Immediately after 9/11, the US announced that 'the gloves were coming off' in the fight against al-Qaeda. A unique Presidential Finding gave the CIA greater powers than it had enjoyed at any point in its history.
Electronic eavesdropping, kidnap, rendition and water-boarding were the results.
The film explores how the CIA fought al-Qaeda in the shadows, focusing on the monitoring of its communications, the group's escape from Tora Bora and the problems this raised.
We examine the highs and lows of the intelligence war, revealing how the US nearly lost outright in 2003 and how al-Qaeda negated its own advances through a bloody campaign to eliminate Iraq's Shias.
This is the story of the secret war behind the 'war on terror'.