And Then All Hell Broke Loose: Two Decades in the Middle East (27 page)

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TURKISH-SYRIAN BORDER | NOVEMBER 2014

Getting into Syria from Turkey often meant climbing over something—a fence, crops, or in this case the wall of a farmer’s home. ISIS had taken over much of the Kurdish town of Kobane and was threatening to capture the rest. We went into the half-occupied town to see the Kurdish fighters who were brave enough to stand up to ISIS.

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KOBANE, SYRIA | NOVEMBER 2014

The main market street in the Syrian town of Kobane, destroyed in fighting between ISIS and a Kurdish militia. After receiving American air support, the Kurds retook Kobane, the first major defeat of ISIS on the battlefield.

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SYRIA | AUGUST 2013

The Syrian war created millions of refugees and many others, like these people, who were displaced from their homes but couldn’t leave Syria because they couldn’t afford the risky and uncertain journey to Turkey or Europe. By the fourth year of the conflict, half of all Syrians were out of their homes.

I’D LIKE TO THANK STEPHEN
G. Smith, who helped at every step of the way and without whom this book would never have been completed. Ben Plesser, who provided insight and raised questions I hadn’t considered. Mary Engel, whose support and love are deeply appreciated. Ali Zelenko, whose advice is always valuable. And of course the great master of editing and publishing, Alice Mayhew. There are too many colleagues to mention by name, but I’d like to recognize Aziz Akyavas, John Kooistra, Randy Brown, Madeleine Haeringer, Bredun Edwards, Wajjeh Abu Warefah, Mohammed Ajlouni, Zohair Beyati, Ghazi Balkiz, Ammar Sheikh Omar, Charlene Gubash, Mohammed Muslemany, and many others. Thank you to all of you.

© BREDUN EDWARDS

RICHARD ENGEL
is the award-winning Chief Foreign Correspondent for NBC and has been reporting on the Middle East for twenty years. He is the author of
War Journal
and
A Fist in the Hornet’s Nest.

MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT

www.SimonandSchuster.com

authors.simonandschuster.com/Richard-Engel

ALSO BY RICHARD ENGEL

War Journal: My Five Years in Iraq

A Fist in the Hornet’s Nest: On the Ground in Baghdad Before, During and After the War

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A note about the index:
The pages referenced in this index refer to the page numbers in the print edition. Clicking on a page number will take you to the ebook location that corresponds to the beginning of that page in the print edition. For a comprehensive list of locations of any word or phrase, use your reading system’s search function.

ABC,
52
,
78
,
79
,
104

Engel’s work for,
63
,
66
,
73
–75,
78
,
86
,
91

Abdelrazaq,
184
,
185
,
187

Abdul Hamid II,
32

Abed Rabbo, Yasser,
53

Abu Bakr,
92

Abu Ghraib,
135
,
142

Abu Salim Prison,
7
–8

Abu Zaal,
133

Adnani, Abu Mohammad al-,
208

Afghanistan,
45
,
46
,
104
,
131
,
142
,
143
,
155

al-Qaeda in,
46
,
130
,
131
,
137
,
144

Kandahar,
145

Taliban in,
46
,
130
,
137
,
144

Tora Bora,
130
,
144

war in,
129
–30

Agence France-Presse (AFP),
49
–53,
58
,
63
,
214

Ain al-Hilweh,
136
–38

Aisha,
92

Ajdabiya,
163
,
164

Ajlouni, Mohammed,
73
–74

Akyavas, Aziz,
174
–76,
184
,
187

Al-Aqsa,
55
–58,
63

Al-Aqsa Mosque,
56

Alawites,
172
,
181

Aleppo,
166
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178
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189
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217

Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya,
22

Al-Hadlaq, Abdulrahman,
141
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142

al-Ha’ir Prison,
145

Al-Hamidiya,
213

Ali (cousin and son-in-law of Mohammed),
2
,
91
–92,
103

Ali (driver and friend),
75
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76
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79
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81
,
106

aliyah,
51

Al Jazeera,
79
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111
,
152
,
159
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165
,
173

Allah,
3
,
7
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20
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28
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36
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38
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41
,
92

Jews and Christians and,
44

Allawi, Ayad,
97
,
100

al-Qaeda,
27
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35
–36,
67
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106
,
131
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133
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146
,
181
–82,
190
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191
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201
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208
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216
–17

in Afghanistan,
46
,
130
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131
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137
,
144

beheadings by,
134

founding of,
136
–37

in Iraq,
8
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98
,
129
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131
–33,
135
,
181

ISIS and,
193
–95,
198
,
206
,
208

in Jordan,
133

prisoners from,
145

rehabilitation program for veterans of,
140
–43,
145

rise of,
46

Saddam and,
129

Sulayman in,
143
–46

weapons of,
144

Zawahiri and,
28

al-Rais,
7

Al-Rashid Hotel,
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73
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74
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76

Al Shaab,
19

Al-Shabaab,
201

Amish,
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Amman,
133

Amn al-Dawla,
19

Annan, Kofi,
178

Annas, Abu,
77
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Antakya,
194
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205

Antioch,
194

Arab caliphate,
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–36,
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–92,
194
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196

Arab-Israeli war,
208

Arab leaders,
5
–9,
53
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87
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156
,
194
,
208
–10

Arab Spring,
150
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156
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169
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178
,
209
,
213

in Egypt,
152
–56,
166
–67,
209

in Syria,
138
,
156
,
163
,
166
,
171
–90

Arafat, Yasser,
55
,
61
–63,
112

Aristotle,
29

Arnett, Peter,
78
,
82

Ashrawi, Hanan,
53

Assad, Bashar al-,
6
,
8
,
166
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169
,
172
–74,
176
,
178
–85,
198
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202
,
206
,
208

background of,
172

Obama and,
173

Assad, Bassel al-,
172

Assad, Hafez al-,
8
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172
,
208

Assad family,
5
–6,
87
,
178
,
208

Aswan,
212

Atarib,
179
–80

Aziz, Tariq,
81
–82

Ba’ath Party,
76
–78,
81
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94
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173

Baghdad,
31
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60
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64
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73
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74
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102
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104
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133
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Al-Rashid Hotel in,
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73
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76

Australian embassy bombing in,
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bombing attacks in,
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–90,
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–98,
103
–4

Canal Hotel in,
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Engel in,
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–86,
89
–91,
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–101,
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127