Gee, those nice Arabs are at it again. Very poor public relations,
guys.

You know, Russia's government could easily enrich itself now that it's
about to let Yukos fall into its hands ("it was an accident,
comrade"). Russia is a major petroleum producer. Imagine how much
better it would do economically if it destroyed the oil infrastructure
of the nations from whom the Arab terrorists came.

Something else that could be done is described at bottom. There's
mention of Ma'alot there, by the way, something appropriate here.

...

FSB Says Half of Killed Beslan Terrorists Were Arabs

FSB North Ossetian chief Valery Andreyev says that twenty
hostage-takers have been killed in Beslan; ten of them turned out to
have come to Russia from Arab countries, RIA Novosti reported.

Aslambek Aslakhanov, advisor to the Russian president, quoted a
different figure, saying only nine were Arabs, RIA Novosti writes.

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2004/09/03/arabs.shtml


Terrorist group included 9 Arabs

According to information from Aslanbek Aslakhanov, an advisor to the
President of Russia, nine of the killed militants were from Arab
countries.

http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20040903194448.shtml


'Arabs' among hostage takers

Regional president Alexander Dzasokhov said the hostage-takers had
demanded that Russian troops leave Chechnya, the first clear
indication of their demands and of a direct link between Wednesday's
attack and the ongoing war in the neighboring region. Aslanbek
Aslakhanov, an adviser to Putin on Chechnya, said nine of the
militants who were killed were mercenaries from Arab countries, the
Interfax news agency reported.

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1583610,00.html


Russia school siege: Nine Arab attackers killed

Ten genmen were killed in the violence, including nine Arabs, an aide
to President Vladimir Putin said, according to the Interfax news
agency. The Arab presence among the attackers would support Putin's
claim that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network was involved in the
Chechen conflict, where Muslim fighters have been fighting Russian
forces in a brutal a war of independence for most of the past decade.

http://www.albawaba.com/news/index.php3?sid=284237&lang=e&dir=news


Ten of Ossetia hostage-takers come from Arab states - FSB

Ten of the 20 hostage-takers who set off a major crisis in North
Ossetia on Wednesday and were killed by Russian troops on Friday came
from Arab countries, a Federal Security Service (FSB) official said.

http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/0/28.html?id_issue=10699566



Al-Qaeda Financed Seizure of Russian Hostages - Report

The seizure of hostages in Southern Russia has reportedly been
financed by the Chechnya-based cell of al-Qaeda terrorist network.

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=38832



Notorious Chechen Rebel Masterminded School Seige - Report

Rebel Chechen leader, Shamil Bassayev, was the mastermind behind the
school siege in the North Ossetian town of Beslan, ITAR-TASS news
agency reported quoting spokesmen of the Southern Federal District
secret service.

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2004/09/03/bassayev.shtml


Attacks by the Black Widows and other Chechen militants may have Al
Qaeda links

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5889819/site/newsweek/

...

[National Review]

Follow the Leader

Israel and Thailand set an example by arming teachers.


Islamist terrorists in Beslan, Russia, are currently holding hundreds
of children hostage, threatening to execute them. No one knows how
this horrible situation will end; but we do know that it could have
been prevented. Decades ago, Israel adopted a policy that swiftly
ended terrorist attacks against schools. Earlier this year, Thailand
adopted a similar approach. It is politically incorrect, but it does
have the advantage of saving the lives of children and teachers. The
policy? Encourage teachers to carry firearms.

Muslim extremists in Thailand's southern provinces of Narathiwat,
Yala, and Pattani have been carrying out a terrorist campaign, seeking
to create an Islamic state independent of Thailand, whose population
is predominantly Buddhist.

Most teachers are Buddhists, and they have been a key target of the
terrorists, who have also perpetrated arsons against dozens of
schools.

As reported by the Associated Press ("Thailand allows teachers in
restive south to carry guns for protection") on April 27, 2004,
"Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakula ordered provincial governors to
give teachers licenses to buy guns if they want to even though it
would mean bringing firearms into the classrooms when the region's 925
schools reopen May 17 after two months of summer holiday."

The A.P. article explained: "Pairat Wihakarat, the president of a
teachers' union in the three provinces, said more than 1,700 teachers
have already asked for transfers to safer areas. Those who are willing
to stay want to carry guns to protect themselves, he said."

Gun-control laws in Thailand are extremely strict, and are being
tightened even more because of three school shootings (perpetrated by
students) that took place in a single week in June 2003. Two students
were killed.

