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Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS
Unavailable
Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS
Unavailable
Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS
Audiobook13 hours

Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS

Written by Joby Warrick

Narrated by Sunil Malhotra

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

WINNER OF THE 2016 PULITZER PRIZE FOR GENERAL NONFICTION

“A Best Book of 2015”—The New York Times, The Washington Post, People Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, Kansas City Star, and Kirkus Reviews

In a thrilling dramatic narrative, awarded the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, Joby Warrick traces how the strain of militant Islam behind ISIS first arose in a remote Jordanian prison and spread with the unwitting aid of two American presidents.

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, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter 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. By falsely identifying him as the link between Saddam and bin Laden, U.S. officials inadvertently spurred like-minded radicals to rally to his cause. Their wave of brutal beheadings and suicide bombings persisted until American and Jordanian intelligence discovered clues that led to a lethal airstrike on Zarqawi’s hideout in 2006.

His movement, however, endured. First calling themselves al-Qaeda in Iraq, then Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, his followers sought refuge in unstable, ungoverned pockets on the Iraq-Syria border. When the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, and as the U.S. largely stood by, ISIS seized its chance to pursue Zarqawi’s dream of an ultra-conservative Islamic caliphate.

Drawing on unique high-level access to CIA and Jordanian sources, Warrick weaves gripping, moment-by-moment operational details with the perspectives of diplomats and spies, generals and heads of state, many of whom foresaw a menace worse than al Qaeda and tried desperately to stop it. Black Flags is a brilliant and definitive history that reveals the long arc of today’s most dangerous extremist threat.

Editor's Note

Informative & gripping…

For anyone struggling to comprehend the rise of ISIS, Warrick’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book is vital. He breaks down the complex factors that led to ISIS’s creation without sacrificing nuance or narrative drive.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 29, 2015
ISBN9781101923542
Unavailable
Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS
Author

Joby Warrick

Joby Warrick covers intelligence for The Washington Post, where he has been a reporter since 1996. He is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and has appeared on CNN, Fox, and PBS.

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Rating: 4.259259157407407 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Joby Warrick's Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS makes a complicated mess easier to understand. Readable and accessible to anyone with an interest in how we ended up with ISIS, his Pulitzer prize winning narrative of the rise of the terrorist cum state of the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq is a must-read.

    If there's anything I know about the politics of the Middle East, it's that it's bloody, and it almost always has been (go check out Simon Sebag Montefiore's Jerusalem: A Biography for a fascinating, if relatively brief, history of that piece of the Middle East). After centuries--nay, millennia--of war between various international interlopers, small-time despots, and religious zealots, recent years have seen the rise of ISIS, something more than just another political movement in the vein of the Palestinian Liberation Organization or a terrorist organization like Al Qaeda.

    No, ISIS is something else, something more dangerous, a boogeyman that is every bit as malignant for the chaos it breeds as for the violence it intentionally perpetuates.

    That ISIS holds itself out as a state, controls territory, and was born of the mistakes during the early days of the invasion of Iraq only complicates the world's response. More clearly, it complicates the United States' response. On the heels of an invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, American response is handicapped. But perhaps that is another story.

    This story, though, is not about the impact those invasions have had on America's influence on the world. Rather, this is a narrative about the individuals that turned the quagmire of Iraq into the quagmire of ISIS. Primarily, it's the story of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who rose from street thug to a terrorist mastermind who turned the Iraq insurgency against the US into a Shia-Sunni civil war. Although he ostensibly gave his due respects to bin Laden as the senior leader, al-Zarqawi eventually competed with Osama bin Laden for the top place on the US Most Wanted list and became known for his brutality and ability to turn terrorism into propaganda. Even after his kill by US Special Forces in 2006, al-Zarqawi continued to influence others. The chaos in the Syrian civil war gave space to his followers, and as the country digressed into deeper instability gave breathing room to extremists seeking their own Islamic-based state. Al Qaeda in Iraq soon becomes the Islamic State in Iraq, controlling massive assets of oil and the innocent people caught up in the crossfire.

