UPDATE: Michele has organized a timeline of events with personal accounts and pictures of the Beslan siege.
UPDATE: AP: Hostage-Takers Laughed as Kids Suffered
BESLAN, Russia — Holding up the corpse of a man just shot dead in front of hundreds of hostages (search) at a Russian school, the rebel — his pockets stuffed with ammunition and grenades — warned: "If a child utters even a sound, we'll kill another one."UPDATE: AP: Experts Doubt Chechnya-Qaeda LinkWhen children fainted from lack of sleep, food and water, their masked and camouflaged captors simply sneered. In the intolerable heat of the gym, adults implored children to drink their own urine.
The Kremlin has to be certain before firmly suggesting Al-Qaeda was involved (even the slightest bit) rather than being the sole act of Chechen separatists... Spain made that mistake when the blamed ETA and it actually turned out to be Al-Qaeda. I am not suggesting Putin would do so for any political reasons, like Aznar's administration allegedly did when they were so quick to accuse ETA on the eve of the election. In reality, Putin has little to gain from IDing the terrorists as either Chechens or Al-Qaeda. Terrorism is terrorism and the government's inability to effectively address the recent string of attacks, Chechen or Al-Qaeda led, only weakens Putin's public support.
UPDATE: Eric further disects the media's inability to agree on a term to identify those..."bad men that did bad things" (E is in BOLD)
BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Some 30 brown bears have been terrorizing a Transylvanian mountain village and could delay the start of the school year, local authorities said Thursday....this makes Vince ponder:
Ah, the joy of covering the coverage between AP and Reuters as they battle over the Gold medal for terrorism coddling.No, Eric, you are neither gunman nor militant nor terrorist. You are an American, and that is probably the worst thing to be called by the media.BESLAN, Russia (AP) - The three-day hostage siege at a school in southern Russia ended in chaos and bloodshed Friday, after witnesses said Chechen militants set off bombs and Russian commandos stormed the building.Do "militants" shoot children in the back as they run from the school? Of course, as I showcased yesterday, Reuters just had to outdo the AP, although it wasn't as extreme as my parody, all I can say is that it won't be long, to wit:BESLAN, Russia (Reuters) - Russia began counting the cost on Saturday at the end of a siege of a school captured by Chechen gunmen which killed at least 200 people and cast fresh doubts on Moscow's policy in the turbulent region.See the switch?? Yesterday, in AP, they were 'gunmen' and in Reuters they were 'militants.' Now they've swapped. Maybe I should just give up and congratulate both "news" services for identifying them as Chechen. I think some serious questions need answering here.1. Since when do 'gunmen' set off bombs?
2. Since when did 'militants' go from civil disobedience to killing children?
3. When I go hunting this fall with my rifle, am I a 'gunman?'
4. If I shoot a burglar in my house, would Reuters call me a 'terrorist?'
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