Thoughts on the Terrorist Attack in Moscow

I am sure you have heard by now that two suicide bombings took place on the Moscow Metro this morning killing 38 people. The attacks occurred approximately an hour apart and both bombers were female.

When I heard about the attacks I thought back to the Beslan school massacre back in September 2004 in which over 300 hostages were killed. More than half of them were children. Today's attack, as with the Beslan school massacre, appears to have been perpetrated by Chechen separatists.

It is also worth noting that there were two attacks on the Moscow Metro in 20o4. The first attack took place in February of that year resulting in the loss of 41 lives while the second took place in August and resulted in 10 deaths. Chechen separatists are also believed responsible in carrying out these acts.

There are those who bemoan the loss of civil liberties in this country after September 11, 2001. However, if you want to look at a case of infringement of civil liberties look no further than Vladimir Putin's response to the attacks with the creation of the Public Chamber of Russia which severely undercut the authority of an already weak Russian parliament and court system and increased his powers exponentially.

I fear Putin will implement similar measures in response. I also fear such measures will do little stop the Muslim Chechens from carrying out terrorist attacks in Russia.