Amaq News and Claims of Responsibility
18 October 2017By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
Understandably, there has been widespread disbelief on social media regarding
the claim published by the Islamic State's Amaq News that the Las Vegas
attacker was a "soldier of the Islamic State" (i.e. inspired by Islamic State
to carry out the attack). Probably anticipating or responding to the
disbelief, Amaq News released a follow-up post saying the attacker had
embraced Islam months ago. Amaq News only purported to rely on "a security
source." In this context, "security" refers to the carrying out of operations
inside enemy territory. Thus, any Islamic State-directed or Islamic
State-inspired attack inside the U.S., which is leading the coalition against
Islamic State, would come under this category.
Amaq News, established in 2014, is almost universally recognized as a part of
the Islamic State's media apparatus, but it has not been formally acknowledged
as such by the Islamic State in its propaganda directed to the external world.
Thus, Amaq News represents the foremost example of an auxiliary agency for the
Islamic State. In not being formally acknowledged to the external world as a
part of the Islamic State, Amaq News can present preliminary claims of attacks
as news agency items, thus the framing of a "source" speaking to Amaq News on
these matters.
Most of the Islamic State attacks in the West and other enemy states are first
reported on via Amaq News. Many of the claims turn out to be reliable with
further evidence provided: for example, Amaq News has released exclusive
videos of attackers. These cases suggest the attackers have been in contact
with Amaq News, perhaps via personnel or intermediaries operating in the West.
The Amaq News items can also be followed up by official Islamic State media
statements.
It is certainly true that the Islamic State does not claim every attack that
results in large loss of life or might even be plausibly attributed to the
Islamic State on intuition. The St. Petersburg metro bombing in April 2017 is
a clear case-in-point. However, since Amaq News is not formally acknowledged
to be a part of the Islamic State, the outlet may also be used to make a
tentative claim to an attack. If no convincing evidence ever emerges to show
an Islamic State hand or inspiration after that, the Amaq News statement can
be left as it is with no follow-up in formally acknowledged Islamic State
media organs. This saves the Islamic State the trouble of having to 'retract'
a claim, since from the standpoint of communicating to the external world, no
formal claim was made if the only material ever issued was an Amaq News report
relying on a mere 'source'. Some examples of this behaviour include some
purported Islamic State assassinations carried out inside Turkey, and a casino
shooting in June 2017 in the
Philippines. Even so, the Amaq News item itself can be enough to make a
psychological impact and stir up emotions, with many eager to seize on
whatever they can find to support their own preconceptions regarding an
attack.
The best advice for any claim emerging via Amaq News is always to wait and see
for subsequent evidence. A level-headed approach is the order of the day, not
irrational fearmongering that plays into the Islamic State's hands.
©
EsinIslam.Com
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