was brought in to fix camp bucca. was wary of the inmates. here he is giving cnn's nic robertson a tour in 2008. >> we have about 2,000 identified al qaeda here in the theater internment facility. they're very hard to break. >> you have shields up here to protect us. everyone down here is crowded around, looking at us now. >> right. but this is not a place that you want to hang around. we don't want to stand here that much longer because they will now organize around us. >> reporter: there were beatings, unexplained prisoner deaths, and several dangerous jihadis escaped. into this cauldron one day in early 2004, a new man arrived. we know him now as abu bakr al baghdadi, the leader of isis. and, yes, he was in american custody during the iraq war. al baghdadi has shown his face publicly only once, last year, when he gave a sermon to his followers. but back when the u.s. had him under lock and key, he was seen as, believe it or not, a man who could be trusted. >> the americans seem to see abu bakr as somebody who could

some americans who worked at camp bucca called it simply camp hell.t wasn't just crowded, it was violent. in 2005, riots broke out. detainees took over whole sections of the prison can'mp. american forces amassed outside the fences firing into the crowds. at least four prisoners were killed. >> now, this is camp bucca. >> major general doug stone was brought in to fix camp bucca. even he was wary of the inmates. here he is giving nic robertson a tour in 2008. >> we have about 2,000 identified al qaeda here in the theater. they are hard to break. >> you have shields up here to protect us. everyone is crowded around looking at us now. >> this is not a place that you want to hang around. we don't want to stand here that much longer. they will organize around us. >> there were beatings, unexplained prisoner deaths and several dangerous jihadis escaped. into this area, a new man arrived. we know him now as abu baghdadi, the leader of isis. and, yes, he was in american custody during the iraq war. he's shown his face publicly only once. last year when he ga

this is camp bucca, an american prison.iraq war, the most dangerous jihadis were locked up here, up to 20,000 of the country's angriest men. some americans who worked at camp bucca called it simply camp hell. it wasn't just crowded, it was violent. in 2005, riots broke out. detainees went on a rampage, taking over whole sections of the prison camp. american forces massed outside the fences, firing into the crowd. at least four prisoners were killed. >> now, this is camp bucca. >> in were beatings and unexplained prisoner deaths. into this cauldron, one day in early 2004, a new man arrived. we know him now as abu bakr al baghdadi, the leader of isis. and, yes, he was in american custody during the iraq war. al baghdadi has shown his face publicly only once. last year when he gave a sermon to his followers. but back when the u.s. had him under lock and key, he was seen as, believe it or not, a man who could be trusted. >> the americans seem to see abu bakr as someone who could keep the prison quiet. there are 24 camps within

. >> 18 of the 27 senior isis leaders were all veterans of camp bucca. >> the united states government deserves a lot of blame for what happened in iraq, but frankly, so do iraqis.

. >> 18 of the 27 senior isis leaders were all veterans of camp bucca. >> the united states government deserves a lot of blame for what happened in iraq, but frankly,

in 2014, isis announces call fate, abu dhabi, the one we let out of camp bucca, now starts beheading americans. james foley, steve sotlov and other westerners. then they start killing us. then we started a limited bombing of isis in syria, with the promise of no troops on the ground. mr. president, in september of this year, one day after meeting you and not telling you, putin starts air strikes in syria. and in your prophetorial american, you said bombing is not the way to go. >> as we continue to have these conversations and as i suspect russia starts realizing that they're not going to be able to bomb their way to a peace inside syria, we'll be able to make progress on that front. >> now you're the one sending troops to syria. but by the way, it's not combat. ten days ago, master sergeant ben wheeler, just assisting, who wasn't in combat, was killed in combat. are you schizophrenic? you announce that you're going to send 1$100 million to the syrian rebels. didn't we just spend $5 million doing just that? we got five guys trained and they ran off. so we have the military version of

during the insurgency, the most dangerous jihadis were locked up at camp bucca.s abu bakr al baghdadi, the future leader of isis. >> he wasn't considered from everything that we know how a high-level detainee. he was allowed to lead prayers and allowed to give religious lessons. >> that's right. the u.s. not only had al baghdadi in custody, he was actually allowed to teach islam to fellow inmates. by 2014, al baghdadi's isis was declaring itself a caliphate, an islamic state, and across the world, young muslims heard the call. >> i'm a young brother from syria. they struggled with how to go on ground combat. >> the iraq army banned positions. >> the same that famously run from battle when confronted by isis. >> the iraqi army out numbered isis 20, 30-1 in isil, the second largest city and basically surrounded it without a fight. >> perhaps the most important question is, does it make sense to go to war again in a country that may not even be a country anymore? listen to the people who know iraq well. >> iraq doesn't exist except lines on a map. >> most iraqis no

baghdadi, who was once in our prison camp, camp bucca, for four years in iraq and said, i'll see you york when he left. he was not kidding. and there is no doubt that what isis has just proved is that contrary to what this president believed, contrary even what our intelligence told us, they have a reach. they've had a reach to russian -- to shooting -- making sure that a russian jet was destroyed, airliner. they have a reach to paris. they have a reach to beirut. and they have a reach in northern africa and other places in the world. and there's no reason why we should not suspect that they have a reach to the united states of america. it's time we acted. it's time the united states of america, acting with our allies, take out isil. we must go both to iraq and to syria and take them out. their total defeat is the only thing that will eliminate this threat to the united states of america. yes, after they're destroyed, there's a lot to do. yes, there's things such as building societies and economies and free societies and all that. but there's only one thing that mr. baghdadi and his

baghdadi, who was once in our prison camp, camp bucca, for four years in iraq and said, i'll see younew york when he left. he was not kidding. and there is no doubt that what isis has just proved is that contrary to what this president believed, contrary even what our intelligence told us, they have a reach. they've had a reach to russian -- to shooting -- making sure that a russian jet was destroyed, airliner. they have a reach to paris. they have a reach to beirut. and they have a reach in northern africa and other places in the world. and there's no reason why we should not suspect that they have a reach to the united states of america. it's time we acted. it's time the united states of america, acting with our allies, take out isil. we must go both to iraq and to syria and take them out. their total defeat is the only thing that will eliminate this threat to the united states of america. yes, after they're destroyed, there's a lot to do. yes, there's things such as building societies and economies and free societies and all that. but there's only one thing that mr. baghdadi and h

baghdadi, who was once in our prison camp, camp bucca for four years in iraq and said, i'll see you innew york when he left. he was not kidding. and there is no doubt that what isis has just proved is that contrary to what this president believed contrary even what our intelligence told us, they have a reach. they've had a reach to russian -- to shooting -- making sure that a russian jet was destroyed airliner. they have a reach to paris. they have a reach to beirut. and they have a reach in northern africa and other places in the world. and there's no reason why we should not suspect that they have a reach to the united states of america. it's time we acted. it's time the united states of america acting with our allies, take out isil. we must go both to iraq and to syria and take them out. their total defeat is the only thing that will eliminate this threat to the united states of america. yes, after they're destroyed there's a lot to do. yes there's things such as building societies and economies and free societies and all that. but there's only one thing that mr. baghdadi and his le