Today is a national day of mourning in Russia. Mourning will manifest itself in collective services and gatherings. Private mourning will continue be diverse, manifesting in shock,
anger, tears, sorrow, wailing, silence, fear, denial, resignation and blame.

This is Russia’s tragedy. In final seconds life and death decisions were forced by the hostage takers. Would you have wanted to have made the decisions that had to be made? I believe lesser of evils were chosen by the men who rushed in to save others. Which country will be faced with these choices next?

Facts are known. The building was rigged. The Chechan terrorists came prepared to die. They wanted the world stage and they got it, with the stated plan to take innocent people with them. Negotiations were at an end. Cell phone calls coming from the hostages and hostage takers had been monitored by the police and family members from the first moments of the take over
Wednesday. Outside mutal interests were in touch with the terrorists.

And now questions are arising about the gas (possibibly BZ) that troops used in those horrible minutes just before they rushed the theatre. Eye witness reports say hostages were shot as they tried to rise up against their captors. The deadlines had been set. Some in those horrible conditions and unbearable stress may have developed Stockholm Syndrome. But as some rose up were shot, literal life and death panic broke out.

A elected Russian President went on television and apologized to his people for the inability to save more lives. Has that ever happened before? We don’t know if corrupt officials within the government aided and abetted the terrorists.

Russia has to make the decision on whether or not to tell her people what gas was used. World leaders may already have been told. It may be wise for a government who will continue to fight terrorism not to release this information so terrorists won’t be more prepared in the next attack. It may be that the gas used is banned under international agreements. We don’t know.

Russia has to decide what is in Russia’s best interests in the coming days.

A gas like BZ was developed by the US, and possibly tinkered with by cold war scientists. Has Russia quietly asked for medical assistance from the very people who made it? We don’t know.footage of troops frantically carrying and helping people out of the theatre. No one was lingering.

150 people are in intensive care in hospitalsless equipped than western ones. In the evacuation and subsequent few days, many families still don’t know if their loved ones are dead or alive. Hard, hard lessons have been learned by the government, citizens, police, military and medical personnel.

Lessons hopefully other countries can benefit from.

A few years ago the information westerners and citizens have received would not have been given out. Is it enough in these first few confusing days? That is a question as a westerner I am pondering. Russia is not a country known to play by western media rules. That was evidenced when it took two years for the information on the Kurst sub to be fully known.

As Russia mourns today, her citizens live in fear of further attacks.
Russians know that over 500 families are united or will be re-united with loved ones. 75 international visitors and well over 750 Russian bodies won’t be sorted, pieced together, and buried. I mourned in the first moments Wednesday night. I mourn today.

There will be no shrine made of a hole in the heart of downtown Moscow where a theatre would now be a rubbled tomb.

Bali
A riot broke out in Indonesia as a leading Islamic cleric was taken in for questioning regarding church bombings in South East Asia and the Bali bombing which claimed abou 200 lives and injured scores of others.

Hundreds of supporters clashed with police as Abu Bakar Ba’asyir was lead away from the hospital and taken to a Jakarta prison hospital. Indonesian officals are bracing for more attacks and reprisals from the clerics Muslim supporters.