In The Rise of ISIS, Martin Smith (Gangs of Iraq; Beyond Baghdad) draws on in depth interviews with Iraqi politicians, and Americans policymakers and military leaders, to explore and explain how Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) became a major force so quickly. What does it mean for the U.S. to be back in Iraq, fighting a new war on terror, less than three years after American troops pulled out of the country?

Smith delivers a revelatory look at how ISIS grew out of the disaffection of Iraqi Sunnis who were sidelined and targeted by Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki after the American withdrawal. The film traces how they gained strength in Syria, how they're funded, how they operate, and how, city by city, from Ramadi to Fallujah to Mosul, ISIS swept across Iriaq - seizing territory, recording and broadcasting mass execution, and drawing recruits from an estimated 80 countries.

With ISIS continuing to take and hold territory in Iraq despite U.S. and coalition airstrikes, and hold territory in Iraq and Syria despite U.S. and coalition aistrikes, and President Obama's foreign policy legacy hanging in the balance, The Rise of ISIS is definitive account of how the U.S. has reached this point.  

A Frontline production with Rain Media
Writer, producer and correspondent Martin Smith Co-Producer Linda Hirsch
Deputy executive producer for Frontline Raney: Aronson-Roth
Executive Producer for Frontline: David Fanning