Showing results by author "Joby Warrick" in All Categories

In August 2012, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was clinging to power in a vicious civil war. Concerned that Assad might resort to chemical weapons, the international community warned that any such use would cross 'a red line', warranting a military response. When a year later Assad bombed the Damascus suburb of Ghouta with sarin gas, killing hundreds, global leaders were torn between living up to their word and becoming mired in another unpopular Middle Eastern war. So when Russia offered to store Syria's chemical weapons, the world leaped at the solution.

In December 2009, a group of the CIA’s top terrorist hunters gathered at a secret base in Khost, Afghanistan, to greet a rising superspy: Humam Khalil al-Balawi, a Jordanian double-agent who infiltrated the upper ranks of al-Qaeda. For months, he had sent shocking revelations from inside the terrorist network and now promised to help the CIA assassinate Osama bin Laden’s top deputy. Instead, as he stepped from his car, he detonated a 30-pound bomb strapped to his chest, instantly killing seven CIA operatives....

I en dramatisk fortælling optrevler Pulitzerpris-vinder Joby Warrick, hvordan den militante gruppe bag Islamisk Stat (IS) opstod i et fjernt jordansk fængsel og blev til den største ekstremistiske trussel mod verden i dag. Den jordanske regering gav i 1999 amnesti til en gruppe politiske fanger. Blandt dem var Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, den fremtidige arkitekt bag en islamisk bevægelse opsat på at erobre Mellemøsten.