“Over the course of our more than 15 meetings with Abu Ahmad, we questioned him intensively about his knowledge of the jihadi group and his bona fides as one of the ‘soldiers of the caliphate.’ Over a period of 10 months, we spent more than 100 hours with him. He patiently answered our questions on everything from how he ended up with the Islamic State, how the organization is organized, and the identity of the European foreign fighters within the group.” Want to understand something about the founding of ISIS? This well-researched Foreign Policy piece will get you a lot further than clownish political soundbites: Present at the Creation.