In late April, 2004, Nicholas Berg was grusomelly beheaded, by hand, by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The 5 minute and 37 second long video was recorded and distributed thoughout the internet for all the world to see. It was an instant hit. It would be the worlds sobering and tragic intoduction to the tactics and commitment that would come to represent al Qaeda in Iraq. It would prove to be a monumental domino among many that would soon fall.

On this episode...

- The Nick Berg story

- Ramadi and Fallujah crumble

- Zarqawi attacks his home

- Jordan and the United States join forces

- Keeping the pressure on

- "Thats him"

- Looking into American eyes, as he took his last breath

This episode was recorded in late March, 2024.

As the historical dominoes are lining up, a critical and world changing event happens on September 11th, 2001. It will be a major tipping point in the events that follow in the months and years to come. For the United States the gloves are now off, and the memory of that fateful September morning will fuel a fire that will see the deployment of U.S. Military forces to both Afghanistan and Iraq. The dominoes are lined up, and they will slowly fall, one by one.

The dominoes...

- September 11th, 2001

- Invasion of Afghanistan

- Assassination of U.S. Diplomat Laurence Foley

- Invasion of Iraq

- The disbanding of the Iraqi military and Baath party

- The arrival of Zarqawi

Historically, when the proper dominoes are arranged and then fall in the correct order, amazing and positive things can happen, unfortunately, however, that same reality exists for evil and darkness as well. This is the story of ISIS, a very real form of indescribable evil that still exists and even thrives in parts of the world today. On today’s episode I welcome 2-time Pulitzer Prize winning author and Washington Post correspondent, Mr. Joby Warrick, to discuss his 2016 Pulitzer Prize winning book, Black Flags, the rise of ISIS. We discuss his background as a journalist, his road to developing a passion and interest in Middle East politics and events, and how the dominoes of history laid a framework for one of the darkest and most evil ideologies to ever exist, and allowed it to germinate and spread throughout much of the middle east. This is part 1 of our 4 part series. Enjoy!