Host Carol Castiel talks with international journalist Sam Dagher about his new book, “Assad or We Burn the Country: How One Family’s Lust for Power Destroyed Syria,” which describes the historical roots and context for the brutal suppression of the peaceful uprising in 2011 by President Bashar al Assad. Dagher covered the conflict in Syria from 2012 – 2014 and was arrested and briefly detained by pro-Assad militias. After the Assad government forced him out for coverage deemed unfavorable to the regime, Dagher tells VOA that he was astonished to discover that the international focus on the war had shifted from defeating Bashar al Assad to combatting ISIS, especially since Assad helped to foster the rise of that bloodthirsty Islamist group.