# Russian Siege video. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 7, 2004, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-siege-video/263551 "2004-09-07T21:59:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spezza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Spezza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spezza)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-siege-video/263551/21 "2004-09-09T15:22:25Z")
> [@Ryan\_Liam](#): > > Thats how we’ll defeat the Islamists. Shall we call a crusade then? I sincerely hope that you do not believe ‘Islamists’ need to be defeated. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-siege-video/263551/22 "2004-09-09T15:25:38Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > Oh, that’s right, I forgot. The real enemy is America. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: … > > Oh, forget it. There aren’t enough rolleyes in the universe to express the loathing and contempt I feel right now. The real enemy are people who treat other people as objects to mistreat or kill. The real enemy are people who cannot fathom the possibility that they are not infallible. The real enemy are people who think that people who have different ideas and ideals are a threat to be eliminated. So stick your rolleyes back in your head and think whether you fit any of the categories listed above. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-siege-video/263551/23 "2004-09-09T15:37:09Z")
To all those jumping to roll eyes: that was obviously (to me) a response to **Rune** ’s comment about “how come across time people keep on taking incriminating pictures of themselves doing bad things”. And the answer is, well, in all those cases they did NOT think it was such a bad thing. I did not read it as an attempt to insinuate moral equivalency _of the acts themselves_ nor to imply that it was worse, the person who posted the link has said so much and even **Brutus** has acknowledged that, so **LonesomePolecat** , take a deep breath, OK? Back to the OP and to terrorist video: to the “recruitment” angle, and the “righteousness” angle add the role of such conduct as another element of the whole _terrorist_ mentality/strategy. Remember, the terrorist considers the “powers” he seeks to overthrow, and the peoples to be imposed upon, as weak and morally corrupt, who won’t be able to stand sacrifice or hardship. They _want_ us to see what _they_ are capable of, so that we will be so horrified we demand that something be done to make them go away w/o more gruesome deaths, resulting in: (a) backing down, or (b) attempt to buy them off, or © lashing out indiscriminately, thus further polarizing things, or (d) engaging in a prolonged low-intensity conflict which consumes resources and makes us live stressed out, scared, surveilled and miserable, which to them at least means we’ve been brought down a peg; “if I can’t be happy then neither will you”. If you remember a somewhat sappy Reagan-era song by Sting, even during the Cold War there was a back-of-our-minds element of self consolation that full-on WW3 was held at bay to a great degree “because the Russians love their children, too”. Terrorists do not have that consideration. ---
**Author:** ![InvidiousCourgette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@InvidiousCourgette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InvidiousCourgette)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-siege-video/263551/24 "2004-09-09T15:43:59Z")
> [@Ryan\_Liam](#): > > If we treat them like shit how are we any better? We have to show them there is a line and a difference between us. A civilised one. The line gets a little blurry in Chechnya, unfortunately. Russian forces have razed villages and large parts of the Chechen capital, Grozny. In the process they have killed thousands of people. The Russian troops have also been alleged to be party to torture, rapes, extortion and extrajudicial executions. The Chechen separatists have just ramped the brutality up another notch. It would seem inevitable that the circle of violence will continue and more innocents will reap the whirlwind. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-siege-video/263551/25 "2004-09-09T15:55:49Z")
> [@PaulFitzroy](#): > > Russia, unlike politically-correct America, isn’t afraid of offending Muslims in their anti-terrorist policy. You can bet that thousands of Chechen Muslim terrorists will be eliminated by the Russians, and the Russian media won’t make a month-long circus over any “prisoner abuse scandal” besides. We should take a page from their playbook. That worked so well for them in Afghanistan. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-siege-video/263551/26 "2004-09-10T01:51:12Z")
Yes, PaulFitzroy, prove that the terrorists were right all along to fight the power by any means necessary. Way to go. Bring on the Crusades. Remember this, however: the forces fighting in the name of Islam won the last Crusades. However, they eventually lost out economically. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-siege-video/263551.md?page=1)