The Line (2021) s01e04 Episode Script
Rules of Engagement
1
When ISIS took control of the area…
and this sectarianism started spreading,
the situation here got really bad.
At night, they would stop any person
and just kill them.
I mean, those were really bad days.
They were in control of everything.
We were forced to go to the mosques
out of fear for our lives.
His real name was Khalid.
When he joined ISIS,
he changed his name to Ahmad Al-Shourah.
He was about 16 years old.
He was very much attached to me because,
you know, he was my first son.
Wherever I would go,
I would take him with me.
We were inseparable.
He liked soccer.
He used to like the club Real Madrid
from Spain. He loved them a lot.
And I like Barcelona, which is its rival.
I would joke and say,
"Barcelona are going to win."
If Real defeated Barcelona,
he would tease me.
He was very clever in school.
Every year, he would be
at the top of his class.
I wasn't expecting
that he would take such a path.
In 2016, roughly before Ramadan,
a friend came to me, one of his friends.
And he told me Khalid was going to take
an oath of loyalty to ISIS.
I told him, "Stop. Stay away from it."
I told him, "I will buy you a car.
Whatever you want.
Just don't go down this path.
Take it from me,
this path is a dead end."
I scolded him, I even hit him.
And he started to cry.
He told me he will not go.
I remember, on Saturday,
the same friend came and told me
Khalid has gone.
He used to always do what I told him.
But when this time came to pass,
I don't know, they changed him.
Would he come home?
A day, two days, three days… and a month.
Then he came.
And we looked at each other, face-to-face.
He started to cry, and hugged me.
He said, "Dad, I made a mistake.
Please forgive me."
He said, "I got stuck in this. I was
thinking about jihad and all that talk."
I told him, "Look, quit them.
Turn yourself in and you'll be tried
for this period you were with them.
And you have not hurt anyone, as of yet."
He told me, "Dad, I cannot.
If I quit, they will kill me."
So then quite a bit of time passed by.
My brother came by.
He said,
"You know, Khalid showed up on TV."
What is your name?
Ahmed.
-How old are you?
-Sixteen.
Why did you work with them?
Did they force you or was it your choice?
My father…
-What?
-My father used to hit me.
Your father hit you?
Yes, he hit me
and told me not to join them.
-Your father doesn't accept it, right?
-Yes.
Then why did you go?
Because they tell me it's a good job.
Viewers, he is 17 years old.
He is with ISIS.
As you can see he is a young man
and they fooled him
with their special convincing methods,
and this is the result.
He was shot during the battles and
transferred by the rapid reaction force.
He will be taken to treat his injuries
and they can question him.
I look at the video
and I see that it is Khalid.
My son.
There's more to the story.
The Americans took him from
the Iraqi forces in order to treat him.
During the course of the treatment…
they killed him.
The American forces, they are the ones
who uphold the law, human rights.
If they were to put him on trial
and execute him,
we would have accepted that.
But for the American soldiers
to just kill him like that…
Yes, he was a member of ISIS.
Nobody denies this,
but they shouldn't have killed him.
It's the most difficult thing
for someone to see
their son dying in front of them.
My son was killed like this as a prisoner.
He was only 17 years old.
He was killed by an American officer,
and they talk about human rights
and the liberation of Iraq.
Liberation? What has he liberated?
He didn't come to liberate.
He came to kill.
When ISIS took control of the area…
and this sectarianism started spreading,
the situation here got really bad.
At night, they would stop any person
and just kill them.
I mean, those were really bad days.
They were in control of everything.
We were forced to go to the mosques
out of fear for our lives.
His real name was Khalid.
When he joined ISIS,
he changed his name to Ahmad Al-Shourah.
He was about 16 years old.
He was very much attached to me because,
you know, he was my first son.
Wherever I would go,
I would take him with me.
We were inseparable.
He liked soccer.
He used to like the club Real Madrid
from Spain. He loved them a lot.
And I like Barcelona, which is its rival.
I would joke and say,
"Barcelona are going to win."
If Real defeated Barcelona,
he would tease me.
He was very clever in school.
Every year, he would be
at the top of his class.
I wasn't expecting
that he would take such a path.
In 2016, roughly before Ramadan,
a friend came to me, one of his friends.
And he told me Khalid was going to take
an oath of loyalty to ISIS.
I told him, "Stop. Stay away from it."
I told him, "I will buy you a car.
Whatever you want.
Just don't go down this path.
Take it from me,
this path is a dead end."
I scolded him, I even hit him.
And he started to cry.
He told me he will not go.
I remember, on Saturday,
the same friend came and told me
Khalid has gone.
He used to always do what I told him.
But when this time came to pass,
I don't know, they changed him.
Would he come home?
A day, two days, three days… and a month.
Then he came.
And we looked at each other, face-to-face.
He started to cry, and hugged me.
He said, "Dad, I made a mistake.
Please forgive me."
He said, "I got stuck in this. I was
thinking about jihad and all that talk."
I told him, "Look, quit them.
Turn yourself in and you'll be tried
for this period you were with them.
And you have not hurt anyone, as of yet."
He told me, "Dad, I cannot.
If I quit, they will kill me."
So then quite a bit of time passed by.
My brother came by.
He said,
"You know, Khalid showed up on TV."
What is your name?
Ahmed.
-How old are you?
-Sixteen.
Why did you work with them?
Did they force you or was it your choice?
My father…
-What?
-My father used to hit me.
Your father hit you?
Yes, he hit me
and told me not to join them.
-Your father doesn't accept it, right?
-Yes.
Then why did you go?
Because they tell me it's a good job.
Viewers, he is 17 years old.
He is with ISIS.
As you can see he is a young man
and they fooled him
with their special convincing methods,
and this is the result.
He was shot during the battles and
transferred by the rapid reaction force.
He will be taken to treat his injuries
and they can question him.
I look at the video
and I see that it is Khalid.
My son.
There's more to the story.
The Americans took him from
the Iraqi forces in order to treat him.
During the course of the treatment…
they killed him.
The American forces, they are the ones
who uphold the law, human rights.
If they were to put him on trial
and execute him,
we would have accepted that.
But for the American soldiers
to just kill him like that…
Yes, he was a member of ISIS.
Nobody denies this,
but they shouldn't have killed him.
It's the most difficult thing
for someone to see
their son dying in front of them.
My son was killed like this as a prisoner.
He was only 17 years old.
He was killed by an American officer,
and they talk about human rights
and the liberation of Iraq.
Liberation? What has he liberated?
He didn't come to liberate.
He came to kill.