(London Times) William Rees-Mogg - Beslan changes many of the major factors of world relations, including both Russian and Western relations with Islam, the response to the growing threat of nuclear proliferation, and the basic relationship between Russia, Europe, and the United States. Beslan has reinforced the American understanding that it is at war. Russia has been committed by Beslan to the war against terrorism, and Iran is on the side of the enemy. Strategically, Beslan pushes Russia towards working with the U.S. against terrorism and in the Middle East. The people who planned this massacre are every bit as evil as the people who planned Pearl Harbor or 9/11, or as the SS men who ran Auschwitz. There is a blank horror about what they did to young children which fortunately has few parallels in the history of evil. It is important to hold onto that because the world's sense of horror will influence everything that will follow. A certain degree of wickedness is never forgotten or forgiven, whatever its motive or political justification. The writer was editor in chief of The Times from 1961 to 1981.
2004-09-06 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive