Shamil Basayev is dead
That is, the Chechen rebel/terrorist/mass murderer who was behind the Beslan massacre. From Guardian Unlimited:
It was an accident, but a fortuitous one.
The Times has an obit here. (See also the IHT.) Counterterrorism Blog has more here.
I'm not going to wade into the Chechnya quagmire here, but, whatever my concerns about Russia's treatment of the Chechens under an increasingly autocratic Putin, not to mention about Russia's quasi-imperial aspirations more generally, it's hard not to find some consolation, if not pleasure, in Basayev's demise.
Shamil Basayev, the ruthless Chechen rebel leader responsible for terror attacks that led to the deaths of more than 800 people, was killed Monday when a dynamite-laden truck in his convoy exploded in this village of red brick houses next to a muddy field.
It was an accident, but a fortuitous one.
The Times has an obit here. (See also the IHT.) Counterterrorism Blog has more here.
I'm not going to wade into the Chechnya quagmire here, but, whatever my concerns about Russia's treatment of the Chechens under an increasingly autocratic Putin, not to mention about Russia's quasi-imperial aspirations more generally, it's hard not to find some consolation, if not pleasure, in Basayev's demise.
posted by Michael J.W. Stickings at
7:41 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home