TERROR AT BESLAN

BY JOHN GIDUCK
Published by Archangel Group Inc.

Reading this book reminded me somewhat of how I felt when I viewed the film United 93. Of course I knew going in how it would end, but as they say " the devils in the details". Most everyone in the world is aware of the terrible tragedy that occurred at Beslan. But few people know the details of that terrible tragedy. John Giduck, through his extensive personal contacts with Russian special forces, was able to actually go to Beslan and get first hand knowledge of what happened there in nitty gritty details. I am fortunate in that in addition to reading the book I had the opportunity to hear Mr. Giduck personally brief on what happened. He was able to gain unlimited access to the events that unfolded in the school that tragic time.

Prior to describing the actual attack, he gives an excellent back ground review regarding the roots of Chechen terrorism as well as a history of the special forces unit of the Russian government. This lays the ground work for where these two elements would come together in Beslan. The book then lays out in painstaking detail how the attack unfolded and goes through the events day by day until the final assault on the day three.

Following the review of the attack, he then dissects the siege and discusses the terrorists' plan as well as the government response and the aftermath of the events.

As history has taught us, terrorist attacks are not isolated events. This will happen again. They are of course many lessons learned for the USA here. We learned the lessons of Columbine and are now teaching our patrol officers how to deal with active shooters in a school or building. However a handful of patrol officers would be no match for a Beslan style attack or even for the average SWAT team. John Giduck devotes a section of his book to discuss preparing America's schools, preparing America's law enforcement and preparing a tactical response. He makes the point of how our police, our military and all parts of our society must come together to prepare for when this threat comes to us. The book includes numerous diagrams and actual photos from the siege that you will probably not find anywhere else. All law enforcement personnel as well as school officials should read this book.

Another item that makes this book special is that the foreword is written by LTC Dave Grossman; an expert known to most operators in the law enforcement and elite military field. This is an excellent book and while there are many good things I could say about it I think Dave Grossman says it best in the foreward when he said " Just don’t read this book, study it. Study it and apply it. Be like the firefighter: put the risk in perspective, pray that it would never happen, know that it COULD happen, and work with all your heart and soul to prevent it from happening. It could be YOUR child's life that you save.

I would add that we take that to heart.

Email dated 30.5.2006 from Mr. ELLIOTT GROLLMAN
MAJ. USAR ( RET,.)
CHAIRMAN; POLICE TRAINING COMM.
WASH. COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS

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