"Return From ISIS" (2020 release; 55 min.) is a documentary in the long-running PBS series Frontline. This episode examines how one American family ended up in Raqqah, the de facto capital of ISIS. As the documentary opens, it is "March 2017" and the film maker is interviewing a woman in Indiana, whose sister in 2014 ended up following her husband (who hails from Morocco) to Turkey, with 2 young kids in tow, and eventually Raqqah, Syria. It is the beginning of a chilling story and Frontline episode.
Couple of comments: to say that this is an improbable story would be the understatement of the year. As we get to know Sam, the mother of 2, and her Moroccan husband, everything looks normal. How does an average Aermican family end up in Raqqah, and what happens to them when they eventually return to the US? Because there are so many twists along the way, I don't want to say much more of this family's journey. Just watch! "I feel sorry for the children", comments someone and this gets to the heart of the matter. The footage involving the then 9 year old boy will likely shock you. Kudos to the film makers, who spent 4 years investigating this story.
"Return From ISIS" aired on PBS earlier this week, and is now available on PBS On Demand and other streaming services. If you have any interest in trying to grasp how an average American family got involved with ISIS, by all means I encourage you to check this out and draw your own conclusion.