Extremely difficult to watch

I'm up to here with the entire "terrorist" concept. This documentary does a great job of showing the Chechen terrorists, posturing and strutting like the tough guys they are in their own minds. There are no grievances that justify bullying women and children.

I understand this site is for discussing movies and television not politics, but that distinction is difficult when the subject of the documentary is political.

I long for a day when all countries and political groups outlaw the abuse of women and children. When it becomes clear to even the most radical groups that bullying, beating, terrorizing women and children is a crime, a heinous crime that only serves to identify the doer of suchs deeds as a misanthrope, plain and simple.

New flash tough guys, put down your automatic weapons, leave the women and children and find yourself a better outlet for your aggression. If your grievances are purely sociological, get into politics and change things. Much more importantly, show your women, children and like minded sorts the right way to bring about change. Instead of getting yourself killed and forcing your relatives to act the same way, regardless of the fact it didn't work.

My last point, I pray that at some point, the fallacy of terrorism as an effective instrument to bring about change, becomes so obvious, that the other members of these radical groups will begin to police themselves. The saner, wiser members will realize that public opinion is crucial in their struggle, that beating and killing children with machine guys is counterproductive. The image of a strutting tough guy, needing a machine gun to exert control over groups of students (7-10 y/o) and their teachers, does not make me afraid, nor does it make me empathetic towards your cause, it simply moves you, nearer to the top of my list of problems that need fixing.

Watching the mothers wail as they find the bodies of their children, does not make me a fan of righting the wrongs perpetrated against the Chechens, it makes me question if anyone in Chechnya is worth listening to. If no one in Chechnya will speak out condemning the killing of children, then its tough for me to get interested in championing better treatment for Chechnya.

As Julia Roberts points out, in mentioning that the only terrorist to survive was the leader. Tough guy espouses the virtue of giving your life to a cause........only to duck out at the end.

Nice, tough guy, you stir up women and 20 y/o's to beat, terrorize and murder women and children....... only to duck out when the action starts. These documentaries create great empathy, but the exact opposite of what the bullies intended. If you act like a rabid dog, don't bellyache when you are treated like a rabid dog.

We need more documentaries, perhaps a few willing to be a bit less objective, maybe even a few were the writers are willing to remove the kid gloves.

The scorecard:

1200 hostages
331 murdered
176 children murdered
500 children wounded
20 children orphaned

On screen comment after showing a man who lost his wife, 3 sisters and all 4 children, "they are just animalswithout a heart or soul, they are not human."

Then a politician comes on and says the problem of the Chechen republic most be solved, and until it is solved, there are no guarantees that future similar acts won't happen."

My point exactly. There needs to be a guarantee that killing women and children on purpose to further a political agenda is never justifiable. Until smarmy political types get that, they will never gain support from the rest of the world.

I recommend this documentary for adults interested in the struggles of Chechnya, it stirs the emotions, but poses more questions then it resolves.