NEO: Baghdadi, Invisible Leader of a Fake Army

by Gordon Duff, VT Sr. Editor,  … with New Eastern Outlook, Moscow, 1816

– First published … November 11, 2019 –

[ Editor’s Note: This is another barnburner from Gordon. Fasten your seatbelts, as this is going to be a more than one read piece, as it was for me before I could do this introduction. One teaser – this is the first time he has ever published that he was assigned at one time to hunt Americans who had gone over to the Viet Cong.

It is longer than usual, but also concise, a necessary skill he developed when writing reports for busy people who wanted you to get out your points quickly, which VT readers are well acquainted with in his writing style. Here is one front end example.

“Governments are controlled to control resources, to manipulate markets through manufactured needs and shortages, through currencies, through militarization, and humanity is little but fodder, tolerated only so long as it serves these efforts.”

There are a lot of Americans who, at first blush, might consider this an unpatriotic statement, and others who say that is not correct. One of the reasons VT has survived is that there are a lot of patriotic people on the inside who like what we do, who feel the public has a right to know, but the insiders are not in a position to do it.

We do it because we can, and business does not look to be slowing down any time soon. “They” will continue to do what they do as long as they can get away with it. That’s how it has always worked and probably always will… Jim W. Dean ]

– First published … November 01, 2019 –

Before we begin, for those who are not intelligence specialists, these axioms must be, if not learned, at least introduced. Behind the curtain exists a Deep State, a world super-government that will minimally influence and in most cases control national governments.

Governments are controlled to control resources, to manipulate markets through manufactured needs and shortages, through currencies, though militarization and humanity is little but fodder, tolerated only so long as it serves these efforts.

If two million are killed in Vietnam or Iraq or Afghanistan, the Deep State only counts its profits.  The dead mean nothing.

Governments are fragile. Elections can be rigged, politicians purchased for a paltry sum and in a world where “everyone has a price,” anyone worth purchasing has been purchased.

Thus, every demonstration can be controlled or “turned” in some way; every government can be destabilized; and today, with the power of corrupt social media monoliths and Google Corporation, a massive psychological war begins not only on nations but individuals, all individuals, who are subject to the most dangerous addiction of all, electronic devices.

After so many years, the most recent setup Middle East wars should be examined with skepticism and those involved assumed to be employees of Western intelligence agencies, faker than fake.

With the dramatic and somewhat manic and incoherent announcement by American President Donald Trump of the killing of “chief head chopper” and “super-villain,” Baghdadi, alleged head of ISIS or ISIL or Daesh, an analyst or intelligence specialist might well drown in skepticism or simply quit from frustration.

There are a thousand reasons why the Baghdadi killing is fake, but top of the list is this one — there are no ISIS fighters, no facilities, no groups friendly to ISIS within hundreds of miles from where he was allegedly chased down by a dog.

Those of us who know how the US works too well, those who had worked on similar projects, are fearful for different reasons. I once spent several weeks hunting Americans in South Vietnam, so very long ago, who had commanded a Viet Cong unit, the Q84 company.

It seems more than a few Americans joined the Viet Cong, not pilots mind you, but “tip of the spear” special operations troops.

Then again, half a century later and that story is forgotten. It may well be classified still; I can wait and find out, I guess.

Then, of course, we will mention the bin Laden story in the most cursory manner. Reported dead on December 3, 2001, by even Fox News, after denying any complicity in the 9/11 terror attacks, he rose from the grave 6 inches shorter and with entirely different facial features.

He had a long career of audio recordings carefully timed to distract audiences from endless American scandals, massive corruption, a badly botched hurricane recovery effort – a story too long to get into now, but fascinating all the same.

Then back to Baghdadi and Trump’s performance, which in itself was a humiliation for Americans – or at least literate and mentally stable Americans, a group that still exists despite efforts by American media to prove otherwise.

The entire idea is absurd according to Major General Igor Konashenkov of Russia’s Defense Ministry who initially reported that the alleged raid was not seen by Russia’s S400 radars, which everyone knows see everything, even the smallest drone a few feet off the ground.

That report was scrubbed by Google and Facebook but exists still on Tass.

“Russia’s defense ministry has no reliable information about an operation by US forces in the Turkey-controlled part of the Idlib de-escalation zone aimed at another extermination of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,” he said.

He said that the fact that the number of those who describe their participation in al-Baghdadi’s extermination and share contradictory details of the operation make one doubt that such an operation ever took place.

“We know nothing about any assistance to the flight of US aircraft to the Idlib de-escalation zone’s airspace in the course of this operation,” Konashenkov said.

