Beslan
Today is the fifth anniversary of the Muslim terrorist attack on School No. 1 in Beslan, Russia. Within two days, over 360 people had been killed. It was the second-bloodiest massacre of the modern barbarian onslaught on the non-Muslim world, after the September 11 attack itself. In one way Beslan was the most terrible case of all -- the murderers specifically targeted children.
Beslan reminds us that the West is not the only target of jihadism. Any non-Muslim society is at risk of attack -- as is further shown by mass killings in India, Thailand, southern Sudan, northern Nigeria, and elsewhere -- and thus potentially an ally of ours.
Beslan reminds us that the West is not the only target of jihadism. Any non-Muslim society is at risk of attack -- as is further shown by mass killings in India, Thailand, southern Sudan, northern Nigeria, and elsewhere -- and thus potentially an ally of ours.
posted by Infidel753 at 1:28 AM
7 Comments:
There is more to this atrocity than was ever published by the MSM. See links under 'Beslan - Child rape, torture and ritual murder' at The Religion of Peace™ Subject Index
And the way I see it Mr.Infidel, the way to deal with MF's like that,that are out to kill our children...is doing the same to them ... simply returning the favour you can say...heh? Good post on the reality of the curent condition though Sir.
BTW ... I'm not going to blame the quran or islam here though,or the gun and bullet, so to speak, I would only hold those accountable that spent the time to calculate these massacre's. I read the stories in the bible myself,which can give you a 1001 reason's to kill just about anyone I reckon if you read it for that value.
Thanx ........
It was horrific. I cannot even revisit the Beslan news coverage now, it makes me physically ill.
Today is also an anniversary -- the 70th -- of the German invasion of Poland and the beginning of WWII. It seems so long ago, and yet it isn't, not for me or any Pole of my generation, and those before us who actually lived through it.
I was born in 1964 and I/we grew up "on war" -- it was still fresh in everyone's memories. It permeated everything: TV, movies, books, national celebrations, etc. Its mementos were all around us -- still damaged buildings, walls, in the middle of our cities, where executions took place, mass graves, etc.
We were taught about its horrors, along with the inevitable (and often, though not always over the top) exaltation of our national heroism. It was clear to me, or so I thought, that the lessons of WWII scarred us all so deeply and permanently that peace was simply the only sane and universally approved option for the Europeans, if not people everywhere.
Then my husband and I immigrated to the US in 1987, and in a few years, watched in disbelief Yugoslavia breaking up in the most horrific way, causing such unspeakable mayhem and bringing back memories of the WWII atrocities. And all this happened right at the heart of our cultured, civilized continent, at the end of our enlightened 20th century, on the orders given by "cultured" and "enlightened" leaders.
I don't understand it, and don't think I ever will. Yes, I know all the political and psychological rationalizations that go into "explaining" such events, but I cannot fathom this level of hatred and cruelty. I don't even know if it is possible to understand it. One can just stand in front of it in mute horror.
BTW, all this (and then some) is behind my dislike and distrust of "patriotism," (with or without quotation marks) which, more often than not, just barely covers narrow-minded nationalist thinking if not downright primitive tribalism largely responsible for these horrors.
Thanks for the comments.
Elizabeth -- I appreciate the insights. I can barely even imagine how powerful the memories of that time must be in Poland -- the US has not faced anything even approaching such a threat to its existence since 1865.
One thing I would say: I don't think patriotism is the problem. This is not the world of the 1940s any more. Religion is the problem. The Serbs, Corats, and Bosnian Muslims all speak the same language, are similar in culture, and have lived mixed together on the same territories for centuries. Only religion divides them. In the case of other groups which were ethnically distinct but not religiously distinct, such as the Slovenes and Macedonians, the break-up was accomplished without such violence.
Consider an event which could have been similar -- the break-up of the Soviet Empire in 1989 and 1991. If the Russians had fought to hold down the Poles, Romanians, Ukrainians, etc. by force, or if all those peoples had fought among themselves over ethnic enclaves or historically-disputed bits of territory -- well, it would have made the Yugoslav wars look like a pillow-fight. But that didn't happen. nationalism is strong in Poland and Russia and is certainly a factor in the other eastern European countries, but the break-up of one of the most powerful empires in history was accomplished without war. Religion is not much of a factor in most of those societies.
Elsewhere in Europe -- what divides the opposing groups in Northern Ireland? Religion. Culturally, they are hardly different except for religious influences.
Beslan, for that matter, was religious act through and through, part of the world-wide jihad against non-Islamic societies.
I don't see where Poland's patriotism has done it any harm. Patriotism probably helped Poland survive the generations of Russian rule of 1795-1919 and the Nazi occupation.
Humans have a strong tendency to organize into, and identify with, territorial social groups -- an inheritance from our chimpanzee ancestors. Nationalism, having shown over decades that it is compatible with peaceful coexistence, is a much healthier way of expressing that than others we've seen in history.
It was interesting reading Ms.Elizabeth's comment, because I have a neighbor, who migrated to Dallas from Poland many year's back. And he told me alot of short stories in response to question's I asked him. Because he is a Jew...and my grandma is a Jew too,but stayed in Germany(Berlin). Sound's familiar in other word's in way's.His name is Tony, and he is at least 80 or 81 now... but get's around very well, he certainly doesnt look his age. But I alway's listen in fascination to the detail's of these stories of his in his younger year's back in the old country. I guess they would call him a Polish Jew? He is full Jew, just from Poland...why Poland? ... I havent a clue.
Later Guy .........
I guess they would call him a Polish Jew? He is full Jew, just from Poland...why Poland? ... I havent a clue.
Actually not surprising. The Polish state which existed up to 1795 (when Prussia and Russia destroyed it) was an unusually tolerant place for Jews at a time when violent anti-Semitism was common in most of Europe. Hebrew was even one of Poland's six(!) official languages. Not surprisingly, large numbers of Jews migrated there. Before 1939, 80% of the Jews in Europe lived in Poland and in the western parts of Ukraine and Belarus which had been part of Poland in the 18th century. That's why the Nazis built the Auschwitz extermination camp in Poland -- it was near the intended victims. And that's why so many Jews have roots going back to Poland or western Ukraine -- because that's where the really large Jewish populations were, before the Nazis.
Thanx for the info...I knew there were Jew's in Poland...but the history lessen or why? I hadnt the faintest on that, and never asked Tony. Nor did I actually know percentage wise how Jew's were spread out in these region's.
Later Guy......
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