But though Thailand's government is extremely hostile to gun ownership
in general, it has recognized that teachers ought to be able to
safeguard their students and themselves.

Will Thailand's new strategy work? It did in Israel, as David Schiller
detailed in an interview with Jews for the Preservation of Firearms
Ownership. Schiller was born in West Germany and moved to Israel,
where he served in the military as a weapons specialist. He later
returned to Germany, and was hired as a counterterrorism expert by the
Berlin police office, as well as by police forces of other German
cities. For a while he worked in the terrorism research office of the
RAND corporation, and for several years he published a German gun
magazine.

Schiller recalls that Palestine Liberation Organization attacks on
Israeli schools began during Passover 1974. The first attack was aimed
at a school in Galilee. When the PLO terrorists found that it was
closed because of Passover weekend, they murdered several people in a
nearby apartment building.

Then, on May 15, 1974, in Maalot:


"Three PLO gunmen, after making their way through the border fence,
first shot up a van load full of workers returning from a tobacco
factory (incidentally these people happened to be Galilee Arabs, not
Jews), then they entered the school compound of Maalot. First they
murdered the housekeeper, his wife and one of their kids, then they
took a whole group of nearly 100 kids and their teachers hostage.
These were staying overnight at the school, as they were on a hiking
trip. In the end, the deadline ran out, and the army's special unit
assaulted the building. During the rescue attempt, the gunmen blew
their explosive charges and sprayed the kids with machine-gun fire. 25
people died, 66 wounded."


Israel at the time had some strict gun laws, left over from the days
of British colonialism, when the British rulers tried to prevent the
Jews from owning guns.

After vigorous debate, the government began allowing army reservists
to keep their weapons with them. Handgun carry permits were given to
any Israeli with a clean record who lived in the most dangerous areas:
Judea, Samaria, and Gaza.

All over Israel, guns became pervasive in the schools:


"Teachers and kindergarten nurses now started to carry guns, schools
were protected by parents (and often grandpas) guarding them in
voluntary shifts. No school group went on a hike or trip without armed
guards. The Police involved the citizens in a voluntary civil guard
project "Mishmar Esrachi," which even had its own sniper teams. The
Army's Youth Group program, "Gadna", trained 15 to 16-year-old kids in
gun safety and guard procedures and the older high-school boys got
involved with the Mishmar Esrachi. During one noted incident, the
"Herzliyah Bus massacre" (March '78, hijacking of a bus, 37 dead, 76
wounded), these youngsters were involved in the overall security
measures in which the whole area between North Tel Aviv and the resort
town of Herzlyiah was blocked off, manning roadblocks with the police,
guarding schools kindergartens, etc."


After a while, "When the message got around to the PLO groups and a
couple infiltration attempts failed, the attacks against schools
ceased."

This is not to say that Palestinian terrorists never target schools.
In late May 2002, an Israeli teacher shot a suicide terrorist before
he could harm anyone.

On May 31, 2002, as reported by Israel National News, a terrorist
threw a grenade and began shooting at a kindergarten in Shavei
Shomron. Then, instead of closing in on the children, he abruptly fled
the kindergarten and began shooting up the nearby neighborhood.
Apparently he realized that the kindergarten was sure to have armed
adults, and that he could not stay at the school long enough to make
sure he actually murdered someone.

Unfortunately for the terrorist, "David Elbaz, owner of the local
mini-market, gave chase and killed him with gunshots. In addition to
several grenades and the weapon the terrorist carried on him, security
sweeps revealed several explosive devices that he had intended to
detonate during the thwarted attack."

People can spend months and years studying the "root causes" of
terrorism, and pondering the merits of the grievances of Islamic
terrorists in Malaysia, Israel, and Russia. But it's fair to say that
schoolchildren and teachers are not legitimate targets even of people
who have legitimate grievances.

No one knows if civilized nations will ever eliminate the root causes
of terrorism. But we do know that terrorist attacks on schools and
schoolchildren could be almost completely eliminated in a very short
time - if every nation at risk of terrorist attacks on schools began
following the lead of Thailand and Israel.

Adults have a duty to protect children. In Beslan at this very moment,
seven people are dead, and hundreds more are in deadly peril, because
the teachers lacked the tools to stop the evildoers. If we are really
serious about gun laws that protect "the children," then it seems
clear that - whatever other gun laws a society adopts - every
civilized nation at risk of terrorist attack ought to ensure that
armed teachers can protect innocent children.

