In the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria's war to carve out an Islamic caliphate from its two namesake countries, there's a counter-war being waged by Twitter user @wikibaghdady, reports The Daily Beast's Jacob Siegel. The "mysterious Twitter account is trying to stop ISIS's rise to power by spilling the terror group's secrets online," he writes. Siegel cautions that the account should be taken seriously but with skepticism, and is probably written by someone (or someones) in Syria. Then Siegel plays detective:
Whoever @wikibaghdady is, two things about him are clear: He's a fellow Islamist who has a beef with ISIS, and he's someone close to the group, providing the kind of details that only come from intimacy. That doesn't make him some kind of hero, but if snitches had to be saints, the NYPD would shut down tomorrow. Wikibaghdady isn't outing secrets to curb ISIS's wanton slaughter. He's a fellow jihadi playing dirty politics against members of his own cohort. [Daily Beast]
Among the details @wikibaghdady has purportedly spilled are the true identity of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (his real name is apparently Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Bou Badri bin Armoush), the group's structure, its financial plans, and its alleged ties to Saddam Hussein's Baathist party. Read more about @wikibaghdady and the secrets he spilled at The Daily Beast.
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