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Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Pentagon spent hundreds of millions of dollars for fake al-Qaeda videos

Oct 3, 2016 8:36 pm By Robert Spencer

There weren’t enough real ones? The Pentagon could think of no better strategy to track al-Qaeda jihadis than to produce propaganda for the enemy?

The Obama Pentagon has lied repeatedly to the American people to give them the impression that U.S. efforts against the Islamic State have been more effective than they really have been. And now this.

The Obama Pentagon is a disgrace, and needs to be cleared out from top to bottom.

Pentagon

“Pentagon Paid for Fake ‘Al Qaeda’ Videos,” by Crofton Black and Abigail Fielding-Smith, Daily Beast, October 1, 2016:

The Pentagon gave a controversial UK PR firm over half a billion dollars to run a top secret propaganda program in Iraq, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism can reveal.

Bell Pottinger’s output included short TV segments made in the style of Arabic news networks and fake insurgent videos which could be used to track the people who watched them, according to a former employee.

The agency’s staff worked alongside high-ranking U.S. military officers in their Baghdad Camp Victory headquarters as the insurgency raged outside.

Bell Pottinger’s former chairman Lord Tim Bell confirmed to the Sunday Times, which has worked with the Bureau on this story, that his firm had worked on a “covert” military operation “covered by various secrecy documents.”

Bell Pottinger reported to the Pentagon, the CIA and the National Security Council on its work in Iraq, he said.

Bell, one of Britain’s most successful public relations executives, is credited with honing Margaret Thatcher’s steely image and helping the Conservative party win three elections. The agency he co-founded has had a roster of clients including repressive regimes and Asma al-Assad, the wife of the Syrian president.

In the first media interview any Bell Pottinger employee has given about the work for the U.S. military in Iraq, video editor Martin Wells told the Bureau his time in Camp Victory was “shocking, eye-opening, life-changing.”

The firm’s output was signed off by former General David Petraeus – then commander of the coalition forces in Iraq – and on occasion by the White House, he said.

Bell Pottinger produced reams of material for the Pentagon, some of it going far beyond standard communications work.

The Bureau traced the firm’s Iraq work through US army contracting censuses, reports by the Defense Department’s Inspector General and federal procurement transaction records, as well as Bell Pottinger’s corporate filings and specialist publications on military propaganda. We interviewed half a dozen former officials and contractors involved in information operations in Iraq.

There were three types of media operations commonly used in Iraq at the time, said a military contractor familiar with Bell Pottinger’s work there.

“White is attributed, it says who produced it on the label,” the contractor said. “Grey is unattributed and black is falsely attributed. These types of black ops, used for tracking who is watching a certain thing, were a pretty standard part of the industry toolkit.”

Bell Pottinger’s work in Iraq was a huge media operation which cost over a hundred million dollars a year on average. A document unearthed by the Bureau shows the company was employing almost 300 British and Iraqi staff at one point.

The London-based PR agency was brought into Iraq soon after the U.S. invasion. In March 2004 it was tasked by the country’s temporary administration with the “promotion of democratic elections” —a “high-profile activity” which it trumpeted in its annual report.

The firm soon switched to less high-profile activities, however. The Bureau has identified transactions worth $540 million between the Pentagon and Bell Pottinger for information operations and psychological operations on a series of contracts issued from May 2007 to December 2011. A similar contract at around the same annual rate—$120 million—was in force in 2006, we have been told….

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Filed Under: Al-Qaeda, Featured, United States Tagged With: Pentagon


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Comments

  1. robm says

    Oct 3, 2016 at 8:48 pm

    Wag a friggin Dog

    • Custos Custodum says

      Oct 4, 2016 at 1:10 pm

      “Tiny Tim” “Tinkerbell” was Margaret Thatcher’s PR guru, famous for residing in swanky hotels.

      One would assume that $500 Million was used in part to buy the support of the British government rather than to make fake Al-Qaeda and IS videos.

      BTW the alleged rationale stinks. Al-Qaeda and IS would of course have known that these were not legit videos, saw through the ruse, and immediately got the word out to would-be jihadis not to compromise their identity by watching the fakes. In fact, there are well-developed capabilities for tracking watchers of real AQ and IS videos, so the purpose of creating fake videos remains unclear – perhaps just a smokescreen for funneling money.

