we didn't know where nick berg was. and then one afternoon one of my subordinate commanders came in the office and said you need to watch this. and he put his laptop on my desk and then hit play on a video. it was, of course, the al qaeda video that had captured nick berg standing in front of a series of black-clad hooded al qaeda leaders. nick berg is in an orange jumpsuit. and then at the end of that they pull out a large knife and they decapitate him. [ screaming ] >> i was, frankly, fixated on the video in a sort of morbid kind of way because i remember my fists were just clenched up because not only are you frustrated, you're angry. >> people were always second-guessing, who actually did the beheading? i'll sit here today and tell you i believe from the nuances, the body language that we saw of the different individuals, that zarqawi was the individual who grabbed that young man by the stock of hair at the top of his head and cut his head off. and then stood there like, you know, screw you, america. >> it really br

we didn't know where nick berg was. and then one afternoon, one of my subordinate commanders came in and said you need to watch this. he put his laptop on my desk and hit play on a video. it was, of course, the al qaeda video that had captured nick berg standing in front of a series of black clad hooded al qaeda leaders. nick berg is in an orange jumpsuit. they pull out a large knife and they decapitate him. >> i wish, frankly, fixated on the video in a morbid kind of way because i remember my fists were just clenched up. not only are you frustrated, you're angry. >> people were always second-guessing, who actually did the beheading? i'll sit here today and tell you i believe from the nuances, the body language, the different individuals, that's zarqawi was the individual who grabbed that young man by the stock of hair at the top of his head and cut his head off and stood there like, screw you, america. >> it really brought the war to a personal level as it got more and more brutal. >>> if we were going to find zarqawi,

we didn't know where nick berg was. and then one afternoon, one of my subordinate commanders came in and said you need to watch this. he put his laptop on my desk and hit play on a video. it was, of course, the al qaeda video that had captured nick berg standing in front of a series of black clad hooded al qaeda leaders. nick berg is in an orange jumpsuit. they pull out a large knife and they decapitate him. >> i wish, frankly, fixated on the video in a morbid kind of way because i remember my fists were just clenched up. not only are you frustrated, you're angry. >> people were always second-guessing, who actually did the beheading? i'll sit here today and tell you i believe from the nuances, the body language, the different individuals, that's zarqawi was the individual who grabbed that young man by the stock of hair at the top of his head and cut his head off and stood there like, screw you, america. >> it really brought the war to a personal level as it got more and more brutal. ♪ ♪ rock-a-bye michael, rushing t

berg. he wanted to rule a caliphate. >> narrator: it was something bin laden hadn't yet pushed for. >> al-qaeda saw that time as a long way off, and zarqawi was very, very much more impatient. he said, "this we can do now." >> allahu akbar! >> narrator: for zarqawi, the creation of the caliphate would be the fulfillment of a prophecy. >> that religious vision promises the return of god's kingdom on earth, the reestablishment of the early islamic empire, the empowerment of sunni muslims around the world. that the reestablished caliphate will eventually take over the entire globe, and then the entire world will come crashing to an end. >> the lead aircraft is goingo engage it here momentarily with a 500-pound bomb on the target. >> narrator: the next video the world would see of zarqawi was very different. (explosion) in 2006, the u.s. military received a tip and bombed zarqawi's hideout. >> the terrorist whose forces set off so many... >> narrator: zarqawi was dead. but his call for an islam