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Name: Killing the Killers
Rating: 3.9 (265 reviews)
Author: Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

Bill O’Reilly Martin Dugard

The Secret War Against Terrorists

3.9 (265 ratings)

26 mins

Brief summary

Killing the Killers by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard is a non-fiction book that tells the story of the epic manhunt for ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. It takes you behind the scenes of the operation, providing insights into the hunt for one of the world's most wanted terrorists.

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Global Politics US Politics Wars Crises & Scandals Political Figures The Middle East

Table of Contents

Killing the Killers
Summary of 8 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 8

What’s in it for me? Learn about General Qasem Soleimani from his beginnings to his fateful end.

While Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard’s Killing the Killers covers the war on terror from 2014 through 2020, it’s impossible for us to capture it all in a single Blink. So, in this Blink, we’ve chosen to provide a snapshot of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, and a portrait of one man in particular – the IRGC’s leader, General Qasem Soleimani.

During his lifetime, Qasem Soleimani could have been mistaken for any other devout Iranian man. He lived in Tehran with his wife and five children – three boys and two girls. He rose at 4:00 a.m. each morning. He had trouble with his prostate – for which he took medication – and struggled with back pain. He came across as both religious and kind, if sometimes stern and dogmatic. If a non-Iranian encountered him on the streets of Tehran, they’d have no way of knowing what lay behind this facade.

In 2015, mid-battle against ISIS at its stronghold in Tikrit, Soleimani came out of the shadows. He allowed himself to be photographed for the first time; wearing a soldier’s fatigues with a general’s epaulets, he knelt in prayer in the middle of the desert. On social media, many noted his handsome, unlined face. His dark eyes, black eyebrows, and neatly-trimmed gray beard were accompanied by a gentle smile.

At the time the photograph was taken, Soleimani and his forces were already responsible for thousands of deaths. He’d orchestrated terror attacks in Somalia, India, and Thailand, his forces behaving no better than ISIS – kidnapping and executing civilians, raping women, and burning down people’s houses.

In this Blink, we’ll look at the rapid rise of Soleimani, as well as the events leading up to and including his assassination in 2020.

In this Blink, you’ll learn

when Soleimani came to detest the US;
about two letters – one from Soleimani, the other sent to him; and
what the last terrifying sound was that Soleimani ever heard.

Soleimani rises in prominence.

Let’s take a trip back to 1979, the year of the Iranian Revolution. The shah of Iran has fled the country, chased out by followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a Shia Muslim revolutionary who’d been exiled for 15 years. Having returned to Iran, Khomeini now needs a military force to maintain his grip on power. He establishes the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC. A fresh-faced 22-year-old with no military experience joins up: Qasem Soleimani.

Life in the IRGC suits him well. He proves himself to be a capable commander, and is soon invited to an elite training camp, where he excels. He even refuses sick leave when he’s accidentally shot in the arm.

In September 1980, Iraq invades Iran, and a bitter war breaks out. Soleimani finds himself at the front, leading a military company. The war rages for eight years and Soleimani quickly rises through the ranks. It’s during this time that he comes to believe that Iraq should, from then onward, remain weak – incapable of threatening Iran ever again. It’s a philosophy that he later extends to all countries of the region. And, since the US was aligned with the Iraqis, he begins to believe the US must be destroyed. The war ends in a deadlock with over 100,000 soldiers dead on both sides.

Skip forward a decade, from the end of the war to 1997, and Soleimani has become commander of the special intelligence arm of the IRGC – the Quds Force. From his position of power, Soleimani, now a general, begins to wage “secret wars” on several fronts – in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

Over the coming years, Quds focuses on recruiting and training terror factions and encouraging insurrection. Under Soleimani, it will go on to give support to the Muslim factions fighting in the Bosnian war. It will train and arm Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Palestine. It will give support to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, as well as to Houthi militants battling against Saudi Arabian forces in Yemen. And, in Afghanistan, Quds Force will work with the Taliban to kill Americans.

In 2003, the US invades Iraq with orders to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Even though his hatred for Saddam is strong, Soleimani’s hatred of the US grows even more. He oversees the provision of materials for the Iraqis to attack US forces. Iranian forces plant bombs in road surfaces to destroy US vehicles and they attack US bases. And while all this is going on, Soleimani’s power grows.

In 2013, former CIA officer John Maguire calls Soleimani “the single most powerful operative in the world today.” And adds: “no one’s ever heard of him.”

Soleimani himself, though, isn’t shy about self-promotion. He even writes to the commander of the US forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus, “I, Qasem Soleimani, control the policy for Iran with respect to Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza, and Afghanistan.”

The capture of Tikrit by Iranian forces was a severe symbolic and tactical blow to ISIS.

