In this The Daily Beast essay, Elliot Ackerman reflects on witnessing the early rise of ISIS along the Turkish-Syrian border and the moral uncertainty surrounding Western intervention in Syria.

The First Signs of ISIS

Ackerman recounts traveling to the Kilis border crossing near Azaz, where refugees gathered after fighting closed the route into Syria. There he met a wounded Syrian man whose index fingers had been amputated by ISIS, an early indication of the group’s brutality and ambitions.

From Rebellion to Islamic Conquest

At the time, ISIS appeared to be one faction among many fighting the Assad regime. Its attack on the Free Syrian Army revealed a different objective: the creation of a caliphate across Syria and Iraq, regardless of which military or political force stood in its way.

The Human Cost of Strategic Failure

The essay places ISIS’s rise within the aftermath of the Iraq War, the Syrian Civil War, and Western reluctance to intervene after the Assad regime’s chemical attack in Ghouta. Refugees and civilians were left caught between the regime, extremist groups, and competing rebel forces.

The Uneasy Choice to Leave

Ackerman closes by contrasting his own departure from the border with a foreign doctor who chose to remain and treat the wounded. The moment captures the guilt, uncertainty, and limits of witnessing a war from relative safety.

Read the Original Essay

Read “Watching ISIS Come to Power Again” at The Daily Beast →