That's it.

If Putin were to finally take the velvet gloves off and nuke Chechnya, I don't think many people would be saddened -- OK, maybe Tom Daschle, but that's about it.

The Chechen terrorists crossed the line of rational thought today by taking over an elementary school on the first day of school. More than 400 hostages, most children, plus some parents are under the "watchful eye" of a band of masked and armed terrorists, some with suicide belts strapped to them.

Heavily armed militants wearing suicide-bomb belts seized a Russian school in a region bordering Chechnya (news - web sites) on Wednesday, taking hostage about 400 people — half of them children — and threatening to blow up the building if police storm it. At least eight people have been killed, one of them a school parent.

In a tense standoff, Russian forces wearing camouflage and carrying machine guns took up positions on the perimeter of the school in the town of Belsan. Television footage showed other men in civilian dress with light automatic rifles pacing nervously.

The terrorists have threatened "for every destroyed fighter, they will kill 50 children and for every injured fighter — 20 (children)," according to the ITAR-TASS news service.

Posted by: mhking at 05:43 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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