On March 20th 1995 the Tokyo Metro was the scene of an attempt at mass murder. The attackers released the nerve agent Sarin, a chemical so powerful that in its pure form, the tiniest droplet is enough to kill. This was the first ever use of a weapon of mass destruction for terrorism. The group behind the attack turned out to be a new Japanese religion, called Aum Shinrikyo, or Aum the Supreme Truth. For them the murder of so many civilians was not an attempt to gain publicity for their cause, but a religious act, a holy act, a holy act. Zero Hour s1e4: Terror in Tokyo
In 8 years he has built Aum up from nothing to a flourishing organisation with 40,000 members worldwide. ibid.
The idea that Japanese citizens would ever commit such a large-scale and indiscriminate crime seems unimaginable. ibid.
Just after 11 p.m. on the 12th of October 2002 a coordinated suicide attack devastated 2 nightclubs on the Indonesian island of Bali. 202 lives were destroyed and countless others wrecked in an indiscriminate act of revenge against young Westerners. Zero Hour s2e1: Bali Bombing
He was an ordinary American with an all-American childhood of little league baseball, Santa Claus, and Cowboys and Indians … One bright spring morning in April 1995 … It was the worst peacetime atrocity on United States’ soil at that time, and it shocked America and most of the world. Zero Hour s2e2: Oklahoma Bombing: One of America’s Own
For he was no Islamist bomber from a foreign land but one of America’s own. ibid.
‘The Turner Diaries is just the kind of book that he was looking for, because it was a book about gun rights, it was a book about hatred for the US government, and it was also a book about a terrorist act.’ ibid. comment
His victims will include men like him. ibid.
On the evening of 27th of September 1994 the Estonia, a 500-foot-long passenger ferry set sail from the Estonian capital of Tallinn. She was bound for Stockholm but would never arrive. 6 hours into her voyage, the largest car ferry of the Estonian fleet sank to the bottom of the Baltic sea. Zero Hour s2e3: The Sinking of the Estonia
No organised evacuation is announced. ibid.
Bogota, Colombia, just before 3 p.m. on the afternoon of December 2nd 1993. From a hotel room a 16-year-old is on the phone to his father who is some 300 miles away in Medellin, Cocaine City. The son is one Pablo Escobar, the father Pablo Escobar, the world’s most wanted drug lord. Zero Hour s2e4: The King of Cocaine
To his pursuers, he is simply the greatest criminal in history. ibid.
Even though cocaine made his fortune, Escobar has always stayed clear of it. His favourite drug is cannabis. ibid.
In his final hour, Escobar cuts a pathetic figure. ibid.
I said to him, ‘You killed the Iraqis. You killed the children. You are against God.’
And he said, ‘I’m Saddam. I’m still the President.’ Zero Hour s2e5: Capturing Saddam, Samir, Iraqi-born translator for US forces unit
‘Saddam captured. He is in my hands. I want to prove it to the world.’ ibid. Samir
By the early spring of 1991 Saddam had looked beaten. His invasion of Kuwait had been repulsed with almost indecent ease by an American-led coalition. Encourage by the West, the Shia cities of southern Iraq erupted in rebellion against decades of oppression … Estimates between 25,000 and 100,000 dead. ibid.
Coalition troops were now in a war of attrition against an invisible enemy. ibid.
I’m not going to forget that moment the way Saddam looked when we pulled him out. ibid. Samir
I want Saddam to be alive on TV. To show the world. ibid.
In 1981 John Paul II had been Pope for less than three years. Then on a warm May evening he nearly lost his life when he was shot at close range during his weekly audience in Rome. Zero Hour s2e6: The Plot to Kill the Pope
The identity of the gunman was never in any doubt: Mehmet Ali Agca was an erratic 23-year-old Turk with a record of political assassination. He was caught on the spot before he could escape, and eventually sentenced to life imprisonment. ibid.
Was Agca really an international terrorist, or simply a madman? Was he part of a massive conspiracy, or did he act alone? ibid.
The early hours of September 2000 and Operation Barras is about to begin. Commandos from Britain’s elite fighting force, the SAS, are preparing to engage in one of the boldest rescue missions in modern history. A mission so dangerous that in the coming hour these soldiers expect severe casualties. They will be flown deep into the jungle of Sierra Leone, West Africa, in an attempt to release British Army hostages held for more than 2 weeks. The hostage-takers are known as the Westside Boys, a gang of notorious killers who are well armed and ruthless. Zero Hour s3e1: SAS Mission Impossible
The West Side boys are a relic of a merciless civil war that had paralysed Sierra Leone through the 1990s. ibid.
The raid to rescue Musa Bangura and the British hostages hastened the end not only of the Westside Boys but also the disastrous civil war in Sierra Leone. ibid.
April 22nd 1997, Lima, Peru: Peruvian special forces prepare to storm the Japanese Ambassador’s residence. At stake the lives of 72 men held hostage by a revolutionary guerrilla movement. Zero Hour s3e2: Lima Hostage Rescue
The Royal Palace, Kathmandu, evening of 1st June 2001: The Nepalese Royal Family gather for a party … Within little more than one hour from their arrival most of these people will be lying dead or wounded. Zero Hour s3e3: A Royal Massacre
At the heart of this shattering event was the crown prince himself. ibid.
28th February 1997: A breathtaking act of violence on the streets of Los Angeles plays live on national television. This is no cops and robbers movie. It’s real. Two armed men have hit a North Hollywood bank and seem to be cornered by police. But these two haven’t just turned up to rob a bank. Dressed like post-apocalyptic warriors, they take on the police with calculated savagery, blasting them with vastly superior firepower. Zero Hour s3e4: North Hollywood Shootout
The body armour weighs less than the chips on their shoulders. ibid.
400,000 feet above the Earth’s surface the space shuttle Columbia re-enters the atmosphere. Within moments it will be an erupting fireball. All seven astronauts will be dead. Zero Hour s3e5: Falling Star Columbia