Americans and others in the West won’t have this information – Google and Facebook delisted it and any publications that carried this language – but it exists just the same.

Yet another report about the extermination of al-Baghdadi can hardly influence the situation in Syria, Konashenkov said.

“After Islamic State was ultimately defeated by the Syrian government army with support of the Russia aerospace forces in early 2018, yet another ‘death’ of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi will have no impact either on the situation in Syria or on the actions of terrorists staying in Idlib,” he said.

No airstrikes by US forces reported from Syria’s Idlib

No airstrikes by the US air force or by the US-led coalition have been reported from Syria’s Idlib de-escalation zone in recent days, Konashenkov noted.

“No airstrikes by either US air forces of the so-called international coalition have been registered in the Idlib de-escalation zone on Saturday and over the recent days,” Konashenkov said.

Apart from that, the Russian defense ministry said it doubted that al-Baghdadi could be hiding in a territory controlled by Jabhat al-Nusra (outlawed in Russia as a terrorist organization) in Idlib.

“This organization has always unhesitatingly killed Islamic State fighters on the spot as key rivals for power in Syria. Bearing this in mind, the US or other participants in the operation should at least provide direct evidence that the former Islamic State leader had been safely staying on a territory controlled by the ‘Syrian Al Qaeda (also outlawed in Russia),” he added.

You can’t talk about ISIS without taking a cursory look at the White Helmets. According to the Russian government, this organization – an NGO which isn’t an NGO, as it gets its endless millions from NATO – fakes videos of alleged atrocities and has itself killed hundreds, even thousands.

The evidence is overwhelming, and has been presented time and time again – science, video analysis, witness statements and eventually 40 White Helmets themselves who told the world court that they were hired as actors to dupe the media.

It isn’t just the White Helmets. You have the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights or several fake medical groups that report each attack on a terrorist operation center as the “barrel bombing” of an orphanage or hospital.

However, it is necessary that we return to the background. After years of reports of ISIS operating with aid from the US and other nations delisted and censored, the truth has become a rare commodity.

While in Syria, I reviewed statements made by captured ISIS employees in the custody of the Syrian Justice Ministry. Syria was holding these people for a period of time, debriefing them and resettling them with their families, thousands of them, many of whom now serve with the Syrian Arab Army.

Though some were from Syria, others came from Malaysia, Indonesia, China, and the Philippines, even Australia. They were given travel documents and passports that passed high-level scrutiny and were flown to regions close enough to Syria to be trucked in by NGO’s, often fake medical organizations or refugee groups, that, in fact, were run by Western intelligence agencies.

All the while, normal business travelers or tourists with their children would find themselves questioned and turned back if they attempted the same travel routes. This tells you who ISIS really is.

Then I looked at the record of ISIS’ real commanders – military officers from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, one even a Brigadier General from Israel, captured by Shiite militias. I saw his identification papers and those of dozens of other ISIS leaders who still carried military identification from nations in the region. None were named “Baghdadi.”

One was an American Major General, a former head of psychological warfare and later commentator on Fox News who was rescued from Syrian commandos by the US Delta Force, an organization founded by one of VT’s advisory board members.

That raid, on May 15, 2015, was fictionalized in this ABC News report from that period:

“In a ground raid deep in Syrian territory, U.S. special operations forces killed a top ISIS leader who they were attempting to capture and interrogate about American hostages and how the terror group finances its war machine,” the Obama administration said today.

Officials told ABC News that “the large-scale operation that killed ISIS oil and gas ‘minister’ Abu Sayyaf was carried out by the Army’s elite counter-terror unit known as Delta Force under the direction of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).”

The American general, who Russian sources said had planned ISIS military actions against Iraq, was rescued as a force of Syrian commandos and Russian Spetznaz approached.

This was a real military success for the US, one where those involved deserved great credit even though it was done, as is too often the case, to advance the cause of international terrorism.

You see, whoever Baghdadi is or was – and there are two stories, one that he was released from prison by Americans, trained in Jordan, and put in command of ISIS – in a real sense he never existed.

The other story, one with more support, is that he is a British citizen of Jewish heritage named Shimon Elliott, trained in Israel to pass for an Arab, as thousands of Israeli intelligence operatives have over the years, and serves as “fake commander” for an equally fake terror group, ISIS.

Whoever Baghdadi is or was, and reports from Russian sources inside Syria say he is in Iraq under American protection, it is reasonably sane to assume that his persona was fabricated to put a face on an intelligence operation that obviously advanced the cause of Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United States against Russia, Iraq, Syria, and Iran, a simple continuation of the wars begun after 9/11.

