U.S. State Department Attacks Muhammad Abu Nasr

The article below is a statement published on the
website of the US Department of State about the Iraqi
Resistance Report which is issued by Muhammad Abu
Nasr, member of the editorial board of the Free Arab
Voice. The Iraqi Resistance Report, which has been
coming out in English for more than a year and a half
now, appears to cause the State Department so much
vexation that they have felt obliged to write up this
official refutation to cast doubt on everything
contained in that newsletter, and in addition to cast
doubt on its sources – such as the Islammemo.cc
“Mafkarat al-Islam” website – and on those who
distribute the Resistance Report – such as the website
Jihad Unspun.

Not content with that, the US Department of State
accuses Muhammad Abu Nasr of being a Communist who
adopts an Arab Nationalist orientation and does not
hesitate to cooperate with Islamists or others in the
great confrontation with American imperialism and
Zionism. The State Department cites Muhammad Abu
Nasr’s translation of a speech delivered in Moscow in
1935 by Syrian Communist Khalid Bakdash, calling on
Arab Communists to adopt the line of forming a popular
front to attain Arab unity – a position that Bakdash
and Arab Communist Parties later abandoned. Muhammad
Abu Nasr’s translation of that speech along with other
materials appears on the website of the Free Arab
Voice (www.freearabvoice.org).

The US Department of State officially accuses Muhammad
Abu Nasr of spreading “disinformation” about the
practices and losses suffered by the US occupation in
Iraq. The State Department is particularly bothered
by the idea of bringing together an Arab popular front
to resist the American-Zionist assault! But what does
the US State Department itself do other than spread
disinformation, lies, and deception? Their brazen
assault on the Iraqi Resistance Report by Muhammad Abu
Nasr and his team shows how effectively that regular
Report is breaking through the information blockade
imposed by the international media on the Iraqi
Resistance struggle, particularly since the Iraqi
Resistance Report comes out in English and reaches the
American people themselves, the families and friends
of the US soldiers sent by the American government to
occupy Iraq.

This attack shows how extremely important is the work
of everyone who helps compile, issue, and distribute
the Iraqi Resistance Report that the militant writer
Muhammad Abu Nasr supervises. Their work strikes the
invaders like the very bullets and bombs that target
the occupation forces in the defiant land of Iraq.

The language of resistance serves to complement armed
resistance. The American Department of State would
not have singled out Muhammad and the Iraqi Resistance
Report for this attack – which we regard as a mark of
honor – but for its effectiveness over the last year
and a half in countering the American propaganda
barrage and breaking down the information blockade on
the Iraqi Resistance struggle.

We must all work to break down that information
blockade. We must distribute the Iraqi Resistance
Report as widely as possible. Whoever does not now
receive the Resistance Report or access it on friendly
websites can always find it on the al-Basrah website
(www.albasrah.net) and the Free Arab Voice.

Meanwhile, we wish to inform the US State Department
and its supporters that this attack will only increase
our resolve and determination. Attacking Muhammad Abu
Nasr will not benefit them in the slightest, nor will
it do anything to brighten their public image. With
even greater zeal we will strive to expose the crimes
committed by the US occupation of Iraq and disclose
the losses it suffers and the costs – human and
material – that it inflicts. Muhammad Abu Nasr does
not stand alone. Behind him are brothers and sisters
who have learned from him how to write the Iraqi
Resistance Report not only in English but is several
other languages besides.


Ibrahim Alloush, editor-in-chief, Free Arab Voice.


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http://usinfo.state.gov/media/Archiv...08-205989.html
A Trio of Disinformers: Islam Memo, Muhammad Abu Nasr,
and Jihad Unspun

Obscure Web sites play major role in disinformation

A trio of obscure Web sites and individuals has
combined to spread deliberate disinformation,
particularly about U.S. actions in Iraq. The entities
involved are Islam Memo (Islammemo.cc), Muhammad Abu
Nasr, and Jihad Unspun (jihadunspun.net).

Most of the disinformation appears to originate with
Islam Memo, which is a pro-al Qaeda, pro-Iraqi
insurgency, Arabic-language Web site based in Saudi
Arabia.

Muhammad Abu Nasr, co-editor of the Free Arab Voice
Web site (freearabvoice.org), translates material from
Islam Memo into English and posts it as "Iraqi
Resistance Reports" on his Web site.

Jihad Unspun publishes selected articles by Muhammad
Abu Nasr, giving them a broader audience.

This trio of Web sites and individuals has attempted
to launch many disinformation stories. Most have
fizzled out without any great impact, but some have
spread more widely.

