:00:00. > :00:00.from northern Iraq on how the rise of IS has pushed Iraq to the brink
:00:00. > :00:09.of becoming a failed state. The programme contains material which
:00:10. > :00:14.some viewers may find disturbing. Islamic State fighters are on the
:00:15. > :00:27.march in northern Iraq. They have already taken over large swathes of
:00:28. > :00:29.this country. This brutal and barbaric militant group are
:00:30. > :00:44.threatening to wipe out the ancient order in Iraq.
:00:45. > :00:47.The quest for a caliphate is changing the face of this region and
:00:48. > :01:04.the fate of its people. I am here to understand how the rise
:01:05. > :01:27.of IS has pushed Iraq to the brink of becoming a failed state.
:01:28. > :01:34.These Iraqi and Kurdish soldiers have just returned from the front
:01:35. > :01:39.line in northern Iraq. They have been fighting an increasingly bitter
:01:40. > :01:42.battle against a very sophisticated, well`equipped and ruthless enemy who
:01:43. > :01:46.are killing large numbers of civilians and driving hundreds of
:01:47. > :01:52.thousands from their homes. The Islamic State fighters' message is
:01:53. > :01:57.clear, converted their brand of hardline fanatical Islam or die.
:01:58. > :02:02.Those who can have fled in the face of the IS Advent, mainly to Kurdish
:02:03. > :02:08.Iraq Thomas eating century and protection from Iraq's Kurdish
:02:09. > :02:13.military forces known as the Peshmerga `` advance. This is the
:02:14. > :02:18.largest hospital in dough hook to have seen a number of Peshmerga
:02:19. > :02:23.soldiers being treated `` Dohuk. This is where they brought victims
:02:24. > :02:30.from a recent massacre. This man was shot five times during the massacre
:02:31. > :02:35.of non` Muslims by IS militant in the village near Sinjar. 80 men of
:02:36. > :02:39.the UCD sect were rounded up and shot dead. `` Yazidi. Women and
:02:40. > :04:05.children were abducted. When they were surrounding you in
:04:06. > :05:01.Described the massacre to me. `` What were they telling you?
:05:02. > :05:07.Described the massacre to me. `` describe.
:05:08. > :05:50.Islamic State has emerged as the most powerful and blood thirsty
:05:51. > :05:55.jihadist group in the world, taking over large swathes of Syria and
:05:56. > :05:57.Iraq. Disowned by Al Qaeda for being too extreme, IS highly fanatical and
:05:58. > :06:05.sectarian, Muslims, Christians, Yazidis and
:06:06. > :06:11.other minorities. While its size is unclear, it is believed to include
:06:12. > :06:14.thousands of fighters, not just military we efficient but also
:06:15. > :06:28.running an effective propaganda campaign on social
:06:29. > :06:30.aim, the creation of an Islamic Empire or caliphate across the
:06:31. > :06:37.Middle East. The beheading of American journalist James Foley who
:06:38. > :06:40.was held hostage by IS for two years shocked the international community.
:06:41. > :06:49.They have threatened to kill another hostage in clear provocation to the
:06:50. > :06:50.US. It appears to have worked, with the US President and
:06:51. > :07:01.statements yet on America's intention to take on IS and win.
:07:02. > :07:09.They are beyond just a terrorist group. They marry ideology, a
:07:10. > :07:13.sophistication of strategic and tactical military prowess, they are
:07:14. > :07:22.tremendously well funded, this is beyond anything that we have seen.
:07:23. > :07:28.Of the 1.2 million Iraqis displaced this year, 200,000 have arrived here
:07:29. > :07:33.in Dohuk. As they were driven from their villages, many thousand sought
:07:34. > :07:38.century on Mount Sinjar. Trapped on the mountain for days, the UN warned
:07:39. > :07:44.of a major humanitarian crisis. Hasty preparations were made for a
:07:45. > :07:47.massive rescue attempt. Many were airlifted off the mountain. Others
:07:48. > :07:55.made their own way down with their families in the dead of night. This
:07:56. > :08:04.area here has traditionally been home to the Yazidi community but now
:08:05. > :08:11.thousands have flocked here, fleeing IS militants. The UN has put up some
:08:12. > :08:17.tense. We are headed to a school to meet some families. Amongst the many
:08:18. > :08:18.people I met was this man, he escaped from Mount Sinjar and told
:08:19. > :09:07.me his story `` tents. What was going through your mind
:09:08. > :09:13.while you were on that Mt? Did you think that you would survive? ``
:09:14. > :09:33.mountain. Tell me, how many days were you on
:09:34. > :09:42.that mountain and 20 due take the decision to take your family and
:09:43. > :10:08.come down the mountain? `` and when did you make the decision.
:10:09. > :10:25.Refugees are spilling out into every corner of Dohuk.
:10:26. > :10:38.In an abandoned building, they remember one of their dead.
:10:39. > :10:41.19`year`old Darwish was killed at a checkpoint as their family fled
:10:42. > :10:49.there home near Mount Sinjar. When they came under attack, the family
:10:50. > :11:37.was separated. And your sister is still missing?
