PBS Distribution announced today it is releasing “FRONTLINE: THE SECRET HISTORY OF ISIS” on DVD. “They came out of nowhere.” That was the common refrain when ISIS captured the world’s attention by seizing large swaths of Iraq, declaring an Islamic caliphate, and initiating a series of deadly terrorist attacks around the globe, including those in Paris and Brussels. But the program reveals in grim detail, the emergence of the brutal terrorist group should not have been a surprise — especially to the U.S. government.
“FRONTLINE: THE SECRET HISTORY OF ISIS ” will be available on DVD August 9, 2016. The run time of the program is approximately 60 minutes and the SRP is $24.99.
Going behind the headlines, the film shows how Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a one-time thug turned jihadi leader, was able to outmaneuver the American government for a time and build a brutal terrorist organization that would destabilize the Middle East and inflict violence around the world.
An epic story spanning more than a decade, the program lays out decisions made by the United States government and their unintended consequences: from a missed opportunity to kill Zarqawi in 2002, to a speech by former Secretary of State Colin Powell that inadvertently turned Zarqawi into a jihadist celebrity, to multiple missteps in the occupation of Iraq, to the Obama administration’s failure to counter the threat posed by ISIS in Syria.
The film draws on a rich archive of footage, documents, and more than 20 revelatory interviews with key policymakers including Powell, former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, and former U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford; CIA insiders including Nada Bakos and Sam Faddis; and numerous journalists and counterterrorism experts.
The film shows how Zarqawi developed what would become the ISIS playbook right under the U.S. government’s nose — fomenting sectarian violence among Muslims, stepping in to take advantage of power vacuums, and broadcasting beheadings far and wide on the internet — and how Zarqawi’s successor Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi then followed Zarqawi’s method and created an Islamic state founded on brutal violence and fear.
From one of the most acclaimed investigative teams in broadcast journalism, “FRONTLINE: THE SECRET HISTORY OF ISIS” is essential viewing for anyone who wants to understand how ISIS came to be at the point at which they are now.
FRONTLINE: THE SECRET HISTORY OF ISIS
Street Date: August 9, 2016
Genre: Documentary
Run Time: Approximately 60 minutes
SRP: DVD $24.99
Format: DVD
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