Mountain Men and Holy Wars
Chechnya | 2003
The definitive backgrounder to the Chechen conflict. Under Shamil Basayev, Chechnya has resorted to kidnapping, terror and brutal guerrilla warfare to fight for its freedom. But his battle and tactics are not new. At the start of the 19th century, another Shamil, Imam Shamil, used hostage taking and militant Islam to fight for an independent Islamic Chechnya. He was decried as a terrorist by Russ…