    Joby Warrick's narrative is fascinating, carefully told to build a story accessible to the lay reader and more informed alike. Warrick never lets the story lag or falter with the minutia of Middle East politics. He builds his characters with portraits that are descriptive and clear and brings life to a story that is for most Americans no more than fear inducing headlines. It makes for good reading, and it left me feeling like I understood what had happened and where ISIS had come from. I don't know that it makes solutions any more obvious than before, but it does help to explain why solutions for stopping ISIS, or for bringing peace to the Middle East, are not easy. Warrick's writing, however, makes the story seem effortless, and an easy choice for winning a Pulitzer.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Black Flags charts the rise of ISIS. It's a riveting cinematic account with the first two thirds of the book mostly focused on the man on the cover, the terrorist/Jihadist Zarqawi. He began life as a petty crook, found religion and wanted to become more famous than Osama bin Laden. His role in the Iraqi insurgency during the 2003-2008 period is central. The book weakens in the last third after Zarqawi's death. I wonder if the author was writing a biography of Zarqawi and he (or the publisher) changed the focus to ISIS. In any case there is a lot of good stuff here that puts things in perspective. It's not the last word on this complex topic.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Excellent and very readable history of Isis and the people who created and lead it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    5371 Black Flags The Rise of ISIS, by Joby Warrick (read 3 May 2016) (Pulitzer Nonfiction prize in 2016) This book is in three parts, entitled (1) The Rise of Zarqawi, (2) Iraq,and (3) ISIS. Thus only the last part is about ISIS . The earlier parts tell of the war in Iraq and leave this reader appalled anew as to the stupidity of our invading Iraq in 2003. Ho wmuch better we would be if that had never occurred! It stirred up the whole mess we have been dealing with since. One has to admire the people who have had to deal with the situation caused by the Iraq War. But reading the book is discouraging as it is hard to see how we can ever be unentangled from the mess in the Middle East. But I do conclude that it was wise to not get involved deeper than we did in Syria--making me glad that McCain lost in 2008--if he had won I suppose we would have gotten involved in the civil war in Syria, and have helped people who are connected to or sympathetic to ISIS.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Listening to this book over a period of time caused me to lose some of the story line especially regarding the many Arab individuals with similar names. Obviously, the author has done much research and the story of the rise of radical Islam is both intriguing and frightening. There are no solutions to this problem and it's not going away any time soon.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Another excellent historical book by Joby Warrick. The author meticulously researched how ISIS had it's beginnings and takes us forward to a year or two ago. There is plenty of material here to attach blame to many different people. It is not a hit piece on George W. Bush, on Barack Obama or others. What I found interesting was how Jordan's King Hussein was spot on in his predictions of what could happen in the Middle East if things weren't "handled" properly.Of course, hind sight is always 20/20. It is simple enough, with sufficient research to point out that if people or governments had taken a different action, current events might be different, for better or worse. But, what the author did not do (and you can certainly have differing opinions on whether authors should or should not do this in non-fiction), is include a lot of the context of the events occurring during the time that ISIS arose. Missing is the context that we were under massive terrorist threats after 9/11. Tremendous fear existed that we were targeted for massive terrorism in the homeland.What the US and other governments did in the Middle East after 9/11 can easily be compared to what Roosevelt did with interning US citizens of Japanese descent in America after Pearl Harbor. If you speak with people that lived through December 7, 1941, many will still insist that in the context of the period, Roosevelt's action was completely appropriate, despite no evidence it was necessary. And through hindsight, we now know it was a horrible thing to do, although we will never know if there were saboteurs living in America and if Roosevelt's actions prevented them from carrying out plans.So I feel a little more context here on the environment of the times would have been helpful to understand the mindset of many in the US. There are many folks that now claim the Iraq war is the cause of all our current problems and resulted in the rise of ISIS, but yet they were totally on board with it at the time.Too often historic events occur because of faulty information, a refusal to see what is in front of your eyes, or some kind of "shock to the system" which creates a sense of urgency to do something. Looking back and having the benefit of being able to see the totality of the events from multiple angles allows us to "see" how things went wrong, if they did. Context is so important in interpreting history.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a well written and persuasive book. Yet, it suffers from a lack of depth. Because it is done in a journalistic rather than academic style, this is mostly a surface treatment. When the author cites a fascinating connection or insight, there is no exploration, no footnote. What you see is what you get. And that's a good deal. Here is the timeline of ISIS--from its conception to the current day. One definite plus is the author's Jordanian contacts; the material about Amman adds a whole new dimension to the story. This is a fine starting point for an investigation of ISIS and the Jihadi mind, as well as an overview of the stresses found in the Middle East.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A wonderfully well researched book about the infancy, growth and maturity of ISIS. The two major players are Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (early period) and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (recent years). These men are masters of violence and for running their organizations in areas of the middle east that are outside government control in countries like Syria and Iraq. Before reading this book I was somewhat knowledgeable about ISIS. But, this book is a wealth of information and I feel much better informed including America's missteps over the years. A must read for a true grasp of terrorism.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great accent. Good facts. Deep understanding of Middle East struggles
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book really gives an insight into the story of their rise and all the players in surrounding countries. Excellent!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    what a great book. very nice intelligence and well constructed storytelling.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great book. It makes some sense of the long and complicated war, where TV sound bites aren't enough. Think I'll read it again. Thanks.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Un paralleled journey back in time to the beginning and roots of ISIS -insurgency in Iraq back then- and a thrilling way of presenting the facts, a very good analytical book that is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the story behind ISIS

