“The Secret History of ISIS

List three major things (not a small detail, general perspective) you learned from the documentary “The Secret History of ISIS.” What were some of the most interesting details from your point of view? Compare and contrast the discussion in this documentary with Darryl Li’s reading. How do these two sources approach the topic of “Islamic terrorism” differently? Support your discussion by posting one relevant scene from the documentary (take a screenshot and mark the time, e.g., 28:10) and a quotation from Li’s book.

Documentary: “The Secret History of ISIS: FRONTLINE PBS” 2019.

book: intro and part 1 ( just read chapter 1)

Then, consider these documentaries that critically discussed issues of representation with regard to the Middle East and Muslims. From the perspectives of the informative documentaries, how “biased” or “progressive” is the FRONTLINE PBS documentary do you think? How do you think the FRONTLINE PBS documentary was overall successful in filming such a complex issue? What would you have done differently if you were in the documentary production team?

“Blood and Oil: The Middle East In World War I:” 2013.

“Challenging the Middle Eastern Myth:” 2018.

Requirements: one page

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP0evPEsc30&feature=emb_logo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdFJUKmkzBI&feature=emb_logo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsHrULpYeFk

Answer preview

One major lesson learned from the documentary is the American government allowed a terrorist group to develop despite having signs of the looming threats. Under their watch, through the CIA operations, the government failed to apprehend Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the ISIS leader, accordingly despite having a chance to do so. The second lesson is Zarqawi managed to design and implement a violent plan to capture Iraq and Syria based on the influence he had acquired during his life in prison. According to Kirk et al. (2016, 4:45minutes), Zarqawi shared a cell with other inmates who aimed to launch jihad. Based on the radical fighting mindsets they shared, Zarqawi established himself as the inmates’ leader and became more serious in his religion,

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