Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS

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Sebastian junger: When a

society collapses into anarchy

And violence, civilians

inevitably take matters

Into their own hands.

They form armed militias.

They put up

checkpoints and roadblocks.

They kill or expel anyone

in the area who might threaten

Their grip on power.

Sebastian junger: In

that kind of environment,

Radical ideologies are

almost guaranteed to take hold.

Radicalism

depends on desperation.

It depends on grievance.

And it then provides its

own harsh answers to the

Corruption and the

violence that afflict much

Of the world.

Sebastian junger: People will

always turn to radicalism once

They have exhausted

every other option.

Militant:
Allahu akbar,

allahu akbar.

Sebastian junger: They have to.

Their very

survival is at stake.

Robin yassin kassab: At first it

wasn't a revolutionary movement.

They weren't calling for

the fall of the regime or

The execution

of the president.

Robin ysssin kassab:

It was very simple.

"we want our

children to be released."

They were

calling for dignity,

Which is important

in a country where people

Were used to being

humiliated and pushed around.

Sarah chayes:
It's really

remarkable the degree to which

Corruption has played an

important role in driving a

Variety of security crises

that had been breaking out in

The last five to ten years.

Every single one of the

arab spring revolutions was

Explicitly an

anti-corruption revolution.

These were countries run

by extremely sophisticated

And successful

criminal organizations.

The people who are paid to

uphold the law are the very

Ones violating it.

It's humiliating.

Tunisia catches fire.

Libya catches fire.

Egypt catches fire.

Bashar al-assad looks

at that and says,

"I'll be damned."

So he was willing

to respond to peaceful

Demonstrations with

maximal use of force.

Sarah chayes:
The

bet that he made was

"there's, at this

point, no compromising

With this movement so

if I wanna stay in power,

I have to absolutely

take it to the limit."

Robin yassin kassab:

Very quickly we got into this

Cycle of protests that

were met by gunfire which led

To funerals the next day.

The funerals

became bigger protests.

The demands, then,

began to get bigger.

Social justice and freedom,

an end to corruption.

The regime responded again

with more and more violence.

Zaidoun al-zoabi: I

participated in demonstrations

And I was

detained twice afterwards.

In that jail, I

witnessed at least the death

Of 80 people who died

just because of the conditions.

There was no oxygen,

there was no medicine.

There was no space for you.

You can't sleep,

there's no sleep.

Wardens did not

have to beat us.

We used to do it

to each other.

You know, just like a couple

of rats put in a small, small,

Small space, and we were,

we were just biting each other.

It is a factory of terrorism.

You would go inside as

an ordinary person and

Leave as a terrorist.

Linda ibrahim:

I was almost 16, 17

When the

revolution started.

I wanted to do something.

I mean, I wanted to

participate in demonstrations.

I wanted these

things to stop.

Emely issa:
That night,

I tried to prevent them.

I told them you are young

and we don't know yet how will

The regime

behave against you.

I was afraid

they will shoot.

They will shoot.

I tried, but they

insisted so I told them

"okay, I will

be in front of you.

I will be the first, but you

have to follow my instructions."

Emely issa:
If god gave

me 1,000 years to live,

I will never

forget that sound.

Linda ibrahim:
When

you see such sufferings,

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