csua.org/u/8x8 -> www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/09/04/international1038EDT0487.DTL
The former KGB spy said in a televised address to the nation that terrorists are waging an "all-out war" against Russia. He said he would enact reforms to make security services more effective, tighten border controls and establish a new system to control the situation in the war-torn Caucasus. Earlier, Putin sealed the borders of North Ossetia, the republic where more than 340 people were killed in a hostage-taking at a school that turned violent Friday. The hostage-taking was carried out by militants seeking independence for Chechnya, where Russian troops have been battling separatists on and off for more than a decade. Putin vowed never to give in to international terrorists, and that in order to fight them, Russians could not continue living in a "carefree" way. He blamed police corruption and porous borders for the failure to stop attacks and called for mobilizing the nation before what he called the "common danger" of terrorism. "In general, we need to admit that we did not show an understanding of the complexities and dangers of the processes occurring in our own country and in the world," he said. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the nation was weakened and unable to respond effectively to terrorism, Putin said. "We stopped giving enough attention to questions of defense and security, and allowed corruption to infect our judicial and law enforcement sphere," he said. "Moreover, our country -- which used to have the strongest defense system of its external borders -- instantly became unprotected from either the West or the East." We showed weakness, and weak people are beaten," he said. Putin made a lightning pre-dawn visit to Beslan, the town where the school is located and announced the closing of the region's borders while authorities search for the attackers' accomplices. Later Saturday, he decreed two days of mourning on Monday and Tuesday. "I ask you to remember those who died at the hands of terrorists in recent days," he said in his address. He said measures would be taken to strengthen Russia's unity, create a more effective crisis management system, establish a new system to control the situation in the Caucasus, and overhaul the law enforcement organs. "We are obliged to create a much more effective security system and to demand action from our law enforcement organs that would be adequate to the level and scale of the new threats," he said. Putin said some foes wanted to tear off parts of Russia, and others were helping them. "They help, supposing that Russia -- as one of the greatest nuclear powers -- still poses a threat to them.
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