On Tuesday, ABC News posted a story headlined "Al-Qaeda Tape to Call for Use of WMDs." Which would be awfully scary -- if it were true.
"Operatives" from the terrorist group, the network warned, "will post a new video on the Internet in the next 24 hours, calling for what one source said is 'jihadists to use biological, chemical and nuclear weapons to attack the West.' The report then quotes FBI spokesman Richard Kolko, who says that "there have been several reports that al Qaeda will release a new message calling for the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) against civilians."
Or maybe not. The video was actually released on Monday Sunday. And while it is called ''Nuclear Jihad, The Ultimate Terror," it is not from Al-Qaeda -- or any other major terrorist group. Rather, it is "a jihadi supporter video compilation," notes Ben Venzke with IntelCenter -- a flick "made by fans or supporters who may not have ever had any contact with a real terrorist."
These videos almost always are comprised of old video footage that is edited together to make a new video. The material in these types of videos do not qualify as an official message from al-Qaeda or any other group. Considering them so would be the equivalent of considering a 10-year-old's homemade fan video of his favorite sports team to be an official team message.
"The intel community appears to have (once again) fallen victim to poorly researched open source news reporting," writes Evan Kohlmann over at the Counterterrorism Blog.
In recent days, several fringe media organizations have published stories about a video recording posted by anonymous Al-Qaida miscreants on extremist Internet chat forums. The video consisted of a remarkably amateurish mash-up of Discovery Channel documentaries, widely published sermons by radical clerics, and stolen propaganda footage. While it is perhaps true that the video offered subtle encouragement for nuclear attacks on the United States, it featured no original content and could have been clumsily strung together with little more than two VCRs. The video was meandering, boring, and difficult to follow -- and it certainly was not the product of Al-Qaida.
Look, reporters get stories wrong all the time. And ABC, to its credit, has revised its original report... but only slightly. There's a caveat from Venzke buried in the piece. The headline now reads: "Al Qaeda Supporters' Tape to Call for Use of WMDs." The quote from FBI spokesman Kolko remains the same.
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