"Putin cannot escape blame for Beslan"

For Vladimir Putin, the end of the school siege at Beslan in North Ossetia could prove to be the defining moment in his presidency. It will now be very difficult for him to wriggle free of the accusation that he has the blood of innocent children on his hands. As the debriefings and investigations continue, the Russian president will argue that the violence was prompted by the Chechen terrorists who provided the trigger event by shooting at escaping children – leaving the Russian security forces with no option but to respond – but the casualties are still his responsibility. However, there was clearly no formulated plan and so much was wrong with the operation that questions are bound to be asked about the Russian government’s attitude to internal security in the face of a bitter separatist war which has been waged since 1994 and has cost more than 100,000 lives.

Putin came to power in 1999 promising to wield the mailed fist at the separatists. A wave of Chechen attacks against Russian civilian targets had prompted nationwide fear and dismay and there were widespread calls for something to be done. Sensing the mood, the incoming president, a judo black belt, responded with a brutal military offensive which caused huge numbers of casualties and only exacerbated the sense of grievance felt by the Chechens. A bitter counter-insurgency war followed and although Russia’s tactics were regularly criticised in the West, the complaints were muted in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks as Putin began claiming that Russia’s policy was simply part of the war against global terrorism.

Sadistic_Bastard said:
It's not you saying it, it's just you dispersing it.

Leaving aside the urgent need to begin a political dialogue with the various Chechen groups which are taking part in the armed struggle, Russia desperately needs to overhaul its approach to dealing with terrorist attacks. As the bloody end to the school siege showed, the security forces have little clear concept of anti-terrorist tactics. That much became apparent in October 2002 when “Spetsnaz” and “Alpha” special forces stormed a besieged theatre in Moscow where hostages were being held by Chechen terrorists. In the resulting action, nerve gas was used to disable the hostage-takers but there was no antidote and 129 hostages plus 41 terrorists were killed. The operation revealed a lack of realistic planning and a complete absence of any contingency plans. Nobody doubts the courage and professionalism of the Russian special forces, but they operate by a different military ethos in which the result is everything and casualties are simply a by-product of a bloody business.

bean said:
I don't think the article is saying