Joby Warrick Livres

In a thrilling dramatic narrative, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Joby Warrick traces how the strain of militant Islam behind ISIS first arose in a remote Jordanian prison and spread to become the world's greatest threat. When the government of Jordan granted amnesty to a group of political prisoners in 1999, it little realized that among them was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a terrorist mastermind and soon the architect of an Islamist movement bent on dominating the Middle East. In Black Flags, an unprecedented character-driven account of the rise of ISIS, Joby Warrick shows how the zeal of this one man and the strategic mistakes of Presidents Bush and Obama led to the banner of ISIS being raised over huge swaths of Syria and Iraq. Zarqawi began by directing terror attacks from a base in northern Iraq, but it was the American invasion in 2003 that catapulted him to the head of a vast insurgency

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. So begins a race to find, remove, and destroy 1,300 tons of chemical weapons in the middle of Syria's civil war. Told in harrowing detail, the initial effort is a tactical triumph for the West, but soon Russia's long game becomes clear: it has UN cover to assist Assad’s regime. Meanwhile, the territory gains of ISIS further destabilise the country, and the terrorist organisation seeks to secure Syria’s chemical arsenals for itself, with horrifying consequences. Red Line is a classic Joby Warrick true-life thriller: a character-driven narrative with a cast of heroes and villains, including weapons hunters, politicians, commandos, diplomats, and spies. Through original reporting and eyewitness accounts from direct participants, Joby Warrick reveals how a well-intentioned effort to save Syrian lives touched off a chain of events that would rescue a dictator, sustain a terrorist movement, unleash torrents of refugees, humiliate two U.S. presidents, and empower Russia and Iran.

In December 2009, a group of the CIAs top terrorist hunters gathered at a secret base in Afghanistan to greet a rising superspy: Humam Khalil al-Balawi, a Jordanian who had 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 Ladens top deputy. Instead, as he stepped from his car, al-Balawi detonated a thirty-pound bomb, instantly killing seven CIA operatives and giving the agency its worst loss of life in decades

In maart 1999 eindigde in Jordanië de periode van veertig dagen rouw na de dood van Koning Hoessein. Er werd voor die gelegenheid amnestie gegeven aan een grote groep gevangen. Een van hen was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Deze man werd de spil in het terrorisme in de regio en een drijvende kracht achter het radicale Islamitische gedachtengoed. In 2003 vielen de Amerikanen Irak binnen en Zarqawi werd onterecht gelinkt aan Bin Laden. Daarmee werd hij onbedoeld een boegbeeld voor de radicalen, vele extremisten schaarden zich achter hem. In 2006 werd al-Zarqawi gedood bij een luchtaanval, maar zijn radicale gedachtengoed had al veel aanhangers. Het begon bij Al Qaida in Irak, maar splitste zich na een tijd af als IS. Toen de burgeroorlog in Syrië uitbrak, greep IS de mogelijkheid om Zarqawi’s droom, een ultra-conservatief kalifaat, na te jagen.