:11:38. > :11:42.The family have searched along the Syrian border and the surrounding
:11:43. > :11:48.villages but they fear she has been kidnapped by it Islamic State
:11:49. > :11:51.militants. Her father's family have lived in northern Iraq for
:11:52. > :11:52.generations. They now face the prospect of never being able to
:11:53. > :12:42.return. 30 minutes away, they took me to
:12:43. > :12:44.meet their sister`in`law injured in the firefight. Showed me her
:12:45. > :13:03.wounds. She is still waiting for treatment.
:13:04. > :13:31.The bullets haven't been removed. It's not just the Yazidis who have
:13:32. > :13:40.been persecuted by the IS onslaught. The Christians, another
:13:41. > :13:43.minority group who have lived in Iraq for thousands of years, are
:13:44. > :13:54.also now internally displaced people driven from their homes. For local
:13:55. > :14:02.volunteers at working with the flood of refugees into this area of
:14:03. > :14:06.Dohuk, the challenge is enormous. It has become step`by`step a terrorist
:14:07. > :14:10.situation. For 16 days we have worked hard here, 20 hours, there is
:14:11. > :14:18.still no UN or UN agency or other big agencies to take over. We are
:14:19. > :14:23.around 13,000 people in this small town. We received more than 25,000
:14:24. > :14:31.persons and all of those people need really urgent care, healthcare and
:14:32. > :14:33.also food. We heard from the health confessional and other agency that
:14:34. > :14:46.this would happen very soon. And there is anger here. The Yazidis
:14:47. > :14:51.in particular feel abandoned and betrayed. Much of their anger is
:14:52. > :14:56.directed towards Iraq's military, the Peshmerga. They believed the
:14:57. > :14:59.Peshmerga will protect them and defend them. And bigger until the
:15:00. > :15:04.end of their life. But unfortunately now they don't believe how it has
:15:05. > :15:14.happened, and also people have been kidnapped because the Peshmerga left
:15:15. > :15:18.from the area. But for the 200,000 strong Peshmerga, it is a huge
:15:19. > :15:22.challenge. Despite being well trained and highly motivated, they
:15:23. > :15:26.say they don't have enough modern weaponry to take on a militia group
:15:27. > :15:33.boasting hi`tech arms. In the last four weeks, the brigadier and his
:15:34. > :15:38.soldiers have retaken three villages from Islamic State fighters. But it
:15:39. > :15:48.is a constant struggle holding them back. This is the frontline. We
:15:49. > :15:53.can't go beyond point. IS militants are just two kilometres away. These
:15:54. > :15:58.Kurdish forces are essentially the only ones fighting IS. But the
:15:59. > :16:09.question is, what are they fighting for? No longer a united Iraq. Their
:16:10. > :16:39.fight is for their own state, an independent Kurdistan.
:16:40. > :16:50.Are you satisfied that your men will be able to defend his area?
:16:51. > :17:02.He rejects accusations the Peshmerga did little to protect the Yazidis in
:17:03. > :17:31.the region. While the conflict intensifies, the
:17:32. > :17:37.international community is wrestling with how to respond. America has
:17:38. > :17:42.been involved in the battle from the air. Since the 8th of August, the US
:17:43. > :17:46.has carried out more than 90 airstrikes on IS positions, to
:17:47. > :17:52.support Iraqi and Kurdish troops, tackling the insurgents. The reality
:17:53. > :17:58.is, as the Peshmerga and the Iraqi army are fighting a ruthless enemy
:17:59. > :18:04.welcomed death as a form of `` both the.
:18:05. > :18:14.martyrdom. One Iraqi soldier told me how they had advanced against IS
:18:15. > :18:18.around town north`west of Mosul, and came under attack from sniper fire
:18:19. > :19:14.and mortars. For the medical staff at Dohuk's
:19:15. > :19:19.biggest hospital, having to deal with an influx of refugees as well
:19:20. > :19:21.as the injured soldiers and the city's sick, means they are
:19:22. > :20:10.overstretched. For this man, the Yazidi man who
:20:11. > :20:15.miraculously survived the IS massacre in his village, the future
:20:16. > :20:16.is uncertain. After he escaped from the militants, he told me he walked
:20:17. > :20:39.for five hours to find safety. Do you know what happened to your
:20:40. > :20:58.wife and your children? What will you do now?
:20:59. > :21:04.As I travelled around the region, I heard again and again about the
:21:05. > :21:13.terrible experiences people had suffered. Many villagers, like this
:21:14. > :21:19.one, are now you're really quiet, abandoned. `` villages. Even if they
:21:20. > :21:27.could, people don't want to return. Their homes have become the front
:21:28. > :21:31.line in the war against IS. So many Iraqis told me the country holds no
:21:32. > :21:34.future for them. They have been let down by the state, and they no
:21:35. > :21:41.longer believe in it. They want out, and they don't think the country
:21:42. > :21:42.will survive. This man's mother and sister were kidnapped as they
:21:43. > :21:57.attempted to flee up to Mt Sinjar. I hear something you may be don't
:21:58. > :22:12.hear. They selling my mother. They selling my sister. $600, no life in
:22:13. > :22:22.Iraq, we don't like. What is at stake now is not just the future of
:22:23. > :22:34.Iraq, but the whole region. Iraq is on the brink of becoming a failed
:22:35. > :22:40.state. It ever deepening social violence is undermining the nation,
:22:41. > :23:14.and in the process destroying hundreds of thousands of lives.
:23:15. > :23:15.Hello there. Low pressure has been keeping things pretty