The unspeakable terrorist takeover of a Russian school that left hundreds dead and wounded this week drives home the point that in the war of terror, there is no such place as a non-combat area.

The experts call them "soft" targets - office towers, commuter trains, commercial airliners and now a school full of children. They are places filled with innocent and unsuspecting people suddenly turned into the pawns of ruthless killers.

The school in Beslan, Russia,was crowded with children and parents Wednesday, the first day of school. A group of terrorists, some wearing suicide bombs, killed at least two people and wounded several others as they stormed into the building and took more than 1,200 hostages.

Friday morning the school became a slaughterhouse as gunfire and explosions broke out and security forces stormed the building. Early reports put the death toll at more than 150, with hundreds more wounded. Once the authorities rushed into the school, the casualties rose. But whether the deaths were at the hands of the terrorists, or inadvertently caused by the rescuers, the blame certainly lies with those who took the hostages.

The terrorists initially were described at Chechen rebels, demanding independence from Russia. Russian officials later said at least 10 of the terrorists were identified as Arabs, strengthening the claims of President Vladimir Putin that the terrorists in Chechnya are in league with al-Qaida.

Whoever they are, these monsters have a complete disregard for human life and their tactics make them the enemies of the entire world.

These attackers are of the same mind as those who flew airplanes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, who destroyed the federal building in Oklahoma City, who blow up buses in Israel, who set off bombs in a Spanish commuter train, and who killed 90 people aboard two jetliners destroyed over Russia a week ago. Their names, causes and organizations may vary, but they share a blindness to anything but their own fanaticism.

Condemnations of the Beslan terrorists came from around the world Friday as people everywhere imagined what the scene would have looked like in their own communities and their own schools.

"This is yet another grim reminder of the length to which terrorists will go to threaten this civilized world," President Bush told the crowd at a campaign event in Wisconsin on Friday. "We mourn the innocent lives that have been lost. We stand with the people of Russia."

These enemies are implacable. Our stance against them must transcend national borders and domestic politics. We must accept the reality that as far as the terrorists are concerned, we all are potential targets.