    2 people found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    gripping narrative and very informative, like Looming Tower. A must-read

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    ISIS appeared to us in the West to have come out of nowhere, but Joby Warrick's careful journalism shows its roots, its alliances, its continuance in light of Western involvement in the Middle East.

    Warrick bookends his narrative nonfiction describing the origins of ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) with the story of the failed suicide-bomber, Sajida al-Rishawi, who was executed in Jordan just this year, shortly after ISIS put to death-by-burning the downed Jordanian air pilot, First Lieutenant Muadh al-Kasasbeh in Syria in January. This bookending is entirely appropriate for it links the Jordanian thug-turned-radical Abu Musad al-Zarqawi, leader of al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) with the later leader of ISIS, Iraqi Islamic scholar Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Just this week (Oct 2015) we learned that al-Baghdadi was targeted in an air strike as he convoyed to a meeting of senior ISIS leaders in western Iraq. It is not known if he has been wounded or killed.

    Warrick shows us how the radical insurgent movement could have begun, given impetus through a combination of American bombs and Arab prisons. Western ideology and invasion is an undeniable spur to Islamists of any sort, who resist any foreign influence and incursion into their lands, whether or not the bombing was meant to help. Warrick adds Arab jails because this is where Zarqawi got his instruction and indoctrination. Inmates were segregated by creed, and the Islamists lived by Sharia law. Jails became, in effect, jihadi universities which helped extremists inculcate moderates, and fueled the insurgency inside the wire. Like Arab jails, the American military system of corralling all insurgents together as “bad guys” was “dysfunctional and counterproductive”, in Warrick’s opinion.

    Baghdadi survived and thrived in prison. He was picked up in a sweep in early 2004 and sent to the American-administered jail called Camp Bucca. His academic expertise as a conservative, educated religious scholar gave him stature. He both taught and spoke classical Arabic and led religious prayers. When he was released in 2004 after ten months in prison, he finished earning his doctorate in Islamic studies and gravitated to the militants operating outside the major cities. By 2010 he was third in the leadership of radicals in charge of Sharia law and when an American airstrike took out two of the top leaders in late 2010, al Baghdadi stepped up.

    Now ISIS has Sunni, Shia, as well as Western governments and Russia, all seeking their demise. One reason is that the predominantly Sunni ISIS organization burned the Jordanian Sunni air pilot flying over Syria rather than behead him. Death by burning is something forbidden in the Koran—a retribution only something Allah can presume. There must be a reason an Islamic scholar would order such a death, but the effect was galvanizing. In the film posted online of the burning death, Warrick tells us the voice of Abu Musad al-Zarqawi intones a voiceover: “Lo and behold, the spark has been ignited in Iraq and its fires shall only get bigger…” drawing a clear connection between the former AQI under Zarqawi and the renamed ISIS under Baghdadi. We can only hope that fire will consume them in the end.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    It was exactly what I was hoping for, a clear map through the history that made ISIS what it is today, I feel like I have a basic understanding of what they want and how they operate now, as to not be throughly confused when I read the news, and also the basis to be able to read more in depth about certain people or topics related to this without getting super lost.

    It was at no point boring and accessible even if you seriously have no idea about Muslim history at all.

    10/10 would recommend.