if you stop the war you cant stop the hatred quite so easily.