- Google News-- Beslan Massacre Two Years Out
It has been two years since the tragic hostage situation at the Beslan school in North Ossetia, in which 333 people were killed, more than half of them children. A survey released this week by the independent Levada Centre in Moscow found that just 5 percent of Russians believe officials have told the whole truth about what happened during the Russian military raid of the school, which was occupied by seperatist rebels. The terrorists crammed all of the hostages into the schools gymnasium, which was then rigged with explosives. On the third day of the crisis one of the bombs exploded accidentally and the Russian troops were forced to stage a hasty assault.
Since 9/11, I have tried very hard to imagine how a terrorist network would best inflict fear in the hearts of the US public. Every time my mind starts churning out disastrous possibilities, the one the scares me above all else is the widespread, random targeting of US public and private schools. Imagine the terror one sniper from an elevated position three blocks away from a middle school playground during recess can cause, let alone a team of suiciders that take captive an entire school body. It is important to remember the lessons of Beslan as we plan to confront terror in the decades to come- I can assure you Bin-Laden and his henchmen were taking notes.
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