Beslan, Sept 1 2004.

[Ashock]

I think the world mostly forgot. I did not.

[Jester]

I know I did. What a bloodbath...

-Jester

[--Pete]

Hi,

I missed it. For those, like me, here's a link.

--Pete

[LennyLen]

Weird. A friend and I were talking about that yesterday, oblivious to the fact that it was the exact anniversary.

[Crusader]

Yea, I read about the aftermath a few weeks back. Apparently the victims were pretty much abandoned by the government after that mess.

But there are enough bloodbaths going on currently to dwell about previous ones.

Of course, there's something else to be remembered on the first day of September which may overshadow this.

[Lissa]

Yea, I read about the aftermath a few weeks back. Apparently the victims were pretty much abandoned by the government after that mess.

But there are enough bloodbaths going on currently to dwell about previous ones.

Of course, there's something else to be remembered on the first day of September which may overshadow this.

Agreed, while Belsen was a tragedy, the human suffering that occured from what happen on September 1 1939 makes it look minor in comparison.

[Ashock]

Yea, I read about the aftermath a few weeks back. Apparently the victims were pretty much abandoned by the government after that mess.

But there are enough bloodbaths going on currently to dwell about previous ones.

Of course, there's something else to be remembered on the first day of September which may overshadow this.

Apples and oranges.

I like pie.

Compared to WW2, 9/11 is also nothing. Neither is Tiananmen Square. Neither is Darfur. Neither is the Armenian genocide at the hands of the Turks.

When almost 200 children die at the hands of terrorists, or any hands for that matter, it is something to be mourned and remembered.

But w/e.

[--Pete]

Hi,

Compared to WW2, . . .

Yeah, I agree. And compared to the asteroid that wiped out much of life 65 million years ago, all human events are insignificant. Those that make comparisons should tell it to the dead.

--Pete

[Crusader]

Apples and oranges.

I like pie.

Compared to WW2, 9/11 is also nothing. Neither is Tiananmen Square. Neither is Darfur. Neither is the Armenian genocide at the hands of the Turks.

When almost 200 children die at the hands of terrorists, or any hands for that matter, it is something to be mourned and remembered.

But w/e.

Of course. I'm just saying that if people are going to remember a tragic event on the 1st, its mainly going to be about WW2, because it's effects are felt to this day. Beslan, whilst also a dark chapter in the bloodstained pages of history, had far less consequences. Many people forgot about it, moved on, aren't confronted with it in their daily lives, except the people who live there. WW2 is something no one forgets and something (at least we Europeans) are remembered of regularly. That's why, after all these decades, we still annually remember it, even though the generation that lived through it conciously is fast declining. And, of course, because we still are cleaning up the mess. We still find bombs in the ground and the seas, that sometimes claim victims. Children dig up WW2 grenades and unknowingly play with them. Farmers plowing their fields can still his a thousandpounder laying dormant for all this time. The number of fatalities has decreased dramatically the last two decades, but most people in a ' risk' trade hold their hearts when they stumble across a big piece of rust.

Back on topic, I'm absolutely not saying Beslan shouldn't be remembered. I'm just saying that it isn't as much in the media because WW2 overshadows it because it coincides on the same day. And Russia of course isn't big on admitting its mistakes so they're not going to make a big show out of it. Although there is some improvement, of late, as they're finally starting to admit that the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was a mistake.

[Ashock]

Of course. I'm just saying that if people are going to remember a tragic event on the 1st, its mainly going to be about WW2, because it's effects are felt to this day. Beslan, whilst also a dark chapter in the bloodstained pages of history, had far less consequences. Many people forgot about it, moved on, aren't confronted with it in their daily lives, except the people who live there. WW2 is something no one forgets and something (at least we Europeans) are remembered of regularly. That's why, after all these decades, we still annually remember it, even though the generation that lived through it conciously is fast declining. And, of course, because we still are cleaning up the mess. We still find bombs in the ground and the seas, that sometimes claim victims. Children dig up WW2 grenades and unknowingly play with them. Farmers plowing their fields can still his a thousandpounder laying dormant for all this time. The number of fatalities has decreased dramatically the last two decades, but most people in a ' risk' trade hold their hearts when they stumble across a big piece of rust.

Back on topic, I'm absolutely not saying Beslan shouldn't be remembered. I'm just saying that it isn't as much in the media because WW2 overshadows it because it coincides on the same day. And Russia of course isn't big on admitting its mistakes so they're not going to make a big show out of it. Although there is some improvement, of late, as they're finally starting to admit that the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was a mistake.

The russian government might have made a mistake in it's implimentation of the plan to rescue the hostages. However, the russian government was not the one who actually *took* those hostages.

As far as the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact.... it was not a mistake. It just did not work out exactly how Stalin and co. imagined it would. They miscalculated by a few weeks. If they had not, however, WW2 might have been very very different, and the number of "villains" would have been different also.

[Occhidiangela]

I think the world mostly forgot. I did not.

I remember Belsan rather vividly. Could not get away from the images for about three days. I was standing double watches, due to an Air Force personnel change, and me doing some in situ training.

The coverage of that bloody mess, which was piped into our ops center on Sky, CNN, Al Jazeera, and a few other feeds continuously for about three days, made a strange contrast to the close air support we were providing to skirmishes in Iraq and elsewhere, and a few of the missions I was watching on live video feed as it happened. Macabre, to say the least.

The current drumbeat of cross factional bombings in Iraq, which we can expect to go on for a number of years at this tempo, is a different version of using blood to make a political point than Blesan, but I think it's of a similar kind.

[kandrathe]

The current drumbeat of cross factional bombings in Iraq, which we can expect to go on for a number of years at this tempo, is a different version of using blood to make a political point than Blesan, but I think it's of a similar kind.

That was my thought. In some places there is an almost continuous steam of horror where women, children, and old people are turned instantly into human hamburger by car bombs in crowded markets. No one reports on it over here, so we are ignorant. Beslan was a bit different only in that they didn't just kill them outright. Hostage taking also happens all the time, but not to schools full of kids (thankfully).