Terror at Beslan: A Russian Tragedy with Lessons for America's Schools [Paperback]

John Giduck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2005

The complete and accurate story of the Beslan School Siege that occurred in Russia on September 1, 2004. This book tells the untold story about the victims, the soldiers who were there and the history of the events leading up to the tragic incident. But more than just the story, this book highlights the lessons America's school system can learn from the tragedy to protect itself from terrorism.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An explosive expose of Russian failure and what America must do to protect its children." -- John A. Anderson, Sergeant Major, U.S. Army Special Forces (ret.)

"Don’t just read this book, study it and apply it." -- Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, author of "On Combat, On Killing and Stop Teaching Our Kids To Kill"

"This book should be required reading for law enforcement and school officials alike." -- Connie Bond, Editor of The Police Marksman Magazine

About the Author

Author John Giduck has a Bachelor’s Degree from Penn State and a law degree from the University of Denver. He also earned a Master’s Degree in International Affairs, specializing in Russian studies, from the University of Colorado, which included completion of the Russian Culture and Language Program at St. Petersburg State University in Russia. He has traveled extensively throughout Russia and the former Soviet Union, training with Russia’s elite Special Forces units for more than 10 years. Terror At Beslan is his first book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: Archangel Group Inc; 1St Edition edition (March 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976775301
• ISBN-13: 978-0976775300
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #44,353 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #68 in Books > History > Asia > Russia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It can happen here!, September 24, 2005

By 

Chapulina R (Tovarischi Imports, USA/RUS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Terror at Beslan: A Russian Tragedy with Lessons for America's Schools (Paperback)

When Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev sent his jihadists to slaughter schoolchildren in predominantly Christian North Ossetia, he expected to ignite a holy war throughout Russia. North Ossetia and neighboring Muslim republic Ingushetia had previously fought a bloody territorial war, and the truce was bitter. Basayev counted on Caucasus tradition, which would grant the bereaved men of Beslan blood-vengeance following their 40-day Orthodox rites of mourning. He believed that a massacre of children, which culminated the week of deadly terrorist attacks on Russian civilians, would spark massive retaliation against Chechnya. That innocent Ingush and Chechens would suffer meant little to Basayev, who has always gladly exploited the population as human shields and suicide-bombers. One out of every seven Russian citizens is a Muslim, but most practice the traditional Islam which is dispised as "kafir" by Basayev's Wahhabis. Basayev hoped a nationwide backlash against Islam would radicalize all of Russia's Muslims. That this did not occur was due to two things: the government's and media's restraint in not exploiting the atrocity to advance the war effort. And more importantly, the North Ossetians' own restraint in not taking indiscriminate revenge on their Muslim neighbors. But Basayev achieved at least one important goal: he showed the world that terrorists consider no targets off limits, not even the most innocent.

John Giduck, the author of "Terror at Beslan," is president of the Archangel Corporation, a US 501 (c)(3) non-profit NGO. Archangel provides anti-terrorism consulting and training to law-enforcement, military, and other government agencies. Mr. Giduck himself is a US Army Special Forces hand-to-hand combat and firearms instructor, tactical scuba and skydiving instructor, weightlifting champion, and has been inducted into several international martial arts halls of fame. He holds Masters Degrees in Russian Studies and International Affairs. And he holds our nation's highest level of security clearance. Archangel operates in over 20 countries; its membership includes elite SPEC-warriors from the US military, British SAS, Russian spetsnaz, and Israeli armed forces. Here is an impeccable, knowledgeable, and thoroughly credible source, to document this notorious terrorist act and apply its lessons to American schools.

Mr. Giduck with his Archangel team was on site in Beslan immediately following the firefight, researching step-by-step the deadly chronology of events. Archangel's professionals analysed the strategies and mistakes of the Russian Alpha and Vympel forces who responded to the desperate situation. But not only to get an accurate account (which the Russian government was obstructing): The author believes it is only a matter of time until terrorists commit a similar attack on an American school.

"Terror at Beslan" is not really intended for the reader who wants the victims' story. For that, there are several Beslan websites with personal accounts from survivors. The book does corraborate their memoirs by detailing what the American media was loathe to mention: the terrorists' slaughter of dozens of male faculty and teenaged boys, the repetitive rape of young girls, the beatings and psychological torment of captives. The author, like the residents of Beslan, is quick to credit the heroism of his spetsnaz colleagues, while criticizing the inaction of the government. This is imperative, because numerous rumors and outright falsehoods have arisen in both Western and Russian media in the year following the atrocity. Alpha and Vympel, who lost 12 of their members, have been wrongly accused of using excessive force and illegal weapons. At the same time, contradictorily, they are vilified for their unreadiness on the third day of the seige, when the terrorists began shooting and detonating their bombs. Mr. Giduck dispels all the lies, while honestly assessing his colleagues' true shortcomings.
The second half of the book deals with the defense of American schools from a Beslan-like terrorist attack. Archangel is not being paranoid in its assumption that such an attack is inevitable. Cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed, in a celebratory conference in London to commemorate the anniversaries of Beslan and 9-11, declared the targeting of children a "reasonable course of action" in jihad. Basayev, in a 2005 interview on the American ABC network, agreed that such an act did not "cross the line" for committed jihadists. Children and other civilians are viewed by such terrorists not as innocent noncombatants, but as "disarmed combatants." Mr. Giduck gives credible and frightening evidence that jihadists are already here -- some are "guests" of NGOs such as the inaptly-named National Endowment for Democracy! -- already threatening our most precious and vulnerable. Archangel's website provides information on upcoming seminars and training courses, designed to assist law-enforcement in techniques to prevent or handle the kind of horror these terrorists envision. It is encouraging to see from other reviews that this topic is being taken seriously! I recommend this book strongly for parents, teachers, and anyone concerned with the protection of schoolchildren. I wish it would be read by every lefty-lib and neocon loony in the N.E.D. and mainstream media who believes it "can't happen here."

