The myth of ISIS

I've called it the great political mystery of our time: Who created ISIS? How did it come to be? A couple of new reports indicate that a genuine mystery is becoming a myth.

Example. 

The former employee at US National Security Agency (NSA), Edward Snowden, has revealed that the British and American intelligence and the Mossad worked together to create the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Snowden said intelligence services of three countries created a terrorist organisation that is able to attract all extremists of the world to one place, using a strategy called “the hornet’s nest”. NSA documents refer to recent implementation of the hornet’s nest to protect the Zionist entity by creating religious and Islamic slogans.

According to documents released by Snowden, “The only solution for the protection of the Jewish state “is to create an enemy near its borders”. Leaks revealed that ISIS leader and cleric Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi took intensive military training for a whole year in the hands of Mossad, besides courses in theology and the art of speech.

The problems with this story should be obvious. There is simply no evidence for any of it.

Other Snowden documents were actually Powerpoint presentations about the NSA's data collection capabilities. Those presentations don't talk about Israel's relations with its neighbors.

If this information comes from a Snowden document, why hasn't Greenwald (or Snowden himself) mentioned it? Why can't we see the actual document, as we have seen others? Who or what is the source for this story? Who wrote the words quoted above?

As near as I can tell, this tale first appeared in Global Research, which credits the story to Gulf Daily News, the "Voice of Bahrain." Previous Snowden stories have been broken by The Intercept (Greenwald's new venture), The Washington Post, and The Guardian. Why would this one first appear in a journal in Bahrain? The very idea is silly.

Moreover, there is no hint of this important story anywhere to be found on the actual Gulf Daily News website.

It appears that the Gulf Daily News is being framed -- crudely. I'm not sure who the culprit is, but it may be worthwhile to note that a "white power" website has pushed this tale.

Shame on Global Research for not looking into the origin of such an obviously suspicious claim.

A similar incident. Global Research also published this piece from the FARS News Agency which -- again -- attempts to link the leader of ISIS/ISIL with the CIA. At least in this case, the sourcing is clearer: FARS is the Iranian news agency -- and their source appears to be a Russian "expert in oriental studies" named Vyacheslav Matuzov.

“All facts show that Al-Baqdadi is in contact with the CIA and during all the years that he was in prison (2004-2009) he has been collaborating with the CIA,” Matuzov told Voice of Russia radio on Tuesday.

He noted that the US does not need to use drones against ISIL because it can easily have access to the ISIL leaders, adding that since the terrorist commanders are the US allies, Washington would never combat them as they are staging the US plans.

No proof here. No argument of any kind. All we have is assertion and rhetoric.

But at least we have a real person in back of it all. Yes, Virginia, there is a Vyacheslav Matuzov; he's an RT regular, listed as the "Executive Chairman of the Russian Friendship Society with Arab Countries." This group seems to be an outgrowth of the "friendship societies" that were promulgated throughout the world by the old Soviet Union. Thus, it is fair to presume that Matuzov is a government employee and that his viewpoint reflects that of the Putin government.

So: Does Russian intelligence know something we mere mortals do not about Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi? Or are we dealing with more myth-making?

I've thought from the beginning that there is something puzzling and discomforting about the leader of ISIS and his rapid rise to power. But we need evidence -- new facts to lay out on the dissection table. We do not need wild propaganda and surmise masquerading as inside dope.