Quote:
Originally posted by speeder
Who said anything about negotiating w/ them?? This is where this discussion always takes a strange detour, and it's very frustrating. Understanding your enemy who wants to kill you is not the same as having a ******* block party w/ them, and it's just good sense from a tactical POV. 
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Block party? How can you say that? I have to say no one anywhere around the world could have been any more effective.
How do you understand someone who wants to die and take as many (in this case) children with them? You either negotiate, storm forth or let the children die. In Beslan's case, few seemed to realize the extent of the Chechan fighters' desperation. That's why the Russian army was stymied. It was no block party. What you didn't see was 1) the blown up children; and 2) the blown up terrorists who either blew themselves up, or was blown up by the Russian army.
And yes, Putin himself engaged in negotiation. Now as to whether he would have delivered their demands - no one knows. But someone had to negotiate, and part of negotiation is understanding the opposite side; i.e. enemy.