News Commentary — Nov 10, 2014

The alleged leader of the ISIS (or IS or ISIL) wearing an expensive, ostentatious watch, which seems at odds with claims that he’s a devout Muslim. Click to enlarge

Often it’s what the corporate media don’t tell you that is more revealing than what they actually report.

This article from Monday morning’s Independent is an example.

Ostensibly it is a profile of the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Describing him as both “elusive” and mysterious” the Independent relates how he:

“was born as Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim al-Badri to a family of religious preachers in 1971 and he grew up in the town of Samarra north of capital city Baghdad before being dubbed “the new bin Laden” by French newspaper Le Monde.”

The Independent reveals how after obtaining his Ph.D. in Islamic studies he spent the next decade living simply in a small room attached to a mosque in the poor Baghdad outskirts of Tobchi.

Eventually he ended up in the American-run Camp Bucca in 2005, where he was held for the next four years before being released when the camp closed in 2009. It was at this point that al Baghdadi began to be associated with the more extreme elements of militant Islam.

The 54th most powerful person according to Forbes magazine was then declared the leader of Isis in May 2010 following the death of his predecessor Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.

“He was a bad dude but he wasn’t the worst of the worst,” Colonel Kenneth King, then Camp Bucca’s commanding officer, told the Daily Beast.

That is pretty much the sum total of al Baghdadi’s history as revealed by the Independent. As mentioned though, it’s often what the papers DON’T report that is more significant.

For example, the Independent doesn’t refer to al Baghdadi’s apparent predilection for flashy expensive watches, although he’s been pictured wearing one leading to speculation that it was Rolex. Perhaps the Independent doesn’t mention this because it seems at odds with the image of a student of Islamic studies who had lived frugally in a mosque.

More significantly the Independent doesn’t refer to al-Baghdadi’s alleged links with Mossad. This despite the fact that there have been numerous reports alleging al-Baghdadi’s links with the Zionist intelligence agency.

According to Yasmini Haifi, a project management official working for Dutch National Cyber Security Center, al-Baghdadi is in fact a Mossad trained agent. Nor is she the only one making these claims. Similar allegations have proliferated on the internet in recent months:

Documents show al-Baghdadi trained by Mossad

Is ‘IS’ a CIA-Mossad Creation?

ISIS Leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi Trained by Israeli Mossad, NSA Documents Reveal

No mention of this in the Independent and you have to ask yourself why? Why doesn’t the Independent mention these claims, even if only to deny or refute them?

As mentioned, it’s often what the media don’t say that it more revealing and this omission suggests that elements in the corporate media — the same elements that once reported on Saddam’s WMD — are now trying to conceal al-Baghdadi’s ties with Western covert operations.

The Independent’s Profile of al-Baghdadi: What they Don’t Say

News Commentary — Nov 10, 2014

Often it’s what the corporate media don’t tell you that is more revealing than what they actually report.

This article from Monday morning’s Independent is an example.

Ostensibly it is a profile of the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Describing him as both “elusive” and mysterious” the Independent relates how he:

“was born as Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim al-Badri to a family of religious preachers in 1971 and he grew up in the town of Samarra north of capital city Baghdad before being dubbed “the new bin Laden” by French newspaper Le Monde.”

The Independent reveals how after obtaining his Ph.D. in Islamic studies he spent the next decade living simply in a small room attached to a mosque in the poor Baghdad outskirts of Tobchi.

Eventually he ended up in the American-run Camp Bucca in 2005, where he was held for the next four years before being released when the camp closed in 2009. It was at this point that al Baghdadi began to be associated with the more extreme elements of militant Islam.

The 54th most powerful person according to Forbes magazine was then declared the leader of Isis in May 2010 following the death of his predecessor Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.

“He was a bad dude but he wasn’t the worst of the worst,” Colonel Kenneth King, then Camp Bucca’s commanding officer, told the Daily Beast.

That is pretty much the sum total of al Baghdadi’s history as revealed by the Independent. As mentioned though, it’s often what the papers DON’T report that is more significant.

More significantly the Independent doesn’t refer to al-Baghdadi’s alleged links with Mossad. This despite the fact that there have been numerous reports alleging al-Baghdadi’s links with the Zionist intelligence agency.

According to Yasmini Haifi, a project management official working for Dutch National Cyber Security Center, al-Baghdadi is in fact a Mossad trained agent. Nor is she the only one making these claims. Similar allegations have proliferated on the internet in recent months:

Documents show al-Baghdadi trained by Mossad

Is ‘IS’ a CIA-Mossad Creation?

ISIS Leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi Trained by Israeli Mossad, NSA Documents Reveal

No mention of this in the Independent and you have to ask yourself why? Why doesn’t the Independent mention these claims, even if only to deny or refute them?

As mentioned, it’s often what the media don’t say that it more revealing and this omission suggests that elements in the corporate media — the same elements that once reported on Saddam’s WMD — are now trying to conceal al-Baghdadi’s ties with Western covert operations.