Understanding the Origin of The Muhammed Movie Narrative and How it was used…
On September 11th 2011 a protest took place outside the U.S. embassy in Cairo, Egypt. The protest was organized by Mohammed Al Zawahiri (brother of al-Qaeda’s top leader Ayman Al Zawahiri – Afghanistan) calling for the release of Omar Abdel-Rahman (The Blind Sheik) from prison in Gitmo.
This was not unexpected, not at all. Actually as far back as May 2011 we first outlined the Egyptian demand for his release:
CAIRO (Reuters 4/12/2011) – Hundreds of supporters of a radical Muslim Egyptian cleric called on the United States to release him in a rare public demonstration by Islamists who have become more vocal since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted.
About 400 protesters, most of whom said they belonged to the militant al-Gama’a al-Islamiya group, gathered near the heavily fortified U.S. embassy in downtown Cairo to demand freedom for their spiritual leader Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman. (article) *Note this is 2011
(ViaIPT) [May 2011] The Egyptian government reportedly has asked the United States to release the Blind Sheikh, Omar Abdel-Rahman, and send him back to Egypt, according to the Open Source Center, a government clearinghouse of publicly available foreign intelligence. Abdel-Rahman is the former spiritual leader of the Egyptian terrorist organization, Gama’a al-Islamiyya. He is considered the spiritual inspiration behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and is serving a life sentence in connection with a subsequent plot to bomb New York landmarks and tunnels.
But his continued imprisonment could spur anger in Egypt and other Islamic states, said his son, Abdallah Abdel-Rahman. Keeping his father in custody would show that the United States did not seek to combat terrorism, but rather sought war on Islam. He asked Egyptian officials to make a similar request, and an official at the Egyptian Ministry of Justice indicated that had been done. The official recommended Abdallah Abdel-Rahman make his own request to the U.S. government for his father’s repatriation since the two countries have no joint agreement for the exchange of prisoners.
Last month, [April 2011] hundreds of Gama’a members protested near the U.S. embassy in Cairo demanding Abdel-Rahman’s release. (Last Year Story)
So you can see the Sept 2012 protest was not the first, there was a previous protest organized by the Sheik’s son in April 2011. For this newer protest both his son, Abdallah Abdel-Rahman, and the newly released from prison Mohammed Al Zawahiri, coordinated the event. They even covered the event on CNN with Nick Robertson (but oddly CNN never aired the report to U.S. audiences).
So how did the Cairo Embassy get the “intention” of the protest wrong and blame it on an insignificant U-Tube video? Well that answer gets a bit complex….
For that answer you must understand what the State Dept knew and how they knew it, and what other elements entered the picture. Only then can you understand how they shared it, and how it became a useful cover, or obfuscation, for the events that followed in Benghazi, Libya.
The State Department in Cairo was unaware of the existence of the Prophet Mohammed movie prior to September 9th:
Sherief Farid is an Islamic hardline Salafist who operates a small media TV network in Egypt, Al Faroq. Al Faroq, which is based in Egypt, is not an official al Qaeda media outlet, but it clearly espouses al Qaeda’s ideology and frequently trumpets the terrorist organization’s message. Al Qaeda has also used clips from Al Faroq’s productions in its own official videos.
Sherief Farid appears to be the origin of the first inquiry to the State Department of the unknown and insignificant U-Tube movie. But at this moment, Sept 9th, the State Dept knows nothing about it.
Now to understand where the legs come from consider this sourcing: […]
[W]hen the Obama team took control [of the White House] Hillary took charge, performing information management duties in its execution of American Interests abroad…
The administration implemented Social Media under the operational control of Public Affairs. This consisted of using each embassy/consulate as an Internet focal point to enlist local nationals from the host country as friends, using Face Book and other media such as Twitter, or whatever the popular alternative was within that country or region.
The Administration utilized Twitter to mobilize its voters in 2008, again in 2010, and transferred the campaigns direct operation control operators into the DoS Public Affairs leadership. They have stood up a major operation using a building adjacent to Main State in DC and it is from there that global operations are contemplated, then farmed out to the local offices. […]
The crux of Public Affairs operations is that they can do several things, one of which is to FLASH information to subscribers, another to alert Americans in country, and they can stir the pot which is the ultimate goal of PA ops, e.g., influence local opinion.
The US Department of State FLASHED to the Islamic world the VIDEO INSULT and this is where the story grew legs.
Anyone investigating this Administration (Incident) needs to start right across the street from Main State and get those files and the list of people who worked in Public Affairs in both DC and within the consulates/embassies. This will expose the ugly truth. (source)
On the morning of 9/11/12 the Muhammed Al Zawahiri protest for the release of the Blind Sheikh was joined with other elements of al-Qaeda, elements that Al Zawahiri is ideologically in alignment with:
(longwarjournal) Several al Qaeda-linked jihadists helped incite the protest outside the US embassy in Cairo on Sept. 11. The jihadists include senior members of Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ), a group that merged with al Qaeda, and a senior Gamaa Islamiyya (IG) leader who has longstanding ties to al Qaeda’s senior leadership.
The Al Faroq video of the Sept. 11 US embassy protest in Cairo was first obtained and translated by SITE Intelligence Group.
The Al Faroq video attempts to brand the protest as an al Qaeda event. And indeed pro-al Qaeda sentiment was rampant. Flags commonly used by al Qaeda in Iraq are shown throughout the al Faroq video. The protesters chanted, “Obama, Obama! We are all Osama!” And the Al Faroq video splices together footage of al Qaeda’s senior leaders with clips of the senior al Qaeda-allied jihadists at the embassy protest.
