The return of Project Scarecrow

According to this fascinating squib on Think Progress, as well as this Kos piece by the remarkable Georgia10, ABC News has uncovered a disinformation campaign by the military and/or the Bush administration. The subject is Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the alleged new Al Qaeda leader in Iraq -- Zarqawi's replacement.

According to ABC News, reports that al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri has been killed are “unconfirmed and part of a misinformation campaign.” ABC has not posted its full story yet, and details are unclear, but it’s worth reviewing the last time the media reported major news about al-Masri.

On that occasion, in February, al-Masri was supposedly injured in an attack. The next day, the military admitted that the report was false.

As georgia10 notes, al-Masri's previous "death" occurred in 2006. (Zarqawi, you will recall, had more deaths than a Marvel supervillain.) If I may indulge in a bit of self-quotation, here is what I wrote back in July of 2006:

In his most recent broadcast to the world, Osama Bin Laden proclaimed that Zarqawi's successor in Iraq is one Abu Ayyub al-Masri. The United States concurred, and offered both a bounty and a history:

The military said al-Masri was born and brought up in Egypt. He then went to Afghanistan, where he trained in bomb-making before going to Iraq in 2002.

However, an Egyptian newspaper reports that this fellow has been holed up in a prison in Egypt for the past seven years.

"Sharif Hazaa [al-Muhajir] is in Tura prison, and I met him two days ago while I was visiting some of my clients," Ismail, a lawyer known for defending Islamist groups, told the newspaper.

Sharif Hazaa al-Muhajir is another name used by the same fellow. (Incidentally, "al-Masri" means "the Egyptian.")

As everyone knows, the White House has a screening room, and the President gets to choose the films. It isn't hard to guess what Dubya's viewing habits are like:

"Ah c'mon, George -- don't tell me we're going to watch "Wag the Dog" again?"

"You betcha, Laura. This movie is where I get all my ideas!"