Media Falls for Apparent Al-Qaida Hoax Message

By Evan Kohlmann

This morning, various media outlets began reporting that Al-Qaida had issued a statement claiming that newly designated Al-Qaida commander in Iraq Abu Hamza al-Muhajir had personally executed two U.S. soldiers kidnapped from a traffic checkpoint in Al-Yousifiya several days ago. That statement gained credibility when the U.S. military found the bodies of the two men, apparently mutilated as described in the online claim. There are two key points that must be made regarding this would-be Al-Qaida document:

1.) It is indeed true that yesterday (June 19) the Al-Qaida umbrella group known as the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC) claimed responsibility for kidnapping the two U.S. soldiers in an authenticated statement released through typical Al-Qaida Internet channels. No other significant insurgent group has issued a similar claim, and the MSC has a fairly consistent track record of only claiming operations it is actually responsible for. Thus, it is almost certain that the two men were taken captive by, or rendered over to the custody of Al-Qaida-linked operatives.
2.) As of 6 p.m. eastern time (U.S.), no credible statement has been issued by either Al-Qaida or the MSC on any authenticated online distribution site regarding the killing of the two U.S. soldiers. The aberrant statement that was posted on the Internet today was *NOT* released by Al-Qaida or its propaganda team, and it must be treated as a hoax until there is some additional corrobative proof.

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