Tragedy in Russia provides world a chance to unite

This is a time not only for sympathy, but for solidarity with Russia and all nations that find themselves victims of terrorists who have no sense of decency.
While the death toll in the latest terrorist attack in Russia is about a tenth of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, the Russian attack set a new standard for viciousness, targeting as it did children.
The latest death toll figures from the terrorist taking of a school in Beslan show 335 hostages dead, including 156 children. Thirty terrorists, who do not deserve to have themselves counted in the same sentence with the victims, are also dead.
Quick condemnation
The reaction to the Beslan siege has been unusually swift in the Arab world, with commentators in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere characterizing the attack as barbaric and calling for Muslims to disassociate themselves from terror. Islamist columnist Ahmed Bahgat, writing in Al-Ahram, a leading Egyptian newspaper, warned that the Beslan images, which are getting worldwide coverage, "showed Muslims as monsters who are fed by the blood of children and the pain of their families." Such brutal candor in Egypt is rare.
Within Russia, there is a political debate over whether the government could have done something to prevent the tragedy, and questions have been raised as to how the terrorists were able to smuggle their explosive devices into the school. There will be inquiries into mistakes that were made in launching the attack on the terrorists, which apparently caused the terrorists to detonate suicide devises.
And while it is generally accepted that the impetus for the attack came from the Chechyan separatist movement, tying down the various collaborating groups will take time.
Time to unite
But that aside, it is clear that this is a time for all civilized nations -- all civilized people -- to join the battle against terrorism. Hostage takers, suicide bombers, hijackers -- all those who target men, women and children who are simply going about their lives -- must be stopped.
They should have no allies. No government, no religion, no ethnic group should give the murderers of innocent civilians aid or comfort of any kind.