To understand why ISIS exists or who created al Qaeda in its many guises, this May 2, 2007 quote from General Wesley Clark, former Chairman of the JCOS and NATO commander under President Clinton will help. The interviewer is Amy Goodman from Democracy Now, General Clark speaking:

“But, you know, history doesn’t repeat itself exactly twice. What I did warn about when I testified in front of Congress in 2002, I said if you want to worry about a state, it shouldn’t be Iraq, it should be Iran. But this government, our administration, wanted to worry about Iraq, not Iran.

“I knew why, because I had been through the Pentagon right after 9/11. About ten days after 9/11, I went through the Pentagon and I saw Secretary Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz. I went downstairs just to say hello to some of the people on the Joint Staff who used to work for me, and one of the generals called me in.

“He said, ‘Sir, you’ve got to come in and talk to me a second.’ I said, ‘Well, you’re too busy.’ He said, ‘No, no.” He says, ‘We’ve made the decision we’re going to war with Iraq.” This was on or about the 20th of September.

“I said, ‘We’re going to war with Iraq? Why?’ He said, ‘I don’t know.’ He said, ‘I guess they don’t know what else to do.’ So, I said, ‘Well, did they find some information connecting Saddam to al-Qaeda?’ He said, ‘No, no.’ He says, ‘There’s nothing new that way. They just made the decision to go to war with Iraq.’

“He said, ‘I guess it’s like we don’t know what to do about terrorists, but we’ve got a good military and we can take down governments.’ And he said, ‘I guess if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem has to look like a nail.’

“So, I came back to see him a few weeks later, and by that time we were bombing in Afghanistan. I said, ‘Are we still going to war with Iraq?’ And he said, ‘Oh, it’s worse than that.’ He reached over on his desk. He picked up a piece of paper. And he said, ‘I just got this down from upstairs’ — meaning the Secretary of Defense’s office — ‘today.’

“And he said, ‘This is a memo that describes how we’re going to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran.’ I said, ‘Is it classified?’ He said, ‘Yes, sir.’ I said, ‘Well, don’t show it to me.’ And I saw him a year or so ago, and I said, ‘You remember that?’ He said, ‘Sir, I didn’t show you that memo! I didn’t show it to you!’”

Without this statement from General Clark, to an extent a man who had outlived his time, it would be impossible to put a perspective on today’s events.

Did America create ISIS and al Qaeda? The probability of a “yes” for that would be 100%. Can history be used as proof? If not, then proof of every kind exists; and control of the internet, buying the media, filling it with paid “operatives” and silencing truthtellers has not been enough.

Why did Baghdadi have to die, a real or imaginary Baghdadi who died a real or imaginary death? The issue is always timing.

Look at the most recent death of Osama bin Laden and note, Baghdadi has died several times before, once in an Israeli hospital in 2015 according to media reports.

With bin Laden, who sources say died in 2001, a daring operation in Pakistan, by operatives who mysteriously died in a helicopter crash soon after, the timing was even more curious.

CIA Director Leon Panetta was retiring and that operation was the last of his career. He was being replaced by General Petraeus and, according to sources, it was necessary to “kill off” the endless number of fake bin Ladens so that Petraeus, a potential presidential candidate for the opposition party, would never be able to take credit.

We are reminded of SEAL Team 6, credited with the bin Laden raid, from the statement made by President Obama on their fate:

“Their deaths are a reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices made by the men and women of our military and their families, including all who have served in Afghanistan,’’ President Obama said Saturday. “We will draw inspiration from their lives and continue the work of securing our country and standing up for the values that they embodied.”

Of recent events, Jeffrey Epstein killing himself in prison, Baghdadi being hunted down somewhere he could never be by people flying invisible planes coordinated with governments that say it never happened, we could go on forever.

All the while, the plan of conquest Wesley Clark read on that piece of paper so many years ago, plans made by absurd people serving an invisible master, has since become ingrained in history.

About Author:  Gordon Duff is a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War that has worked on veterans and POW issues for decades and consulted with governments challenged by security issues. He’s a senior editor and chairman of the board of VT, especially for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.”

Gordon Duff

Gordon Duff posted articles on VT from 2008 to 2022. He is a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War. A disabled veteran, he worked on veterans and POW issues for decades.

Gordon is an accredited diplomat and is generally accepted as one of the top global intelligence specialists. He manages the world’s largest private intelligence organization and regularly consults with governments challenged by security issues.

Duff has traveled extensively, is published around the world, and is a regular guest on TV and radio in more than “several” countries. He is also a trained chef, wine enthusiast, avid motorcyclist, and gunsmith specializing in historical weapons and restoration. Business experience and interests are in energy and defense technology.

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