Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS

by Joby Warrick

But such talk did not constitute a crime. Abu Haytham acknowledged as much to Zarqawi on the last of his three days in Mukhabarat custody after the scene at the airport. The captain was questioning Zarqawi, for what would turn out to be the last time, when his subject began to complain bitterly about his limbolike existence at the agency’s headquarters. “Take me to court if you have something on me!” Zarqawi pleaded. “If I had something on you, I would take you to court!” Abu Haytham acknowledged. It was a rare moment of mutual candor. The captain explained again the necessity of keeping men such as Zarqawi on a tight leash. “It’s nothing personal,” he said. “You have to understand how we look at you,” he said. “You’re an extremist.” “You have to understand how I look at you,” Zarqawi retorted. “You are all infidels.” The next day, Zarqawi and his mother returned to the airport for a Pakistan-bound flight. There would be no interference this time, but the Mukhabarat would still be watching.