The North Caucasus: Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia

[davidbfpo]

A pre-publication alert for 'Fangs of the Lone Wolf. Chechen Tactics in the Russian-Chechen Wars 1994-2009' by Dodge Billingsley & Lester Grau. From the publishers summary:

Books on guerrilla war are seldom written from the tactical perspective and even less seldom from the guerrilla's perspective....These are the stories of low-level guerrilla combat as told by the survivors. They cover fighting from the cities of Grozny and Argun to the villages of Bamut and Serzhen-yurt, and finally the hills, river valleys and mountains that make up so much of Chechnya. The author embedded with Chechen guerrilla forces and knows the conflict, country and culture. Yet, as a Western outsider, he is able to maintain perspective and objectivity

Link to Amazon (US): http://www.amazon.com/FANGS-LONE-WOL...Wars+1994-2009 and Amazon (UK):http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fangs-Cheche...+the+lone+wolf

[davidbfpo]

A new book on the Chechen wars has been reviewed on WoTR, it starts with:

Anyone who thinks “western values” are an arrogant fiction created to perpetuate the dominance of market democracies or whitewash their crimes should read A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, a heartbreakingly poignant novel about the wars in Chechnya. Based on the reporting of amazingly brave — and murdered — Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, and the memoir of Chechen doctor Khassan Baiev, it chillingly recounts Russia’s arbitrary and brutal reign of terror during several attempts to subdue rebellion in one of its constituent republics.

Link:http://warontherocks.com/2014/08/a-c...chechnya-wars/

[davidbfpo]

At the end of a blog article which explains the strange suicide bombing in Istanbul, ostensibly by a Russian national, from Dagestan, on behalf of a local Turksih leftist group is this passage:

It bears repeating that within the last two months, six North Caucasus commanders switched allegiance from Caucasus Emirate leader Ali Abu Mukhammed to ISIL leader Abu-Bakr al Baghdadi, possibly signaling a schism in the CE.

Link:https://misscherryjones.wordpress.co...s-to-istanbul/