  2. nicu says

    Oct 3, 2016 at 8:51 pm

    Not the first time they fake anything – started with Pearl Harbor …

    • jihad3tracker says

      Oct 3, 2016 at 8:58 pm

      Hello nicu — Please explain the Pearl Harbor “fake” reference.

    • gravenimage says

      Oct 3, 2016 at 10:36 pm

      nicu wrote:

      Not the first time they fake anything – started with Pearl Harbor …
      ……………………

      Oh, good grief–more revisionist history. I suppose you think that that the Allies started the war with ‘poor’ Hitler and that 9/11 was pulled off by George Bush–or Mossad, or the Illuminati–as well…

  3. jihad3tracker says

    Oct 3, 2016 at 8:57 pm

    THIS IS NOT DIRECTLY ON TOPIC — BUT STILL PERTAINS TO RECRUITMENT, SO I AM POSTING IT FOR NEWBIES AND REGULARS WHO HAVE NOT SEEN IT.

    Made by the brilliant counter-jihad expert David Wood, it runs a short 4 minutes and 56 seconds. Watch when undistracted please, and pass it along to any family and friends who are still clueless on how simple the “radicalization” process is:

    TITLED “THE JIHAD TRIANGLE” AND UP ON YOUTUBE OR BY A SEARCH BOX HIT at David’s blog www [dot] answeringmuslims [dot] com.

    • jihad3tracker says

      Oct 3, 2016 at 9:15 pm

      If you are dog tired at the end of a long day, here is a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjvfaZIDLCg.

      ALSO SEE OTHER VIDEOS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THIS WEB PAGE. Time well spent to better grasp the depth of Muhammad’s agenda.

      And for those of us completely disgusted with racist hypocrisy in Black Lives Matter’s “RIOT FIRST & GET FACTS LATER” policy, watch this:

      “MUHAMMAD — THE WHITE PROPHET WITH BLACK SLAVES” — with many citations from the Hadith to back up the assertions in it, along with David’s typical impish humor.

      By the way, the audio for that begins immediately. Here is what David says: “POP QUIZ . . . WHO IS THE WHITEST PROPHET IN HISTORY?”

    • Praeceptor Maximus says

      Oct 3, 2016 at 11:40 pm

      David Wood is great. I never miss watching his videos.

    • katherine says

      Oct 4, 2016 at 7:34 pm

      Still on the subject of recruitment, try searching the latest news from UK’s Daily Mail site esp. about the new generation of British Trident Subs. Look at the pic of the new cadets and tell if India or Israel shouldn’t be worried about the latest Islamic-crewed Trident warhead platform prowling the world’s oceans.

      Wonder how many enhanced Tridents the Pentagon will supply the Brits this time.

      • Keys says

        Oct 4, 2016 at 8:58 pm

        katherine-
        I looked. You are right. There were 6 cadets pictured with Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon. None of the 6 were native Brits !

        The range of these sub launched missles is 7,000 miles.

  4. Angemon says

    Oct 3, 2016 at 9:31 pm

    Bell Pottinger’s work in Iraq was a huge media operation which cost over a hundred million dollars a year on average.

    Osama did it with a crappy camera in a dark and dank cave. What’s the justification for that price label?

    • Cecilia Ellis says

      Oct 3, 2016 at 10:01 pm

      “What’s the justification for that price label?”

      Ange, since they had no use for expensive toilet seats in Iraq, the Pentagon opted for the fake videos …

      • mortimer says

        Oct 3, 2016 at 11:15 pm

        They are GASLIGHTING the American people and the world!

        They tell us RELIGION OF PEACE and then tell us WE ARE THE CRAZY ONES if we don’t believe them.

        Gaslighting – The practice of brainwashing or convincing a mentally healthy individual that they are going insane or that their understanding of reality is mistaken or false. The term “Gaslighting” is based on the 1944 MGM movie “Gaslight”.

        • Berengaria says

          Oct 4, 2016 at 9:38 am

          I remember”Gaslight” & yes, it’s a practice used by Corrupt & Crooked GOVS, spouses, friends & WELL-MEANING relatives & neighbors. The American People have indeed, been GASLIGHTED, by the likes of Crooked Hillary, George Soros, Bro & Son. Grow a Spine, or these Democrat/Communist Assassins, will Gaslight you to death.

        • Cecilia Ellis says

          Oct 4, 2016 at 11:58 am

          Mortimer, I have never heard of the movie, “Gaslight” or the consequent term “gaslighting”. Very informative. Thanks.

