US Military Spokesperson In Iraq Circulates Fake Islamic State Document As Genuine

US Military Spokesperson In Iraq Circulates Fake Islamic State Document As Genuine

It seems that the U.S. military is propagandizing against the Islamic State by distributing fake Islamic State documents. This, in effect, will make the Islamic State look better than it is.

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In a telephone briefing on Tuesday, [Col. Steven H. Warren, the United States military spokesman in Baghdad,] said that coalition forces had recovered Islamic State leaflets in the nearby city of Falluja urging its fighters — if they lose control of the city — to impersonate Iraqi security forces and commit atrocities. “Some acts that they’re instructed to do on this document include blowing up mosques, killing and torturing civilians and breaking into homes while dressed as I.S.F. fighters,” Colonel Warren said, referring to Iraqi security forces. “They do all this to discredit the I.S.F.”Colonel Warren called the instructions in the leaflets “the behavior of thugs, behavior of killers, the behavior of terrorists.”

Colonel Warren also tweeted the "Islamic State leaflet" and its translation:

COL Steve Warren Verified account @OIRSpox

ISIL fighters ordered to dress as ISF and commit atrocities before fleeing Fallujah.

[Photo of the document and its translation]7:30 AM - 22 Dec 2015"

The document was immediately identified as fake by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, a well known researcher who curates a large collection of all published Islamic State documents:

Aymenn J Al-Tamimi @ajaltamimi

Aymenn J Al-Tamimi Retweeted COL Steve WarrenDear Col. Steve Warren @OIRSpox, this purported 'Fallujah withdrawal' document is an obvious fake:
7:43 AM - 22 Dec 2015

Al Tamimi gives two main reasons why he believes the document is fake:

• the document allegedly from Fallujah is under an IS letter head from Ninawa province. Fallujah is in Anbar province,
• the document refers to the government militia with its real honorable name "Hashd Sha'abi" while the regular derogatory Islamic State term for the militia is "Hashd Rafidi".

Another writer with deep experience in the region also believes that the document is fake:

Anand Gopal @Anand_Gopal_Anand Gopal Retweeted COL Steve Warren
Here’s a US military spokesman circulating fake ISIS documents as propaganda
9:41 AM - 22 Dec 2015

An Iraq security analyst concurs:

Alex M. @Alex_de_MCOL Warren needs a chat with his G2 section. The leaflets are pretty obviously fakes...
9:45 AM - 22 Dec 2015

One would think that the behavior the Islamic State displays in its own propaganda videos is argument enough to condemn it. By using obviously fake IS documents to condemn the Islamic State the U.S. military creates the opposite effect. That the U.S. needs fake evidence to let the Islamic State look bad actually makes it look better than it is. This not only in the eyes of its followers.

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