42 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of money, December 13, 2011

By 

Greg - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Terror at Beslan: A Russian Tragedy with Lessons for America's Schools (Paperback)

A breakdown of what happened from second and third hand information.
I take issue with the author lecturing on tactics.As he has no experience in hostage rescue.
The author was never a graduate of the US Army Special Forces Q course.Or has any training in hostage rescue.that makes him a FRAUD!I would take his suggestions with a grain of salt as he has no experience in hostage rescue.
He should not have falsified his bio.
Any Police who take the advice of this book is a fool.The author's other claims are also being challenged as being false.Until the author can produce documentation proving his credentials he should not be lecturing on this topic.
It is a shame he used this horrible tragedy to make a buck.Google the author to learn more on his false claims.
If he can prove his claims I will retract this review.

I want my money and time back.

49 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exposes the common denominator, July 27, 2006

By 

Alyssa A. Lappen (Earth) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Terror at Beslan: A Russian Tragedy with Lessons for America's Schools (Paperback)

Although I read this macabre but critically important book more than a year ago, I have put off reviewing it that long because I just could not again face the gruesome realities it contains. But a few weeks after the July 10 death of Russia's Osama bin Laden, the Naqshabandi Sufi murderer, Shamil Basayev, there is no longer any excuse.

In their three-day siege at the Beslan middle school in September 2004, Chechen Islamic terrorists killed at least 330, including 172 children and wounded another 700 Russians, many of them critically. At least 31 terrorists were killed at the school, only 17 of whom were later identified. These terrorists included 10 Arab Muslims, only two of whom were sent to Interpol for identification.

This book reveals many shortcomings in the Russian response to the terrorist attack, which undoubtedly prolonged the assault, and increased the casualties. One serious problem was the failure of Russia's Spetsnaz, Alpha and Vympel counter terror forces to contain the angry local population, who encircled the school, thereby complicating military and medical rescue operations and easing the escapes of many terrorists. Another was their failure to coordinate quickly and call in the needed forces.

In the aftermath, the Russian government of Vladimir Putin was also less than forthcoming about the causes and complications of the terror attack. And blame was improperly placed on low-ranking officials who in fact could have done very little to prevent the attack, improve the counter terror response or bolster anti-terror forces afterwards.

Having said that, John Giduck gives a great deal of well-deserved praise to the Russian heroes who did manage to save lives, minimize the toll under impossible circumstances and fought to the last, in many cases giving their very lives.

But three particular points make Giduck's book exceedingly important for counter terror officials and forces worldwide and Americans in particular.

First of all, Giduck notes that Chechnya is an large center of global Islamic terrorism, not the innocent victim of Russian brutality. As he points out, although the Naqshabandi Sufi sect is prominent in Chechnya, it is not the peaceful ideology that it is often portrayed.

On the contrary, Chechen Islamic terrorists have murdered thousands of innocent Russians in previous terror attacks, wounded a much larger number and taken still more hostage in dozens, perhaps hundreds of assaults. According to one source, over time, Chechens have considered it "the very best thing to do...to commit fraud and hurt people of other religions." He continued, "Historically, they would rob, steal, kidnap and sell slaves for money rather than develop an economy." And they have done all this in the name of Allah and Islam.

Secondly, thousands of these Chechen terrorists now reside in America, having immigrated as "war refugees," all too often under the auspices of the naïve and uninformed U.S. government.

Thirdly, the U.S. has thousands and thousands of unprotected potential "soft" terrorist targets, including grammar, middle and high schools in every state, bridges and tunnels, railroads, shopping malls, restaurants, parks, entertainment centers, assembly halls and so on.

As Giduck sees it, Americans even after 9/11 remain largely and dangerously oblivious to the fact that Islamic terrorists have immigrated legally and illegally and mean to do great harm. Very few have a substantive knowledge of the history of Islam, much less its historical use of violence or the gravitation of Muslim masses to the radical modern Shi'ite and Sunni sects that justify, fund and commit violence with the stated intention of creating a worldwide Islamic empire and enforcing the Islamic Sharia law globally. But their ignorance does not make the U.S. immune to this scourge, Giduck writes.

On the contrary, the national American amnesia on Islamic history is a "deadly affliction." Contrary to politically correct thinking, Giduck notes, while the average Muslim lives a peaceful life, what is touted by the PC press as a "religion of peace" is actually "a faith steeped in a foundation of violence." And actually, there is "no other single common factor in the wholesale slaughter of innocent men, women and children" worldwide except "the perpetrators' conscription into the Islamic faith."

After terror attacks, American Muslims all too quickly decry non-Muslims for blaming Islam for the terrorist acts. They prey upon the American sensitivity to discrimination and bigotry, yet seldom if ever offer "outright condemnation of the terrorists' atrocities." Witness, for example, the current global press assault on Israel's defensive attacks against Shi'ite Hizballah Islamic terrorists in Lebanon.

Instead of blaming Islamic terrorists for thousands and thousands of ceaseless, cross-border rocket attacks on Israel, the global press criticizes Israel for daring to respond--a position that only encourages more terrorism, in the U.S., as well as Israel.

Every individual interested in world peace should read this book. It can only help to reinforce the much-ignored, yet common, religious motivation for Islamic terror--in Russia, Israel and worldwide.

May the murdered and martyred Beslan children, teachers, families and Russian counter terror forces rest in peace. And may the world understand--soon--the common denominator behind the September 2004 Chechen terror attack in Russia, and most other terror attacks worldwide.

--Alyssa A. Lappen