Russia siege toll tops 350

[TXlib]

BESLAN, Russia (CNN) -- The death toll in the Russian hostage crisis has climbed beyond 350 as President Vladimir Putin denounced the massacre as "an attack on our country."

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I don't think Russia can possibly control Chechnya anymore. I don't think it ever really could. I think the best course of action for Russia would be (a) to wash their hands of Chechnya, and let them go their own bloody way, and (b) also to let them know that if there is one more attack, Russia will wipe them, every last Chechyan man, woman, child, and goat, from the face of the earth, and then erase them even from the history books. There are people who are so consumed by hate they will never stop attacking, even if they get what they want. My second point is to make sure the majority of the population, who may hate Russia, but are glad to get their way, realise they will lose EVERYTHING to the terrorists, and will actively work to stop them themselves.

Under that combination of relief from release from Russia and threat of annihilation, if I were a Chechen, and I knew my neighbor was planning an attack against Russia, I'd shoot him in the head myself.