Iran has always sought to contain Sunni Muslims living in Iraq; Muslims in Iran are overwhelmingly Shia. In March 2015, it’s no different – to the Iranians, the Sunni ISIS terrorists are enemies. They’re less than pleased by the success of ISIS in establishing their caliphate on Iraqi soil, so it’s no surprise when Soleimani launches an attack with 20,000 Shia military fighters.

Tikrit has been controlled by ISIS since 2014. The city isn’t huge, but it’s significant, both symbolically and tactically. It was the birthplace of the former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein. And it lies on the banks of the Tigris, halfway between Baghdad to the south and Mosel to the north.

Soleimani is discussed but ISIS and al-Baghdadi take center stage.

It’s 10:09 a.m., December 2, 2015. In Washington, DC, the threat from ISIS is being discussed by the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs. Everyone in the room has been briefed about ISIS and al-Baghdadi. More than 1,200 people have been killed at their hands in terror attacks, not including thousands of casualties in Iraq and Syria.

Barely three weeks have passed since a campaign of attacks in Paris shocked the world. The attacks – at the Stade de France, at the Bataclan theater, and at other locations throughout the city – have left 130 innocent people dead.

A letter from Pompeo to Soleimani goes unread, but the message is clear.

In November 2017, Soleimani is writing to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, to confirm his strategic victory over ISIS in Syria. It’s not only a strategic victory, but also revenge for a humiliating attack by ISIS in the heart of the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Five months ago, a surprise attack by seven ISIS fighters resulted in 17 deaths and 43 injuries – the first such attack on Iranian soil.

Death comes to the leaders of ISIS.

It’s 9:15 p.m. on January 30, 2018. In Washington, President Trump is making his first State of the Union address. He has much to talk about. But around 40 minutes in, his attention switches to the war on terror. A year ago, he promised “the development of a new plan to defeat ISIS.” And his aggressive posture has been working.

In fact, ISIS has already lost 95 percent of its territory. But, in spite of that, attacks on American targets haven’t stopped.

At the end of 2019, tension between the US and Iran escalates immeasurably.

It’s 7:20 p.m., December 27, 2019. Location: Kirkuk, Iraq. At Camp K-1, a joint Iraqi-US military base, dinner has just ended. Five-foot-long Katyusha rockets strike unexpectedly, primarily on the US side of the camp. Four US service members and two Iraqi security personnel are wounded and an American civilian contractor, Nawres Hamid, is killed.

There have already been eleven other rocket incidents since November, but, until now, nobody has been killed. It’s taken as an act of war. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reminds the Iranians that attacks orchestrated by them “will be answered with a decisive US response.”

A severed hand and a distinctive ring are all that remain.

It’s 12:32 a.m. on January 3, 2020. General Qasem Soleimani is sitting in the front row of an airbus A320 as it touches down at Baghdad International Airport in Iraq after its one-hour flight from the Syrian capital. He’s accompanied by two loyal Quds bodyguards and by two high-level Iranian officials. Soleimani trusts each of them implicitly.

They disembark and are met by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, founder of the Kataib Hezbollah militia. They drive away together in two SUVs. Soleimani believes he’s completely safe. But at that moment, the two cars are being followed from 20,000 feet by at least two MQ-9 Reaper drones.

Epilogue

A mass killer was dead. The Iranians protested, but their protest was muted. Demonstrations around the world soon turned to anger and disgust – at the US. It wasn’t long before Trump and the US were being portrayed as the villains.

News channels in the US aired programs where commentators gave differing viewpoints. Would it have been less dangerous to keep Soleimani alive? Did the benefits outweigh the risks?

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What is Killing the Killers about?

Killing the Killers (2022) takes you deep into the global war on terror. As it examines the role of Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, it moves through all the theaters of action including Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Iran, and Afghanistan. It’s the eleventh book in the best-selling Killing series.

Killing the Killers Review

Killing the Killers (2022) is a gripping exploration of the darkest corners of humanity, written by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard. Here's why this book is worth reading:

Delving into infamous criminals and their crimes, the book offers a fascinating glimpse into the minds of killers, leaving readers both captivated and disturbed.
With meticulous research and compelling storytelling, O'Reilly and Dugard bring the crimes to life, providing a chilling and thought-provoking experience.
The book goes beyond the crimes themselves, examining the societal factors that contribute to violence, prompting readers to reflect on larger issues at play.

Who should read Killing the Killers?

Fans of the Killing series
History buffs interested in the war on terror
Lovers of dramatic story-telling

About the Author

Bill O’Reilly is an American conservative TV journalist who has worked for CBS News, ABC News, and Fox News. As an author, he has 15 number-one best-selling nonfiction books under his belt, including as coauthor of the Killing series. He also hosts the No Spin News on BillOReilly.com.

Martin Dugard is an American writer and the coauthor of the Killing series. His other books include Taking Paris, To Be A Runner, and The Murder of King Tut.

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