For a long time there had been an unwritten rule among those who wield terror as a means of persuasion - never make children the target of an attack.
 
As of September 1, 2004, this rule is no longer valid. It was broken and buried in a school gymnasium. The world watched in horror as a series of unthinkable events took place - a group of masked gunmen and suicide bombers seized control of an elite school in North Ossetia, Russia, and held over 1,200 people hostage. But these weren’t arbitrary civilians, they were children and parents who showed up for a celebration that marks the beginning of the school year.
 
The terrorists issued a demand for Russia to withdraw its troops from the war-torn region of Chechnya. Russian officials did not immediately provide them with a response and negotiations continued. Meanwhile, the hostages were kept in a sports gymnasium for over 2 days, severely dehydrated from the heat and deprived of food and bathroom breaks. Explosives were placed all around them - some even hung on the basketball hoops. Plastic bottles filled with shrapnel were attached to bombs, greatly increasing the damage they could inflict.
 
On the morning of the third day there was an explosion inside the gymnasium, which caused part of the building to collapse. Chaos ensued and hostages began to flee as the terrorists opened fire on them and threw grenades into crowds of children. Russian Special Forces acted quickly and fired back at the hostage-takers in an effort to save the escaping hostages. It was too late, however, and the situation was beyond control.
 
Both sides traded gunfire and bodies began to pile up. The bloodshed did not end for hours as remaining terrorists provided resistance. When the violence did come to a halt, the aftermath was far more horrific than anyone could have fathomed. The death toll is estimated to be over 600, more than half of which are children. Those that were hospitalized sustained critical injuries - the women had bullet wounds from trying to shield the children, while the kids suffered from grenade blasts.
 
This was not just an act of terrorism. It was a brutal and profoundly senseless massacre of the innocent. Moreover, the consequences of this attack will resonate throughout the entire world for years to come. It sets a deadly precedent, a model of terror for others to follow. Its success will only encourage radical fanatics everywhere to take from us what we value most - our children.
 
It’s not the first time that something like this has happened. When Chechen terrorists took over a hospital in June 1995, Russian officials ordered the Special Forces to storm the building. This operation was a failure and resulted in over 100 hostage casualties. The Russian government was left with no choice but to halt military operations in Chechnya and begin peace negotiations. The terrorists, led by Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, were granted safe passage back to their homeland and soon celebrated a victory over the Russian people.
 
This event has tremendous historical importance, because it set a shining example of what could be accomplished by means of terrorism. It clearly showed that threatening to execute a great number of hostages puts the government in a position where they would do anything to prevent bloodshed. As a result, identical tactics were adopted by terrorist groups all over the globe and a new era in terror began.
 
The question now is how exactly should a government cope with terrorist pressure when children are held hostage? This raises a serious moral dilemma - do we put the lives of children at risk by attempting to disarm the hostage-takers, or do we give in to their demands, no matter how unreasonable they may be?
 
Let us consider the first option, where the government refuses to negotiate with terrorists and orders its troops to neutralize the enemy before innocent hostages (in this case children) are harmed. If the operation goes well, many lives are saved and the world praises the nation’s courage in the face of terrorism. If it fails, which is more than likely, children’s lives are ended prematurely, the nation mourns in sorrow and the world condemns the actions of the government. The global response is anger, fear and disbelief, which is exactly what the terrorists wanted. The success of this attack encourages others to do the same, thus continuing the chain of senseless violence.
 
In the second scenario, where the government makes the safety of the hostages its number one priority, negotiations with the terrorists take place and their demands are eventually met. The children are then released, in exchange for the safe delivery of the terrorists back to their homeland. No lives are lost, but the terrorists achieve their goals and once again their success encourages others to follow in their footsteps - taking innocent children as hostages.
 
As you can see, there is no answer to the question posed earlier. Governments on their own are nearly powerless against acts of terror that involve large numbers of women and children. Unity is the only way to battle this emerging threat - instead of glorifying terrorists as “freedom fighters”, “rebels” or “separatists”, we must make it known that humanity will not allow anyone to endanger the lives of our children and use them as leverage to achieve political goals. We must take bold measures to discredit terrorist groups and discourage them from setting foot in a school, hospital, daycare centre or any such institution ever again. That is our mission.
 
Yaroslav Riabinin (September 04, 2004)