ISIS’ quick rise to prominence in 2014, combined with its real-world battlefield accomplishments in Iraq and Syria was stunning to everyone.
Naturally, when a non-state actor few people even heard of capture so much territory and rout a U.S.-trained and equipped Iraqi Army, a few eyebrows are going to raise. After more than a year, more atrocities, destroyed wonders, and little progress in their defeat, rumors are going to start flying about how such a feat is possible. From where does ISIS get its funding and equipment? How is it possible the most powerful military force can’t seem to ice one ISIS leader? Why did the Iraqis drop their guns so fast?
A lot of questions with few real answers will cause some people to create those answers, even if there is little evidence of it. As long as there’s no evidence against it, people will always twist facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts. Here are some of the most twisted theories about ISIS.
1. Hillary Clinton admitted Americans created and support ISIS
There’s an internet rumor going around that Hillary Clinton’s most recent book, Hard Choices, contains a passage where Clinton admits the United States decided to support and create ISIS, “as part of a plan to support the Muslim Brotherhood and establish U.S.friendly governments.”
This was recently repeated by Egyptian Culture Minister Gaber Asfour on Egyptian television. It has also been repeated in Jordan, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Territory.
In this story, the U.S. wanted to invade Egypt to prevent the ouster of Mohammed Morsi, who was a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, but the plan was thwarted by crack Egyptian military units.
This theory does prove that Arabs and Republicans have an equal distaste for Hillary Clinton.
2. Edward Snowden’s leaked documents show an American plan to create ISIS
This theory claims Edward Snowden’s stolen cache of documents from NSA computers includes plans to establish the Islamic terror organization. According to Iranian state television, Operation Hornet’s Nest was supposedly designed to justify yet another American intervention in the Middle East.
The U.S., with the UK, Canada, Israel, and Sunni kingdoms Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar allege these governments conspired in a number of ways to create ISIS and maintain a presence in Arab countries.
3. ISIS’ leader is under mind control powers of the CIA
One Iranian website claims ISIS leader (or “Caliph”) Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi spent more than five years in American custody in Iraq and the Zionist New York Times is attempting to help cover it up. Why was he held for so long? The CIA wanted to create a fake opposition group in Iraq to set up Iraqis who were against the U.S. to more easily target them, or worse.
While held at Camp Bucca, Iraq, the CIA turned Baghdadi into a “Manchurian Candidate-style” robot in the same way the CIA controlled Jim Jones, the infamous cult leader, a similar CIA puppet, so he could create a “Muslim Jonestown” — ISIS.
4. Baghdadi is an Israeli intelligence agent
The Caliph’s real name is Shimon Elliot, born of Jewish parents and trained by Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad. He is an expert in psychological warfare against Arabs and is an expert espionage agent.
Iranian intelligence sources also say he cooperates with the U.S. Secret Service and UK authorities to recruit political opponents from both societies.
His mission is to get into groups and countries who are a threat to Israel and destroy them from within to make them an easier target for Zionist forces or to create an enemy outside of Israel for Israel’s enemies to fight one another.
5. The U.S. ignored warnings about ISIS/Fueled the rise of ISIS
A 2012 Defense Intelligence Agency report showing an analysis of the state of the war in Syria in 2012 was released via a Freedom of Information Act request in 2015. The analysis was just observations and predictions about what the U.S. knew at the time. There are no policy directives or actions taken. Yet, depending on who reviews the document, either side uses it as proof of a narrative dictating President Obama knew about ISIS and chose to do nothing OR the U.S. fueled ISIS to destabilize the region in a “divide and conquer” strategy.
6. ISIS videos are fakes
This theory stems from the difficulty in finding the videos where they’re posted once their existence is made public (most outlets take them down), that they don’t look real (or as Hollywood thinks an execution should look), or are created to inspire more false flag attacks.
The website Infowars further fueled this view in a post about the CIA creating fake al-Qaeda videos during the 2003 build up to the American invasion of Iraq.
7. ISIS captured MH370 to use it against America on 9/11/14
American Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney was quoted in American media as saying the U.S. should expect a terrorist attack on on September 11, 2014 in New York City. This time, ISIS would be the perpetrators, however, not al-Qaeda. He believed the missing Malaysian Airlines flight 370, which disappeared in March 2014 on its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, would reappear in NYC, flown by ISIS.
“It is going to be earth-shattering,” he said. “The fact is we may even see a 9/11/14 MH370 surface again… We should go to DEFCON 1, our highest state of readiness and be prepared.”