Inferno in Chechnya: The Russian-Chechen Wars, the Al Qaeda Myth, and the Boston Marathon Bombings PDF
Preview Inferno in Chechnya: The Russian-Chechen Wars, the Al Qaeda Myth, and the Boston Marathon Bombings
Brian Glyn Williams is a professor THE HISTORY OF THE CHECHEN WARS brian In 2013 the United States suffered brian glyn williams of Islamic history at the University of AND THE ORIGINS OF TERRORISM IN RUSSIA glyn its worst terrorist bombing since 9/11 Massachusetts Dartmouth. He has williams at the annual running of the Boston AND BEYOND published numerous books related Marathon. When the culprits turned to terrorism and conflict in Eurasia, out to be U.S. residents of Chechen “Williams once again demonstrates why he is required reading for anyone serious I including The Last Warlord: The Life about understanding the Chechens and their violent struggle against Russia.” Inferno in descent, Americans were shocked and and Legend of Dostum, the Afghan Lieutenant Colonel Robert Schaefer, author of The Insurgency in Chechnya n confused. Why would members of an Warrior Who Led US Special Forces to and the North Caucasus obscure Russian minority group con- f Topple the Taliban Regime; Predators: sider America their enemy? Inferno in e Chechnya “An utterly fascinating journey through one of radical Islam’s least-understood The CIA’s Drone War on Al Qaeda; Chechnya is the first book to answer this r Afghanistan Declassified: A Guide to fronts: Chechnya and the Caucasus. Essential for anyone seeking to understand the riddle by tracing the roots of the Boston historical roots of the Boston bombing.” Janet Reitman, Rolling Stone magazine n America’s Longest War; and The Crimean attack to the Caucasus Mountains of Tatars: From Soviet Genocide to Putin’s “A must-read for anyone who wishes to understand the Chechens and their involve- o southern Russia. Conquest. ment in contemporary conflicts, this remarkable book provides the full sweep of the THE RUSSIAN-CHECHEN WARS, i Chechens’ tragic history. The chapters on Chechens in Afghanistan and Syria and on Brian Glyn Williams describes the n THE AL QAEDA MYTH, AND THE BOSTON the Boston Marathon bombings are absolutely brilliant.” Miriam Lanskoy, tragic history of the bombers’ war- director, Russia and Eurasia, National Endowment for Democracy MARATHON BOMBINGS devastated homeland — including C tsarist conquest and two bloody wars “A sweeping account of warfare, genocide, and conquest in other lands that with post-Soviet Russia that would lead ultimately led to America’s greatest terror bombing since 9/11.” h to the rise of Vladimir Putin — showing Aurélie Campana, Canada Research Chair on Conflicts and Terrorism how the conflict there influenced the e “An inspiring account that captures the essence of how the Chechen highlanders c rise of Europe’s deadliest homegrown have been so wrongly portrayed over the past decade in the Western media h terrorist network. He provides a his- by pundits and others pretending to be experts on the Caucasus Mountains torical account of the Chechens’ terror whose narratives about Chechnya have often been shaped by the Russian media n campaign in Russia, documents their machine.” Glen Howard, president, Jamestown Foundation y growing links to Al Qaeda and radical Islam, and describes the plight of the “Inferno in Chechnya is a bold attempt to provide a balanced narrative about the a Chechen people, particularly their tragic history and struggle with Russia and the Chechen diaspora that ultimately sent Soviet Union. The story of the struggle for the soul of a small nation has reverberated the Tsarnaev brothers to Boston. across the Middle East and onto the very streets of Boston.” Dr. Lester W. Grau, senior analyst, Foreign Military Studies Office, U.S. Army Inferno in Chechnya delivers a fasci- nating and deeply tragic story that has much to say about the historical and ethnic roots of modern terrorism. ForeEdge Jacket illustration courtesy of Fore Thomson Reuters www.ForeEdgeBooks.com Edge Inferno in Chechnya Williams - Chechnya.indb 1 7/15/2015 7:21:33 PM Williams - Chechnya.indb 2 7/15/2015 7:21:33 PM Inferno in CHeCHnya the Russian-CheC hen WaRs, the a l Qaeda Myth, and the Boston MaR athon BoMBings Brian Glyn Williams ForeEdge Williams - Chechnya.indb 3 7/15/2015 7:21:33 PM ForeEdge An imprint of University Press of New England www.upne.com © 2015 Brian Glyn Williams All rights reserved For permission to reproduce any of the material in this book, contact Permissions, University Press of New England, One Court Street, Suite 250, Lebanon NH 03766; or visit www.upne.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Williams, Brian Glyn. Inferno in Chechnya: the Russian-Chechen wars, the Al Qaeda myth, and the Boston Marathon bombings / Brian Glyn Williams. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-1-61168-737-8 (cloth: alkaline paper) — isbn 978-1-61168-801-6 (ebook) 1. Chechnia (Russia) —History —Civil War, 1994– 2. Russia (Federation) —Relations —Russia —Chechnia. 3. Chechnia (Russia) —Relations —Russia (Federation) 4. War and society —Russia (Federation) —Chechnia. 5. Jihad— Political aspects —Russia (Federation)— Chechnia. 6. Qaida (Organization) 7. Terrorism —Europe. 8. Boston Marathon Bombing, Boston, Mass., 2013. 9. Tsarnaev, Tamerlan. 10. Tsarnaev, Dzhokhar. I. Title. dk511.c37w55 2015 947.086 —dc23 2015002114 For the resilient people of Boston and for all my friends in the city, including Suki Soltysik, Dana Fine, Heidi Floerke, Ozge and Eric Getkin, Ed Fallon, Amy Beuchemin, Josh Ready, Jenny Murphy, Jason and Molly Seto, Corey and Leandro Lopez, Steve and Ceren Matteo, John Lawrenz, Alan Hirshfeld, Michelle Cheyne, Bob and Pat Getkin, Kevin McWilliams, Laura Barlow, Brad Pinkos, Scott Gollumcan Levi, Alan Friedman, Jim Stamos, Ona Ridenour, Volkan and Tansel Sazak, Marc Yanniello, Hien Cao, Michelle and Selim Gurel, Len and Carolyn Travers, Razi Usman, Sue Foley, Mark Santow, Tim Pakopolos, Pat Gallagher, Chris and Jill Keough, and my wife, Feyza. Williams - Chechnya.indb 5 7/15/2015 7:21:33 PM This is a war for the freedom of a nation. If the Russians want to call me a terrorist, a hammer of God, a nightmare creature, I am happy to be any of these things. — Chechen field commander turned notorious terrorist, Shamil Basayev Williams - Chechnya.indb 6 7/15/2015 7:21:33 PM Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction xi 1 First Blood 1 2 Resistance 18 3 Genocide 35 4 The First Russian-Chechen War 76 5 Chaosistan 116 6 The Return of the Russians 153 7 The Chechen Ghost Army of Afghanistan and Syrian Battalion 206 8 The Strange Saga of the Boston Marathon Bombers 230 Notes 259 Index 285 Williams - Chechnya.indb 7 7/15/2015 7:21:33 PM Williams - Chechnya.indb 8 7/15/2015 7:21:33 PM
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