Gee, those nice Arabs are at it again. Very poor public relations,
guys.

You know, Russia's government could easily enrich itself now that it's
about to let Yukos fall into its hands ("it was an accident,
comrade"). Russia is a major petroleum producer. Imagine how much
better it would do economically if it destroyed the oil infrastructure
of the nations from whom the Arab terrorists came.

Something else that could be done is described at bottom. There's
mention of Ma'alot there, by the way, something appropriate here.

...

FSB Says Half of Killed Beslan Terrorists Were Arabs

FSB North Ossetian chief Valery Andreyev says that twenty
hostage-takers have been killed in Beslan; ten of them turned out to
have come to Russia from Arab countries, RIA Novosti reported.

Aslambek Aslakhanov, advisor to the Russian president, quoted a
different figure, saying only nine were Arabs, RIA Novosti writes.

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2004/09/03/arabs.shtml


Terrorist group included 9 Arabs

According to information from Aslanbek Aslakhanov, an advisor to the
President of Russia, nine of the killed militants were from Arab
countries.

http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20040903194448.shtml


'Arabs' among hostage takers

Regional president Alexander Dzasokhov said the hostage-takers had
demanded that Russian troops leave Chechnya, the first clear
indication of their demands and of a direct link between Wednesday's
attack and the ongoing war in the neighboring region. Aslanbek
Aslakhanov, an adviser to Putin on Chechnya, said nine of the
militants who were killed were mercenaries from Arab countries, the
Interfax news agency reported.

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1583610,00.html


Russia school siege: Nine Arab attackers killed

Ten genmen were killed in the violence, including nine Arabs, an aide
to President Vladimir Putin said, according to the Interfax news
agency. The Arab presence among the attackers would support Putin's
claim that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network was involved in the
Chechen conflict, where Muslim fighters have been fighting Russian
forces in a brutal a war of independence for most of the past decade.

http://www.albawaba.com/news/index.php3?sid=284237&lang=e&dir=news


Ten of Ossetia hostage-takers come from Arab states - FSB

Ten of the 20 hostage-takers who set off a major crisis in North
Ossetia on Wednesday and were killed by Russian troops on Friday came
from Arab countries, a Federal Security Service (FSB) official said.

http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/0/28.html?id_issue=10699566



Al-Qaeda Financed Seizure of Russian Hostages - Report

The seizure of hostages in Southern Russia has reportedly been
financed by the Chechnya-based cell of al-Qaeda terrorist network.

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=38832



Notorious Chechen Rebel Masterminded School Seige - Report

Rebel Chechen leader, Shamil Bassayev, was the mastermind behind the
school siege in the North Ossetian town of Beslan, ITAR-TASS news
agency reported quoting spokesmen of the Southern Federal District
secret service.

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2004/09/03/bassayev.shtml


Attacks by the Black Widows and other Chechen militants may have Al
Qaeda links

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5889819/site/newsweek/

...

[National Review]

Follow the Leader

Israel and Thailand set an example by arming teachers.


Islamist terrorists in Beslan, Russia, are currently holding hundreds
of children hostage, threatening to execute them. No one knows how
this horrible situation will end; but we do know that it could have
been prevented. Decades ago, Israel adopted a policy that swiftly
ended terrorist attacks against schools. Earlier this year, Thailand
adopted a similar approach. It is politically incorrect, but it does
have the advantage of saving the lives of children and teachers. The
policy? Encourage teachers to carry firearms.

Muslim extremists in Thailand's southern provinces of Narathiwat,
Yala, and Pattani have been carrying out a terrorist campaign, seeking
to create an Islamic state independent of Thailand, whose population
is predominantly Buddhist.

Most teachers are Buddhists, and they have been a key target of the
terrorists, who have also perpetrated arsons against dozens of
schools.

As reported by the Associated Press ("Thailand allows teachers in
restive south to carry guns for protection") on April 27, 2004,
"Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakula ordered provincial governors to
give teachers licenses to buy guns if they want to even though it
would mean bringing firearms into the classrooms when the region's 925
schools reopen May 17 after two months of summer holiday."

The A.P. article explained: "Pairat Wihakarat, the president of a
teachers' union in the three provinces, said more than 1,700 teachers
have already asked for transfers to safer areas. Those who are willing
to stay want to carry guns to protect themselves, he said."

Gun-control laws in Thailand are extremely strict, and are being
tightened even more because of three school shootings (perpetrated by
students) that took place in a single week in June 2003. Two students
were killed.

