Leave it to that quasi-governmental body, the E.U. (which even my girl in Paris dislikes), to disrespect the dead, second-guess those who respond to crisis, and blame the victims:

Putin has long tried to paint the Kremlin's conflict with Muslim separatists in Chechnya as part of the global war on terror. Some countries, particularly in Europe, have been critical of Russia's actions in region, where Russian forces have been accused of human rights abuses.

The European Union directed veiled criticism at Russia's handling of the school standoff, saying it regretted the violence and bloodshed.

"It's very difficult to judge from a distance whether the right decision was taken or not," Bot said, apparently referring to Russian forces' decision to storm the school. Russian officials said that happened only after the militants set off explosions and began shooting fleeing hostages.

Bot said the 25-nation EU understood Russian authorities had few options, but added that the tragedy highlighted the need for Russia to end the long-standing conflict in Chechnya.

But now let me point out the journalist's odd bias: 'Putin has long tried to paint the Kremlin's conflict with Muslim separatists in Chechnya as part of the global war on terror.'

I'd say the 'Chechen Rebels' have done well enough themselves.

In the end Ben Bot says that Russia needs to end the conflict, which presumably means 'cave-in.' And that would certainly teach terrorists -- I mean insurgents -- a valuable lesson: killing children gets results.

When the United States responds to murderous terrorism, when Israel retaliates for massacres, when Russia resists Islamic terrorists (euphemistically called Chechen Rebels by the press), the uniform cry is 'human rights.'

And when the cry goes out, 'murder!,' another returns:

'What did you do to deserve it?'

MORE: Here's another AP article in which the 'rebels' are given the benefit of the doubt, and it is suggested that the intervention of the Russian commandos was responsible for the death toll. Some choice excerpts:

Medical officials said more than 542 people including 336 children were hospitalized after the eruption of violence that ended the 62-hour hostage drama on Friday. The hostage-takers - who had been demanding independence for nearby Chechnya - held the more than 1,000 hostages in the school's sweltering gymnasium, refusing to let in food or water.

The eruption of violence is presumably the storming of the school. This is the set-up.

Russian authorities said the bloody end to the standoff came after explosions apparently set off by the militants - possibly by accident - as emergency workers were entering the school to collect the bodies of slain hostages.

The freedom fighters from Chechnya probably didn't mean to set off the explosions. So had the commandos not reacted so violently to the mistake, there may have been fewer deaths.

An Arab presence among the attackers would boost Putin's argument that the Russian campaign in neighboring Chechnya, where mostly Muslim separatists have been fighting Russian forces in a brutal war for most of the past decade, is part of the war on international terrorism - seen by Putin's critics as an attempt to deflect human rights criticism.

Like not giving radical militant muslims the right to kill your children in peace?

Two major hostage-taking raids by Chechen rebels outside the war-torn region in the past decade provoked Russian rescue operations that led to many deaths. The seizure of a Moscow theater in 2002 ended after a knockout gas was pumped into the building, debilitating the captors but causing almost all of the 129 hostage deaths.

And yet 800 hostages survived.

The only good, and the one small consolation for those affected, out of this horrendous event is a renewed sense around the world that we must unite against militant islamic terrorism. Even France and Germany agree.

The Dutch? They can start criticizing Russia and the rest of the world when they stop celebrating Sinterklass by parading Santa's African slave (Zwarte Piet) through the streets.

AND THEN SOME: Glenn Reynolds links to David Kaspar's tongue-in-cheek guide to dealing with the 'freedom fighters.' A must-read.