KevinNYC
09-11-2014, 11:59 PM
This was posted in another thread.
http://www.tpnn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ISIS-McCain-ad.jpg
Yes, the photo is real. However is it really true that he is posing with ISIS?
So when you search Google for this image. You'll find tons of website saying this is photo of McCain posing with ISIS.
However, what you don't find is firsthand news accounts saying John McCain posed with ISIS in 2013. Weird point #1
What you do find is pages like this saying ISIS released this photo.
http://weaselzippers.us/190509-whoops-isis-posts-photo-online-of-their-members-hanging-out-w-john-mccain-in-syria/
This 2013 photograph of John McCain is being circulated by members of ISIS as a photo of him with members of some of their members in Syria.
I follow a few people on twitter whose job is to monitor jihadi social media and I don't remember them mentioning anything about this. Weird point #2
Of the people who are identifiable in the photo is the guy with mustache. He was one the leaders of the Free Syrian Army. The guy in the scarf is the one who arranged the trip, he from the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF) which is an lobbying group for the FSA/other rebels. So this is FSA not ISIS.
So it's not true that McCain posed with ISIS. The news reports from the time make it quite clear that people are lying about this photo. (http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/05/29/White-House-was-aware-of-McCain-s-trip-to-Syria-in-advance.html)
Other folks are claiming that the guy with beard on the left was in FSA and left to join ISIS
They are claiming he was this guy who in a Vice documentary whose name is Abu Mosa (or Moussa)
http://cdn.thewire.com/media/img/upload/wire/2014/08/22/Screen_Shot_2014_08_22_at_11.49.30_AM/lead_large.png
http://reseauinternational.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Christian-village-of-al-Duvair.jpg
They do look the same. Though the guy in the FSA photo looks older.
Here's the thing though, Abu Mosa is dead. ISIS says he was killed during the recent capture of an airbase in Syria. None of the stories mentioning his death, mention he was in FSA. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2730929/ISIS-press-officer-said-jihadists-raise-flag-Allah-White-House-reported-dead-Syria-airstrike.html) Wierd point 1a.
I haven't watched the Vice documentary, but is there any evidence that Abu Mosa was in FSA? Further more, any evidence he's the guy in the McCain photo?
ISIS is very good at propaganda. I think they would have put out a lot of info if their press officer was once in FSA. Especially if they could point to photos of him with FSA leaders or American senators.
This seems very doubtful.
Then I saw this story in the Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/12/world/middleeast/try-as-he-may-john-mccain-cant-shake-falsehoods-about-ties-to-isis.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0) tonight. Apparently some folks are taking the ISIS thing even further
[QUOTE]Senator John McCain was one of the earliest advocates of American military action against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. [B]So it has been vexing for Mr. McCain to be battling persistent
http://www.tpnn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ISIS-McCain-ad.jpg
Yes, the photo is real. However is it really true that he is posing with ISIS?
So when you search Google for this image. You'll find tons of website saying this is photo of McCain posing with ISIS.
However, what you don't find is firsthand news accounts saying John McCain posed with ISIS in 2013. Weird point #1
What you do find is pages like this saying ISIS released this photo.
http://weaselzippers.us/190509-whoops-isis-posts-photo-online-of-their-members-hanging-out-w-john-mccain-in-syria/
This 2013 photograph of John McCain is being circulated by members of ISIS as a photo of him with members of some of their members in Syria.
I follow a few people on twitter whose job is to monitor jihadi social media and I don't remember them mentioning anything about this. Weird point #2
Of the people who are identifiable in the photo is the guy with mustache. He was one the leaders of the Free Syrian Army. The guy in the scarf is the one who arranged the trip, he from the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF) which is an lobbying group for the FSA/other rebels. So this is FSA not ISIS.
So it's not true that McCain posed with ISIS. The news reports from the time make it quite clear that people are lying about this photo. (http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/05/29/White-House-was-aware-of-McCain-s-trip-to-Syria-in-advance.html)
Other folks are claiming that the guy with beard on the left was in FSA and left to join ISIS
They are claiming he was this guy who in a Vice documentary whose name is Abu Mosa (or Moussa)
http://cdn.thewire.com/media/img/upload/wire/2014/08/22/Screen_Shot_2014_08_22_at_11.49.30_AM/lead_large.png
http://reseauinternational.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Christian-village-of-al-Duvair.jpg
They do look the same. Though the guy in the FSA photo looks older.
Here's the thing though, Abu Mosa is dead. ISIS says he was killed during the recent capture of an airbase in Syria. None of the stories mentioning his death, mention he was in FSA. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2730929/ISIS-press-officer-said-jihadists-raise-flag-Allah-White-House-reported-dead-Syria-airstrike.html) Wierd point 1a.
I haven't watched the Vice documentary, but is there any evidence that Abu Mosa was in FSA? Further more, any evidence he's the guy in the McCain photo?
ISIS is very good at propaganda. I think they would have put out a lot of info if their press officer was once in FSA. Especially if they could point to photos of him with FSA leaders or American senators.
This seems very doubtful.
Then I saw this story in the Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/12/world/middleeast/try-as-he-may-john-mccain-cant-shake-falsehoods-about-ties-to-isis.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0) tonight. Apparently some folks are taking the ISIS thing even further
[QUOTE]Senator John McCain was one of the earliest advocates of American military action against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. [B]So it has been vexing for Mr. McCain to be battling persistent