ì200 Die as Siege at a Russian School Ends in Chaos: Captives Escape During Hours of Fighting,î by C.J. Chivers and Steven Lee Myers, New York Times, 4 September, p. A1.

I wrote in the Washington Post in April that the U.S. and Russia should be strategic allies in the Global War on Terrorism, along with India and China. I was roundly ridiculed by some for my naivete. I mean, how could we expect Russia to give a damn about how America fares in the Middle East, they have their own problems with radical Muslims seeking to break away from the country.

Well, those problems have really ratcheted up in recent weeks, with the twin bombings of the jetliners and now the massive killings that resulting from the hostage taking at the school (which is about as low as you can go). Think Russia simply looks at the U.S. and says, ìThis is all your fault for invading Iraqî? Or do you think Moscow increasingly begins to understand that weíre in this together.

We need allies willing to kill those who must be killed, and we need allies who wonít get squeamish about doing that. The Russians are close on this scoreóreally close and getting closer.