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  • From: Walter H.Jeffries <Highlands AT blacklightning.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] School victims, Putin response
  • Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2004 13:35:46 -0400

On Sep 4, 2004, at 3:40 PM, Tvoivozhd wrote:
There are only two ways to really stop guerrillas, the Genghis Khan and Stalin quick way or for the desperate a thirty-year properly funded program of education coupled with a thirty-year properly funded program of bringing them as employees and entrepreneurs into the greater economy. People making a good living don't deviate from it to become guerrillas.

The problem with this theory is that in the mid-east (and other areas throughout history) there are a large number of young men who have education and money but go into the jihad. This was the same in the Christian "Holy Wars", the Crusades. From what I can glean they tend to be unmarried and have no children, claim boredom and are said to be searching for 'meaning'. This fits with the insurance and banking industry's view that married people with children are far more stable and reliable (serfs?).

A portion of the above problem is that the religion and clerics push the martyr complex and the us vs them view that anyone outside their sect of their religion is a heathen. They offer no compromise, just subjection. When any group gets like that they tend to be difficult to live along side of since they have no tolerance for differences.

One thing to remember about Chechnya is that it is a portion of the populace that is pushing the guerrilla war against Russia. There are Chechnyians who do not want to separate from Russia and most of all do not want to live under the guerrillas' rule even if they did separate.

It is also to be noted that while the news reports 'X dead', there were almost 1,000 saved. The media tends to gloss over the fact that the Russians saved the lives of 1,000 people and that it was the Chechnyians, with the help of "Arabs and al-Qaida", who took the hostages, blew up the building (the Russians rushed in AFTER the hostage takers started the explosion), deprived people of water, food and bathrooms for three days and killed the hundreds of people. It was the hostage takers who did the awful deed. From their historic actions they intended to kill all the hostages anyways. There should be no negotiations with people like that - it will only encourage them.

Compassion and helping people lift themselves up is good but it doesn't always work. If you study history you'll find that the worst trouble makers aren't the most oppressed but actually quite privileged. We spend an enormous amount on helping people but that alone will not stop deviants like these hostage takers or al-Qaida.





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