ARE there really no limits to senseless violence? On Monday, 12 Nepalese who hardly knew which country they were in were captured and butchered by Iraqi terrorists. Now Chechens have seized a school in North Ossetia and are holding hundreds of schoolchildren, parents and teachers as hostages.

The Chechen separatist movement led by Aslan Maskhadov may not have authorized the action, as asserted by his envoy in the UK, but there is no doubt that the hostage takers are Chechens — perhaps a rogue operation by an independent group. The people of Chechnya have a legitimate cause for anger at Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Their land has been devastated and their men, women and children killed in thousands in a war that was not necessary. A negotiated solution for Moscow’s standoff with Grozny could have been found if Putin, appointed premier in 1999, had not proceeded immediately to prove how tough he was by crushing Chechnya with military might. Bloodshed has not stopped since then, either in Chechnya or Russia.

All this is true. However, the grievance the Chechens have is against the Kremlin, not against ordinary Russians — certainly not against schoolchildren and schoolmarms. When genuine political grievances are sought to be solved through perpetrating violence against children, it inflicts the most grievous harm on the cause that is sought to be furthered. The decent people who were supporting them in their fight against injustice turn against them. The United States, which has long been critical of Russian policy in Chechnya, blasting human rights abuses and Moscow’s refusal to deal with separatists on a political level, has condemned the attack as “terrorism.” UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was appalled to learn of the attack and urged the hostage takers to release their captives and condemned the “criminal act directed against the most vulnerable members of society.” Similar calls have come from all world leaders.

Back in Nepal, furious crowds have condemned their government for not having done enough to secure the release of their unfortunate young citizens. There was in truth nothing the authorities in Katmandu could have done. It could not follow Manila’s example and cave in because Nepal has no military in Iraq. That is what makes the kidnap and murder of Nepalese peasants extremely sickening.

In Russia there can be no doubt that the Kremlin is not prepared to trade the lives of hostages for any concession whatsoever. As with past mass seizures of a hospital and a theater, the drama may end with the facilities being stormed by Russian security forces. There can be no doubt that from the minute this attack was planned, the terror leaders have been quite prepared to shed torrents of young blood. There are no words strong enough to express the disgust and horror all decent people feel toward such actions. Their campaigns are the very opposite of brave and heroic and bring the deepest and most profound shame upon the causes they pretend to represent.