Sources : Sophie Shihab in Le Monde Larm russe rase la Tchchie sous la terreur et la torture, and Amnesty International Report 2001.

Before I receive any comments (which of course are welcome) I want to specify that this picture is called Understanding Terrorism and not Justifying Terrorism. Even the most noble of causes cannot justify the killing of innocents. VIOLENCE WEAKENS JUST CAUSES. Every time an innocent Russian is killed by a Chechen separatist, the Chechen movement loses credibility and support in the international community, within the Russian population, and ultimately, within the Chechen community itself. This is what has happened to the IRA. What I mean in this image is that there is always an immediate reason for things to happen even if we prefer to consider terrorist actions as devoid of all rationality instead of facing our part of the responsibility for their behavior. I also mean that the so-called war on terrorism is often just another excuse for imperial powers to extend their domination and to take liberty-cidal measures. There are only two ways of dealing with terrorism. The first one consists in giving them what they want. In the Chechen case : independence (fair enough) . During the Algerian war, French officers used to justify torture by saying that it saved innocent lives from terrorism, until it was decided that it wasnt worth the trouble and independence was granted to Algeria, which really saved lives - by ending the war. The second way is to deprive them of the support of the local population, in which case torturing prisoners (in Tchernokozovo or in Guantanamo) and indiscriminately bombing civilian populations both stand in complete opposition to logic.

Chilling work - i get a sense of desolation from it; a finality... good work

I read your piece constantly scrolling up to see your image of the young woman, clearly looking at her own death as well as the deaths of whoever will be in the place she is when she goes up and where is that man, and where the child? To me just me it says terrorism begins and ends with us: the opressed, the terrorists, the terrorised, the opressors. Until we can all see ourselves in that mirror, we'll make no progress in this area. This is a poignant and sensitive piece and well timed. Thank you.

Terribly long winded...way too much text. Nicely done.

dont listen to him. that was the ultimate story. sounds like something tom clancy would make. story line is very action poetic, and the model is exellent.

The ultimate advertisement for Le Monde. A quality newspaper bringing ultimate stories with loads of action poetic to the interested reader. Hey SurfAce, you may stop crying now for being likened to Tom Clancy. I think that was meant to be a compliment. Really. Yes, it was. Please stop crying now. And I like your use of models too ;)

Hola Surface, no acabo de entender el texto. Mi ingl es casi nulo. No puedo hacer comentarios sobre un tema tan delicado sin comprenderlo totalmente. No me gustar interpretarlo mal. La imagen tiene detalles que me gustan, como las fotografs y los desconchados de la pared, aparte de su significado e idea. Hot20 y que todo sea por la PAZ.

one of those days.

this is corny

As long as this picture was only bashing Russians, I received pretty nice comments, and I appreciated this. But now that US troops are taking position in Georgia, thereby supporting Moscow's propaganda by equating the Chechen rebels with Al Qaida, no doubt more and more good-hearted people here are going to find this post terribly "corny". It doesn't really matter. But as I was reading more corny things this morning, I learnt that last Wednesday a 22-year-old Palestinian student girl blew herself up, wounding 3 Israeli policemen. Now, can you stop reading for a second ,and try to imagine what could lead your own daughter/wife/sister to sacrifice her life to kill someone? Patriotism? Vengeance? Despair? Nothing else to lose? No other choice? You don't think she expected 70 virgins, do you? This might fool an Afghan shepherd, maybe, but not an educated girl like her. Anyway, in retaliation, Israel sent tanks against the two refugee camps of Nablus and Jenin, killing 13 and wounding 135 Palestinians. So it goes. One Israeli soldier was killed, which seems to prove the superiority of tanks to stones. Don't you understand that this will stop only when Israel withdraws from the occupied territories, or when every last Palestinian is exterminated? It is time to make a choice, people. This is not Tom Clancy. This is the History that we are now writing, and that is as corny as it gets.

As to the Palestinians v. Israelis, you say that a choice has to be made. What do you suggest?

Well, when you see that some Israeli veterans now refuse to serve in the territories, because their mission there is to humiliate Palestinian civilians, when you see that nationals symbols like Yaffa Yarkoni are considered as traitors and anti-semits because they support those soldiers and suggest that slaughtering Palestinians wont help, when millions of Jews all around the world are convinced that the best propaganda for world anti-semitism is Israel's agressive politics, when they beggin to considere that the Israelis leaders are not anymore motivated by creating a safe place for the Jews, but that they are extreme right hard-liners atheists using Judaism to serve their political ambitions, when everybody knows that the Palestinians will get their state sooner or later however much blood is shed today, then the conclusion is obvious. Of course, everytime a suicide bomber kills innocent Israelis, this is used to justifie more humiliation on the Palestinian people. Of course, both camp should concentrate on military objectives. But we've never heard about civilians slaughtering militars, have we?

"Palestinian student girl blew herself up, wounding 3 Israeli policemen. Now, can you stop reading for a second ,and try to imagine what could lead your own daughter/wife/sister to sacrifice her life to kill someone?" Maybe the big payoff Palestinian families gets from the govt. when their kids blow up Jews.

What eukodol? Can anyone understand the above paragraph?

Ah! That's why they are so rich! Thanks Euko. I suggest that you exchange your TV program for a history book. By the way, you said once to Lookoo, refering to the native Americans genocide, "I am touchy about constantly being made to feel guilty over things that happened a hundred years before I was born". So why don't you take advantage of this nice occasion to condamne an on-going genocide? That would probably avoid the same kind of shame to your descendents.

Terrorism is one of the worst crimes against humanity. No cause in the entire Universe cam justify the killing of innocents. Arafat and Palestinians got their occasion when Rabin offered to them almost all that they asked. But palestinians preferred terrorism. They have no excuse. Israel's a victim of Arab and Palestinian violence, of oganizations like Hamas who want to destroy that little great nation. Do you marvel that Israel defends itself?

A defense requires an attack by an enemy to be a defense. EVERYTHING else IS an attack! But you're absolutely right: No cause in the universe justifies the killing of innocents. What you forgot to mention: on neither side! Palestinians preferred terrorism? Maybe you forgot, but some stupid buckethead shot Rabin! Since that day the israeli government did NOTHING to live in peace with the palestinians. They did their best to fuel hatred and violence. But thats what you get if you elect a war criminal as president. It is a sad habit to call an attack on someone else self-defense to justify it. If it is Israel, Russia or America who does this, it still remains a lie. Sadly , it works better the less people care about what happens to other people. But enough of that. I really like both the picture and the story. Hope to see more of that in the future.

I understand...Thank You...