Jack Laurence

It was deadly for civilians, journalists and aid workers alike.

And between September 11th, 2001 and 2008, the Middle East and South Asia became a graveyard for Westerners who'd ventured into conflict zones.

Many of them trying to help, trying to tell the truth, trying to rebuild what war had destroyed.

Documentary filmmaker and journalist Sean Langan wasn't naive.

As a filmmaker who'd spent years covering these regions, he knew exactly what could happen to Westerners in the hands of terrorist organisations.

He'd seen the headlines.

He'd watched the news reports.

He knew the names.

It started with Daniel Pearl in February of 2002.

The Wall Street Journal reporter was in Pakistan chasing a story about a terrorist when he was kidnapped in Karachi.

He thought he was going to interview an Islamic scholar.

Instead, he was taken by militants connected to Al-Qaeda.

Weeks later, a video emerged showing his beheading.

It was one of the first times the world witnessed this particular brand of horror.

Then came Nick Berg in May of 2004, a 26-year-old telecommunications contractor from Pennsylvania who'd gone to Iraq looking for work.

He was kidnapped, held in an orange jumpsuit and beheaded on camera by al-Zarqawi's group.

The video was posted online.

The message was clear.

This is what happens to Americans in Iraq.

That same year in September, Kenneth Bigley, a British civil engineer working on reconstruction projects in Baghdad, was kidnapped along with two American colleagues.