  5. somehistory says

    Oct 3, 2016 at 10:11 pm

    Not unlike thousands of dollars for a washer (worth 17 cents) and more for a hammer one could buy for a few dollars at the local hardware store. Why not just hire some queda guys who want to make money instead of bombs…probably could find a couple somewhere…and have them make some *fake real* videos for a lot less than the pr gang.

    Such is the mentality of those who won’t name the enemy, and treat the enemy’s friends as *special*.

  6. August West says

    Oct 3, 2016 at 10:13 pm

    Obama’s Hollywood pals must be pissed.
    You’d think he would at least of sent the business their way.
    You just can’t trust leftist radicals anymore I guess.

    I wonder if the Jihadists can tell the difference between authentic Islamic Jihad Video and Fake US Government Issued Islamic Jihad Video.

    I’ll bet they can.

    But this begs the question – how can the US Government create Islamic Jihad Video if Islamic Jihad Video has nothing to do with Islam???????

    I think we have fallen down a rabbit hole.

  7. gravenimage says

    Oct 3, 2016 at 10:33 pm

    Pentagon spent hundreds of millions of dollars for fake al-Qaeda videos
    ………………….

    Well, that’s just embarrassing. Let’s just hope they didn’t wind up recruiting some Mohammedans to al-Qaeda by accident…

    • August West says

      Oct 3, 2016 at 10:40 pm

      I suspect that the US Government Issued Islamic Jihad Videos were purged of all references to Islam (per order of Obama). I would further speculate that the audience (99.99% Muslim or Muslim Curious) immediately recognized the lack of actual Islam in the US Government Issued Islamic Jihad Videos and stopped watching.

      No need to worry about possible recruiting due to these Vids.

  8. Don McKellar says

    Oct 3, 2016 at 11:04 pm

    If we were to all dig deep enough and put it out there I am confident that a major percentage of the 20 trillion debt — MOST OF IT FROM OBAMA — was spent promoting Islam directly or indirectly in one form or another.

    • Lion of Judah's Cub says

      Oct 6, 2016 at 12:57 am

      Yes, including the $6 billion missing from the State Department coffers under Hillary Clinton.

  9. Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says

    Oct 3, 2016 at 11:22 pm

    The basic idea here is not obviously crazy, and must be a long-standing way of keeping tabs on the enemy: raise the “alll Jews Dog” flag, and see who salutes. There is probably a standard military term for such false-flag propaganda. You need to disseminate the videos yourself in order to monitor who is viewing them.
    https://heavyeditorial.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/isis-flag-meaning-cover.jpg?quality=65&strip=all

  10. thelastvirgingoat says

    Oct 4, 2016 at 6:13 am

    So IS is an American/Israeli invention after all. I already thought the video look like some Hollywood production made to discredit Islam and paint them as bloodthirsty barbarians.

  11. billybob says

    Oct 4, 2016 at 6:24 am

    This makes one consider what an unscrupulous government might do running such a psyops program on their own people. They could, for example, try to convince us that Islam is a religion of peace, and that the terrorists have merely hijacked Islam for their own nefarious ends that have nothing to do with the religion. They might even try to convince their people to vote Democrat.

    • thelastvirgingoat says

      Oct 4, 2016 at 7:27 am

      That is also a possibility. They could keep the population confused so they can implement change. Because western civilization needs change and lots of it. Atleast that’s what I hear.

    • Westman says

      Oct 4, 2016 at 10:51 am

      They could, would, and think they should.

  12. Dustin Koellhoffer says

    Oct 4, 2016 at 8:45 am

    That’s not a strategic ploy to stop jihadis. That’s an Obama plan to help recruit for them.

  13. duh swami says

    Oct 4, 2016 at 9:52 am

    Why so much money? Who got it? I have a video camera and can produce a fake really cheap…

  14. grg-maLorrie says

    Oct 4, 2016 at 8:54 pm

    Hey!! I have the video tapes of 9/11 for that whole week!!! Was on my way to London. With all airlines grounded, didn’t have anything else to do. Sat & watched and read the Quran!!

  15. Sam says

    Oct 5, 2016 at 4:58 am

    Pentegon faking things? Is there a department of government that we can trust?

    People want more government even world government?

    I have no trust in humanity. God please help America.

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