Islam Memo

Islam Memo, or Mafkarat al-Islam, is perhaps the most
unreliable source of "news" about Iraq on the
Internet. For example, on March 27, 2005, Islam Memo
"news items" translated into English by Muhammad Abu
Nasr claimed that more than 88 U.S. soldiers had been
killed that day. In reality, none had been killed.
Such disinformation fabrications are typical of Islam
Memo. In the ten-day period from March 20 to March 29,
2005, they claimed that more than 334 U.S. troops had
been killed. The real number was eight.

Muhammad Abu Nasr

As mentioned earlier, Muhammad Abu Nasr, co-editor of
the Free Arab Voice Web site, translates Islam Memo
reports into English. The contents of his Web site
make it clear that Muhammad Abu Nasr is a communist.
For example, he includes on the Web site an obscure
1935 speech by Khaled Bakdash, the former head of the
Syrian Communist Party, because he believes it has
important "contemporary implications."

The speech deals with "popular front" tactics — ways
in which communists in the 1930s tried to use popular
national causes to advance the victory of communism.
For example, Muhammad Abu Nasr approvingly quotes
Bakdash's advocacy of working with "revolutionary
nationalists ... even when they claimed to be Nazi or
fascist."

Applying this logic to today's world, Muhammad Abu
Nasr champions Arab nationalist, anti-American and
anti-Israeli sentiments apparently because he believes
that a broad-based "popular front" based on such
causes will hasten the victory of communism in the
Arab world.

Muhammad Abu Nasr faithfully translates the Islam
Memo's many phony "news items" into English every day
and posts them as "Iraqi Resistance Reports" on his
Web site. They are also posted on other Web sites,
including Jihad Unspun.

Jihad Unspun

Jihad Unspun is owned and published by a Canadian
woman who converted to Islam in the wake of the
September 11 attacks.

Jihad Unspun has a track record of spreading very
unreliable allegations. For example, on November 22,
2004, it reported that a November 21 attack on a U.S.
base in Balad, Iraq had killed 270 U.S. troops. In
reality, no U.S. troops were killed that day.

Jihad Unspun has often cited Islam Memo reports,
praising their "accuracy." On December 19, 2004, Jihad
Unspun JUS wrote, "from shortly after the time of
our inception almost three years ago, JUS has carried
many reports from the news agency Mafkarat al-Islam
(Islam Memo). We have done this as we have come to
have a great deal of respect for the accuracy of their
reporting."

Two months later, Jihad Unspun revealed some
reservations about the accuracy of Islam Memo reports.
On February 23, 2005, Jihad Unspun posted the contents
of a letter it had written to Islam Memo, which
stated, "we are well aware that there is now a ‘family
feud' brewing and that Mafkarat al-Islam is currently
under attack by many Arab news and Mujahideen sites.
... the voices of your critics are becoming louder, as
is the strength of the case they are making against
your reporting."

Jihad Unspun went on to publicly ask Islam Memo
several pointed questions, including, "why are the
number of American casualties reported by Mujahideen
groups to other news sites far more modest than the
numbers reported by Mafkarat al-Islam?"

It is not clear whether Islam Memo responded to Jihad
Unspun, but Jihad Unspun apparently overcame its
reservations about the accuracy of Islam Memo's
reports. On March 28, 2005, it published an Iraqi
Resistance Report based on Islam Memo reporting, which
falsely claimed that more than 88 U.S. soldiers had
been killed on March 27. As noted above, the real
number was zero.

Disinformation Successes

While most disinformation fabrications by Islam Memo
do not receive much media attention, some have.

As explained in another article in this Web
collection, Islam Memo, Muhammad Abu Nasr, and Jihad
Unspun combined to spread the false story that U.S.
forces had used mustard gas in Fallujah, Iraq. This
disinformation was subsequently repeated by Cuba's
official news agency Prensa Latina and Venezuelan
president Hugo Chavez.

In another example of successful disinformation, on
December 18, 2004, Muhammad Abu Nasr posted an Islam
Memo report that claimed an attack against Abu Ghraib
prison had been sparked by a letter from a female
inmate named Fatima. In the letter, which seems
undoubtedly to be a fabrication, Fatima claims to have
been raped repeatedly, along with 13 other girls.

The charges in the letter are totally groundless and
Fatima herself appears to have never existed. Only six
females were held temporarily at Abu Ghraib prison at
various times from July to mid-December 2004, two of
them for treatment in the medical facility. None of
them were held for more than 10 days and none were
sexually assaulted.

Despite the fact that the claims in "Fatima's letter"
are baseless, the sensationalistic, outrageous nature
of the charges ensured that the letter was widely
reposted on Internet sites and circulated by e-mail.
Jihad Unspun posted it on December 24, 2004.

On January 7, 2005, Islam Memo claimed that Fatima had
been killed in an attack that day on Abu Ghraib
prison. Conveniently, this meant that she could not be
questioned about the letter she had supposedly
written. But, there was no attack on Abu Ghraib prison
on January 7, just as Fatima herself did not exist.