Russian children hostage

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-29-2004
Russian children hostage
79
Wed, 09-01-2004 - 1:55pm
I have looked at many different boards, on many different sites on this and I am disturbed by the fact most people seem to be embracing hate. On one site people were advocating extermination of all musilims(sp?). Is any one else disturbed by this?

I think we can all agree that we want the children and other to come out of that school safely. Why don't we each spend a few minutes in prayer to our respective God or gods for the safety of these people and the sanity of our race. I find it so hard to understand anyone advocating the complete extermination of a religion, or group of people. We may not be able to change some of those attitudes, but we can sure as hell try. Compassion is indiginous to all isn't it?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-30-2004
Mon, 09-06-2004 - 7:28pm
Oh, they think the same if us. I suppose then, that it's okay for them to commit mass murder. How ignorant of me to think that what they are doing is wrong.
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-02-2004
Mon, 09-06-2004 - 10:10pm
Absolutely, it has ocurred to me that they think the same as us. Again, I am not trying to lumb a mass group together, just some seperate, extreme, ways of looking at things. I also think that we, as a group, have done a lot. War and religious fights have gone on since the beginning of time. I just think it is horrific to target "soft" targets in any instance...them or us, especially if it involves innocent children. This is why we call them terrorists...right? They target innocent people to make a statement and it's not exactly the kind of "war".

My point on any side, whomever it may be is that it is completely sick and horrible to target in that way.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-02-2004
Tue, 09-07-2004 - 3:44am
I thought that you all would like a link that I found for a relief fund in Beslan. If you have not already found one, here is one. I think that we definately all agree that we all support the Russian families that are in pain as a result of this tragety.

Here is a link to the site.

www.moscowhelp.org

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-29-2004
Tue, 09-07-2004 - 10:11am
Thanks!
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2003
Tue, 09-07-2004 - 11:26am
<>

I was trying to point out in this right/wrong world, if what the terrorists do is "wrong", then what we do must be "right". The US is attacking innocent Iraqis. Bombing houses and killing children. How is this not terrorists acts?

From the Boston Globe

"In the time since I wrote that, I confess, even my bleak vision has come to seem like the good old days. After all, that was before Abu Ghraib, before the siege of Najaf, before the Sunnis and Shi'ites discovered that their hatred of the occupiers outweighed their hatred of each other, before the handover of Fallujah to outlaw militants, before Ahmed Chalabi's disgrace (and last week's rehabilitation), before Washington's installation in Baghdad of a blatant puppet regime, before the death toll of young Americans approached 1,000.

"Citizens of the United States are a decent, fair-minded people. The only reason we tolerate what is being done in our name in Iraq is that, for us, this war exists only in the realm of metaphor. The words "war on terrorism" fall on our ears much in the way that "war on poverty" or "war on drugs" did.

"War is an abstraction in the American imagination. It lives there, cloaked in glory, as an emblem of patriotism. We show our love for our country by sending our troops abroad and then "supporting" them, no matter what. When images appear that contradict the high-flown rhetoric of war -- whether of young GIs disgracefully humiliating Iraqi prisoners or of a devastated holy city where vast fields of American-created rubble surround a shrine -- we simply do not take them in as real. Thinking of ourselves as only motivated by good intentions, we cannot fathom the possibility that we have demonized an innocent people, that what we are doing is murder on a vast scale."

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/09/07/the_unwinnable_war/




Edited 9/7/2004 11:33 am ET ET by hayashig

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2003
Tue, 09-07-2004 - 11:30am
<>

Agreed. It is also not effective defense because it only exascerbates the hate and anger.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-02-2004
Tue, 09-07-2004 - 12:17pm
:)

{It is also not effective defense because it only exascerbates the hate and anger}

Great statement!! Well said.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-22-2003
Tue, 09-07-2004 - 12:53pm
To all, I am going to vent away here...so please bear with me.

I keep thinking, how does it get to this point. Of course, the latest situation is most despicable and horrible thing anyone can do, and I think we have to start looking at the root cause. I have heard that Russian soldiers have destroyed chechen families and Children and these guys are fighting for their freedom in only one way they can... But how does it get to this point? Don't we teach our kids daily to learn the art of negotiations, to be fair and share? God created this earth and men created boundaries for which we are continually fighting. Call me a pacifist but I think it is high time we start converting ourselves from warriers to pacifiers. Don't these politicians remember their moms' words such as "hitting is not an acceptable way to solve any problem". I know we don't negotaite with terrorist but so far attacks on them has not worked. May be negotaiating might work. I don't know, it seems that people will object to negotiation with terrorist but I feel if that's what it takes to save our kids from these horrible crimes, then it is wiser to do that not weaker. Or one more thing to do is covert operations by spy agencies. But IMHO a war is not going to save us from anything and only satisfy the overblown egoes of the ones in power.

Avatar for baileyhouse
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 09-07-2004 - 3:55pm
Well for me I have to remember that when I try to understand something like this it is important to remember the cultural differences between our country and almost every other country on earth. This is Russia. Up until what 25 or so years ago it was a communist country. I look at Iraq, their culture is thousands of years old...They cannot become US overnight.....I don't think they want to become US. We have our way of looking at situations and trying to solve them. These more "oppressed" countries have their way. I would never and could never imagine what living in these countries is really like. Even after 9/11 I still feel we are much better off than so many other countries...I just try not to judge and I doubt I will ever "understand" how It "gets to this point" Sorry if what I say makes no sense.
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-02-2004
Tue, 09-07-2004 - 4:57pm
I don't believe we should ever negotiate with terrorists because in doing so we are sending the message that their method of getting our attention is acceptable and it is NOT acceptable. What we negotiate is the issues that produce terrorists, and with the people who govern the areas in which these issues occur. By the time people get to the point of being terrorists it is too late. Of course that is a long term strategy and currently people just seem to want a quick fix and a convenient target.

those chechen women (black widows) didn't die for allah, they died because they have nothing left to live for and their poisoned hearts were exploited by those with a political agenda. You can't negotiate with those who have nothing to lose, with those whose hearts and souls are filled with vengeance and hatred.

While I think we should understand the root cause, negotiate with the country in which the root cause is festering, but NEVER negotiate with a terrorist.

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