Osama bin Laden is heavily featured. Specifically, Al Faroq shows a clip from the deceased terror master’s March 2008 message concerning cartoons that insulted the Prophet Mohammed. “In closing, I tell you: if there is no check on the freedom of your words, then let your hearts be open to the freedom of our actions,” bin Laden threatened, according to SITE’s translation.
The [production] video ties bin Laden to two men who took part in the embassy protest: Mohammed al Zawahiri, who is the brother of al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri, and Sheikh Tawfiq al ‘Afani, an EIJ leader who does not hide his pro-bin Laden views.
Mohammed al Zawahiri is shown at the embassy rally during the Al Faroq video. In fact, Mohammed al Zawahiri admittedly helped stage the Cairo protest.
“We called for the peaceful protest joined by different Islamic factions including the [Egyptian] Islamic Jihad (and the) Hazem Abu Ismael movement,” Zawahiri has explained, according to CNN.
During his appearance in the video, according to SITE’s translation, Mohammed al Zawahiri calls for the makers of the film “Innocence of Muslims” to be prosecuted and “demand(s) the questioning of all of those and to stop that film that is calling for trouble.”
Mohammed al Zawahiri has been coy about his al Qaeda ties. For instance, during an interview on Egyptian television earlier this month he tried to distance himself from the al Qaeda organization, while admitting that he adheres to the group’s ideology.
“I do not belong to al Qaeda or any other organization, but ideologically speaking, I am in agreement with all these organizations,” Zawahiri said, according to a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). “Our common denominator is the Islamic sharia,” Zawahiri continued, reiterating that he agrees with al Qaeda’s “ideology, but I’m not involved in its activity.” (report continues)
Apparently this solves what has been a considerable puzzle to figure out.
The U.S. embassy in Cairo, Egypt received and inquiry about a Prophet Mohammed movie from a local salafist, Sherief Farid, who enjoys stirring emotion on his television media outlet with sympathetic al-Qaeda ties.
The embassy then forwards the inquiry through its public inquiry office to the broader State Dept network. Of course given the upcoming anniversary date of 9/11 some additional emphasis was placed on anything that could be adverse to U.S. interests and nationals in country.
Then the same Cairo embassy who presented the initial information comes under direct protest, albeit initially for a totally divergent and unattached reason, but now accompanying al-Qaeda linked protesters with intense emotion based on the Sherief Farid produced, TV Station Al Faroq, stories.
In response to the al-Qaeda element now attached to the protest, the embassy sends a series of “tweets” and messaging, what will become known as “apologies”, during the protest, referencing the movie.
Even though the movie per se’ was not the origination of the protest, the protest became an opportunity for the al-Qaeda elements to engage animosity with the gathered crowd around a muhammed video.
The larger State Dept Public Relations and Public Affairs network then Flashes the Movie message to all interests as FYI’s because the al-Qaeda operatives were driving the anger.
When media reports pick up on the embassy protest turning violent (8am DC – 2pm Cairo), and the flag of al-Qaeda being raised atop the embassy, western media dots were connected; driven by state dept messaging.
However, the al-Qaeda co-opting of the protest became useful obfuscation when the Benghazi, Libya attack became known (3:40pm DC time – 9:40pm Benghazi)….. A factually flawed connection between the Cairo protest and the Benghazi attack was picked up by all intelligence except those directly in contact with the Benghazi Consulate.
To the broader intelligence agencies, their officers, and the State Dept alert recipients, they had information of the earlier Cairo protest, including cause, and now “real-time” information about the unfolding Benghazi attack.
Those “outside of the direct national security communication network with the consulate compound” were only seeing/hearing the periphery issues. Protest turned violent at Cairo Embassy, and now Benghazi consulate under attack.
That crew, on the periphery, is probably who told the White House what was going on. Remember, this is a PT president, and a VERY lazy administration. Hence, golf and fundraising will not impede a security breach over some silly u-tube movie.
By the time the Grownups got hold of the White House team, and told them to wake the fuck up, this is SERIOUS, it was too late; they had already diminished the importance of the event in Benghazi around a movie. So they had to double down on STUPID.
It is not a grand White House conspiracy. It is just a reflection of the lack of professionalism currently in the administration, and the sheer ineptitude of the people in direct authority and in direct control.
Of course they are not going to send a Marine Contingent in to stave off a movie protest in Benghazi. I mean, the Cairo crew dealt with it without military intervention… The White House and crisis team did not grasp the depth of the entire event until it was too late.
And FOUR Americans were dead.
It is their ineptitude they are trying to cover for. Nothing more – and nothing less.
Updated for Clarity – – Please don’t get the explanation of how the movie narrative was “spawned” confused with how the movie narrative was “used”. Two distinctly different issues. The spawning of the movie narrative and its attachment to Benghazi was caused by ineptitude.
What they did with it after the facts were known was intentional.
The Egypt Embassy, and why the narrative was wrong, is a different issue from the Benghazi, Libya attack and why the event took place. My attempt here is merely to explain how the “movie” worked it’s way into the discussion; How it showed up on the radar, and how that opportunity to use it occured.
What the administration did with it, as in – used it as a cover story for Benghazi, Libya, and the insufferable CIA/State Dept weapons fiasco, is an entirely different issue.
