Foreign Affairs

Update: I wrote this post before a Defense Intelligence Agency document was leaked showing that a “Salafist Principality” (ie, an Islamic State) on the border of Syria and Iraq is “exactly what we want” as an excuse to unseat Assad. This at least validates the fact that the West’s interest in Syria is to oust Assad not stem the tide of terrorism. I go one step further, however, and argue that this leak was a limited hangout the purpose of which was to counter rumors that we didn’t just allow the Islamic State to emerge, we created it! The links below support my argument.
Original Post: Here is a quick and dirty list of some articles I came across that cast doubt on the official narrative concerning ISIS. Many of these sources are not US mainstream media. If you are skeptical of any source that is not US MSM, I ask only this: never dismiss, always refute. That is, if you don’t want to believe it because you don’t know the source, that’s fine, but don’t just dismiss it, actually look at the story and evaluate the evidence and argue why it’s not convincing. Similarly, when faced with stories from the US MSM, don’t just accept them or give them the benefit of the doubt, evaluate them critically, look at the evidence and likewise argue why it is convincing. It takes a little extra time, but very quickly you will hone some serious “truth-dar” and you will be able to cull the plausible from the implausible in no time at all.
Here’s an opportunity to take this approach out for a spin. I haven’t gone over these articles with a fine-tooth comb, so maybe you can help me sort them out and separate the plausible from the implausible, and at the same time discover your inner truthdar! (I hope it goes without saying that I don’t have a position on these sites’ general conclusions on anything, I’m just interested in these specific reports, and even more narrowly, whether their facts warrant further investigation or not.)
Picture of John McCain with “the Caliph” Al Bagdhadi

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Update: I wrote this post before a Defense Intelligence Agency document was leaked showing that a “Salafist Principality” (ie, an Islamic State) on the border of Syria and Iraq is “exactly what we want” as an excuse to unseat Assad. This at least validates the fact that the West’s interest in Syria is to oust Assad not stem the tide of terrorism. I go one step further, however, and argue that this leak was a limited hangout the purpose of which was to counter rumors that we didn’t just allow the Islamic State to emerge, we created it! The links below support my argument.

Original Post: Here is a quick and dirty list of some articles I came across that cast doubt on the official narrative concerning ISIS. Many of these sources are not US mainstream media. If you are skeptical of any source that is not US MSM, I ask only this: never dismiss, always refute. That is, if you don’t want to believe it because you don’t know the source, that’s fine, but don’t just dismiss it, actually look at the story and evaluate the evidence and argue why it’s not convincing. Similarly, when faced with stories from the US MSM, don’t just accept them or give them the benefit of the doubt, evaluate them critically, look at the evidence and likewise argue why it is convincing. It takes a little extra time, but very quickly you will hone some serious “truth-dar” and you will be able to cull the plausible from the implausible in no time at all.

Here’s an opportunity to take this approach out for a spin. I haven’t gone over these articles with a fine-tooth comb, so maybe you can help me sort them out and separate the plausible from the implausible, and at the same time discover your inner truthdar! (I hope it goes without saying that I don’t have a position on these sites’ general conclusions on anything, I’m just interested in these specific reports, and even more narrowly, whether their facts warrant further investigation or not.)

Picture of John McCain with “the Caliph” Al Bagdhadi

Read more