Russian incident shows scope of terrorism

The refrain is being repeated around the world. In Bali, the killing of more than 200 young people -- mainly Australian tourists -- at a disco has been called the "Indonesian 9-11." Now tragedy has struck Russia, where more than 110 men, women and children attending a popular Western-style musical were killed during a terrorist hostage-taking last week.

While all but one of the deaths was the result of opiate fentanyl gas used by authorities to subdue the terrorists, the blame for those deaths should not be misplaced. Without decisive action, all of the more than 800 theater-goers who originally were taken hostages might have been killed. Russia deserves sympathy and understanding during this difficult time.

After the terrorists took control of the theater, which had drawn tourists from around the world, including four Americans, and shot dead one young woman as proof of their seriousness, Russian authorities knew that any attempt to rescue the hostages would be fraught with risk. The terrorists had tied many of the hostages to their seats with explosives spread between them. The largest was a cylinder said by news agencies to hold 110 pounds of TNT. In addition, nearly 20 suicide attackers, women wrapped in TNT, also sat among the hostages.

Russian leaders faced no good choices. Either give in to the impossible demands of the terrorists and embolden other groups to attack in similar ways, or try a difficult rescue that would need to incapacitate the terrorists before they could trigger the explosives.

In hindsight, the Russians appear to have used too much gas, especially taking into consideration that the hostages were held in close quarters with poor ventilation, and they had not eaten or slept well in days. Worse, the preparation of medical authorities with antidotes seems to have been confused, and the initial desire to keep the gas itself a mystery from the world, including the doctors treating the stricken hostages, compounded the complications after the rescue.

It took Russia several days and much prodding from the Bush administration before it released information about the gas, a fast-acting opiate with medical applications that Russia insists does not violate the Chemical Weapons Treaty. According to U.S. officials, however, some experts have encouraged our government to conduct research in order to use such gas in similar situations, but it has refrained because of questions about permissibility under the treaty.

Questions about the gas, however, should not obscure that it was the terrorists, not the Russian authorities, who caused these deaths. Indeed, the Russian officials undoubtedly considered that too little gas would lead to more deaths than too much.

This Russian tragedy, along with the bombing in Bali and the murder of an American diplomat in Jordan last week, should be a reminder that al-Qaida-inspired terrorism did not start with the attack on the twin towers, and it did not end there. The civilized world must be united in diminishing it now, or it will only grow worse in the future.