THE SECRET HISTORY OF ISIS

This sobering Frontline documentary reveals how, despite refrains of "They came out of nowhere," the emergence of the brutal terrorist group should have been anything but a surprise—and how the actions of the U.S. government helped lay the groundwork for ISIS to rise. Starting in the aftermath of 9/11 when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi first appeared on the CIA’s radar as a potential member of Al-Qaeda, the documentary presents a chronological overview of how he was able to build a brutal terrorist organization, seize large swaths of Iraq, declare an Islamic caliphate, and initiate a series of deadly attacks around the globe. Investigating the inside political story of how the decisions of two presidents fed into ISIS’s growth, firsthand insight is provided by interviews with CIA insiders, numerous journalists and counterterrorism experts, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, and former Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford. Warning: contains graphic imagery and violence.