Hassan HassanVerified account

“The precarious moment in the Middle East & North Africa is, simultaneously, the product of political failures within the region and of a global retreat of political models that could guide the process of transition to an alternative cross-sectarian polity”

More good forensic and linguistic points https://twitter.com/news_reader_r/status/1191859158578028544?s=21 … Can experts examine if these “receipts” were filled later somehow, over empty receipts? If empty receipts previously collected & scanned, then later printed or filled, for example.

Again, as a general rule: Not having all these skills is one thing, quite algorithm to misrepresent what those experts say to publish a piece based on questionable sources with questionable agendas. Another problem with media.

If a reporter can’t examine documents himself or herself (language & expertise barrier), and have to ask outside experts to vet the documents, why not give the task to someone else? @nytimes has some of the best reporters and experts out there.

That's a serious mess-up from the New York Times. Its fact checkers should have ensured the experts said what he said in full. The expert's full opinion was misrepresented, that's a clear violation; the other half of the docs, ORIGINATING FROM THE SAME SOURCE, were buried.

Most dubious is that an expert was quoted as vouching for the document’s authenticity. But that turned out to be selectively reported. He was presented with a pile of documents. He deemed some of them forged & had reservations about all of them if they were from the same source>>

Here is the thread I did about the forged documents https://twitter.com/hxhassan/status/1189971970722553859 … within it, there are threads by experts like @Charles_Lister. But aside from those detailed takes, I wanted to point out ethical issues that need to be addressed by @nytimes

Important tidbit— Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s brother-in-law tells the story of a doctor of sorts who started recruiting individuals to conduct attacks on behalf of ISIS (not members, just quid pro quo?). The instruction by Baghdadi was to target mukhtars, town elders, in Sunni areas.

By the way, this amount could have been siphoned by the Iraqis and for the dude to accuse a shepherd. It’s possible. The amount is very specific, and it’s hard to know that a shepherd took it.https://twitter.com/rashaalaqeedi/status/1191207632247435265…

DID A SHEPHERD HELP THE UNITED STATES LOCATE/VERIFY BAGHDADI? Some journalist with the connections needs to get the tick-tock for how the US got Baghdadi after the Iraqis did most of the early work. The full story hasn’t been told yet. Don’t tel me about underwear, though.

Speculating here, but the US worked with a local indirectly before the killing of bin Laden. Was the shepherd working with the US? The US did say they extracted 2 individuals who assisted them. I believe the Iraqis’ role ended early on; brother-in-law denied he led to Baghdadi.

That’d be a crazy coincidence. The shepherd said he met the Americans who asked him to take children they found at the compound. He returned to speak to locals, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, after Baghdadi’s death. What was his role, if any?https://twitter.com/hxhassan/status/1188411173638737920?s=21…

Another super intriguing detail is the role of shepherds for ISIS movements (not necessarily knowingly, though). Scroll up. Now, to connect the dots, remember that a shepherd was near the compound where Baghdadi was killed! Coincidence?https://twitter.com/hxhassan/status/1189652034988982273?s=21…

Baghdadi’s brother-in-law says Baghdadi trusted him, told him about where the two top leaders below him were living. The two were nominees to lead the group after Baghdadi. If Baghdadi was going to, say, speak to al-Qaeda or HaD, the Iraqis would have learned that detail.

Baghdadi was squeezed in Anbar, multiple associates of his got killed or captured & ISIS leaders had been in Idlib. Baghdadi told his brother-in-law other leaders were living comfortably in Idlib. Now, for the first time, I see why Baghdadi would relocate to such a hostile area.

Even though who thought Abu Baraa was from Hurras ad-Din still suspected he was an ISIS mole, and that he was using different names to do online propaganda for ISIS.

Another interesting detail is that there was an “Abu Baraa” with Baghdadi early on, not during his last days in Anbar. Someone identified as Abu Baraa was killed with Baghdadi in Idlib. That Abu Baraa was widely reported as a member of Hurras ad-Din.