There have been times the last few years when it has felt like "Frontline" was the last, hard-hitting journalistic outfit left on American television.
Screening its latest report, "The Rise of ISIS," was another one of those moments for me. It premieres at 10 tonight on PBS. Don't miss it.
This is a superb work of journalism that explains how the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria came to be and where it might be headed. It's harrowing, informative and thought-provoking. Nothing I have seen about ISIS on cable or network news comes close.
A big part of the story, which is carefully reported, involves the failure of the Obama administration to act on the information about ISIS that was available.
As Martin Smith, who reports the piece for "Frontline," puts it, "This documentary lays out ... the buildup of unheeded warnings, failures, and missed opportunities that allowed al-Qaida in Iraq to become ISIS."
This is not Fox News saying the Obama administration failed us. This is Martin Smith saying it on PBS, and no one knows the story of the American debacle in Iraq better. Smith has been covering Iraq for "Frontline" since 2003, and he is once again in a league by himself on this story.