Bob Tarantino links to this Slate article about the horrors visited upon Chechnya by the Russians (including the Chechens' mass deportation to Siberia in 1944), and Russia's fatal errors in dealing with the Chechen independence movement since the USSR boke up. Russian journalist Masha Gessen concludes that Al-Qaida may not be responsible for Beslan:
So, what does al-Qaida and international Islamic terrorism have to do with any of this? Probably very little. Chechens have plenty of reason to do what they do without outside inspiration. In addition, their tactics are very different from al-Qaida's. Osama Bin Laden's group generally aims for maximum casualties; the Chechens, at least when they have staged hostage-takings, have not seemed to have that goal. Al-Qaida explicitly targets Westerners; the Chechens, on the other hand, explicitly exclude Westerners from their list of targets; they target Russians and Russia-sympathizers. Finally, the Chechens' demands, when they have made them, have always focused on the war in Chechnya to the exclusion of any religious or international agenda. They have consistently demanded a the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya—an unattainable goal in the current Russian political climate, but one that may look plausible to the Chechens because it worked after Budyonnovsk.
Russian intelligence has produced little or no evidence that al-Qaida is present in Chechnya. Russian officials claimed that there were Arabs among the hostage-takers, but this information has yet to be confirmed, and even if it is, it may mean only that foreign men have come to fight on the side of Chechens—something that has happened before and something that happens in every conflict, whether or not a major international organization is involved. On the other hand, it would be surprising if al Qaida had no presence in Chechnya at all. Chechens are Muslims, and they are at war; representatives of virtually every Islamic organization have at one point or another sent missionaries and recruiters to the region. They have also sent money. Researchers of al-Qaida say that, in addition to its own organization, the terrorist network has a number of loose affiliates, essentially freelancers, who get occasional financial support. Most likely, some Chechen groups or individuals fall into that category.
Maybe. Given the Russians' admission that they lied about the number of hostages during the first few days of the Beslan siege, their other allegations - including the presence of Arab fighters among the Beslan terrorists, much commented upon in this blog - may not be credible.
On the other hand, taking over a childrens' school and blowing two airliners out of the sky doesn't seem like the work of a movement trying to avoid "maximum casualties", either. Posted by damian at September 6, 2004 04:02 PM -- Michael Pugliese