September 8, 2004

Eye of the Beholder

With two downed airliners, a bombed train and an exploding school filled with hundreds of children, Russis has seen its share of terrorist attacks in the past week. Russia Bites Back After Siege [BBCNews.com]. Most of the discussion has been of internal divisions within Russia over treatment of Chechnya and its rebels, with Russian president Putin shouting yesterday at Western reporters.

"Why don't you meet Osama bin Laden, invite him to Brussels or to the White House, engage in talks, ask him what he wants and give it to him so he leaves you in peace?" Putin said to a group of Western academics and journalists late Monday night. "You find it possible to set some limits in your dealings with these bastards, so why should we talk to people who are child killers?"

But the more important question is whether the Chechen separatists are revolutionaries fighting oppression or just terrorists. Are they part of a worldwide jihadist movement against Western society and interests, or rather an illustration of more historically routine efforts to achieve self-determination? In the long run, it matters greatly, although one man's terrorist is another man's "freedom fighter." And one man's ceiling is another man's floor.

 Posted by glenn

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