But though Thailand's government is extremely hostile to gun ownership
in general, it has recognized that teachers ought to be able to
safeguard their students and themselves.

Will Thailand's new strategy work? It did in Israel, as David Schiller
detailed in an interview with Jews for the Preservation of Firearms
Ownership. Schiller was born in West Germany and moved to Israel,
where he served in the military as a weapons specialist. He later
returned to Germany, and was hired as a counterterrorism expert by the
Berlin police office, as well as by police forces of other German
cities. For a while he worked in the terrorism research office of the
RAND corporation, and for several years he published a German gun
magazine.

Schiller recalls that Palestine Liberation Organization attacks on
Israeli schools began during Passover 1974. The first attack was aimed
at a school in Galilee. When the PLO terrorists found that it was
closed because of Passover weekend, they murdered several people in a
nearby apartment building.

Then, on May 15, 1974, in Maalot:


"Three PLO gunmen, after making their way through the border fence,
first shot up a van load full of workers returning from a tobacco
factory (incidentally these people happened to be Galilee Arabs, not
Jews), then they entered the school compound of Maalot. First they
murdered the housekeeper, his wife and one of their kids, then they
took a whole group of nearly 100 kids and their teachers hostage.
These were staying overnight at the school, as they were on a hiking
trip. In the end, the deadline ran out, and the army's special unit
assaulted the building. During the rescue attempt, the gunmen blew
their explosive charges and sprayed the kids with machine-gun fire. 25
people died, 66 wounded."


Israel at the time had some strict gun laws, left over from the days
of British colonialism, when the British rulers tried to prevent the
Jews from owning guns.

After vigorous debate, the government began allowing army reservists
to keep their weapons with them. Handgun carry permits were given to
any Israeli with a clean record who lived in the most dangerous areas:
Judea, Samaria, and Gaza.

All over Israel, guns became pervasive in the schools:


"Teachers and kindergarten nurses now started to carry guns, schools
were protected by parents (and often grandpas) guarding them in
voluntary shifts. No school group went on a hike or trip without armed
guards. The Police involved the citizens in a voluntary civil guard
project "Mishmar Esrachi," which even had its own sniper teams. The
Army's Youth Group program, "Gadna", trained 15 to 16-year-old kids in
gun safety and guard procedures and the older high-school boys got
involved with the Mishmar Esrachi. During one noted incident, the
"Herzliyah Bus massacre" (March '78, hijacking of a bus, 37 dead, 76
wounded), these youngsters were involved in the overall security
measures in which the whole area between North Tel Aviv and the resort
town of Herzlyiah was blocked off, manning roadblocks with the police,
guarding schools kindergartens, etc."


After a while, "When the message got around to the PLO groups and a
couple infiltration attempts failed, the attacks against schools
ceased."

This is not to say that Palestinian terrorists never target schools.
In late May 2002, an Israeli teacher shot a suicide terrorist before
he could harm anyone.

On May 31, 2002, as reported by Israel National News, a terrorist
threw a grenade and began shooting at a kindergarten in Shavei
Shomron. Then, instead of closing in on the children, he abruptly fled
the kindergarten and began shooting up the nearby neighborhood.
Apparently he realized that the kindergarten was sure to have armed
adults, and that he could not stay at the school long enough to make
sure he actually murdered someone.

Unfortunately for the terrorist, "David Elbaz, owner of the local
mini-market, gave chase and killed him with gunshots. In addition to
several grenades and the weapon the terrorist carried on him, security
sweeps revealed several explosive devices that he had intended to
detonate during the thwarted attack."

People can spend months and years studying the "root causes" of
terrorism, and pondering the merits of the grievances of Islamic
terrorists in Malaysia, Israel, and Russia. But it's fair to say that
schoolchildren and teachers are not legitimate targets even of people
who have legitimate grievances.

No one knows if civilized nations will ever eliminate the root causes
of terrorism. But we do know that terrorist attacks on schools and
schoolchildren could be almost completely eliminated in a very short
time - if every nation at risk of terrorist attacks on schools began
following the lead of Thailand and Israel.

Adults have a duty to protect children. In Beslan at this very moment,
seven people are dead, and hundreds more are in deadly peril, because
the teachers lacked the tools to stop the evildoers. If we are really
serious about gun laws that protect "the children," then it seems
clear that - whatever other gun laws a society adopts - every
civilized nation at risk of terrorist attack ought to ensure that
armed teachers can protect innocent children.