Britain's Hidden Influence in Iraq Exposed

Newly disclosed documents reveal Britain's covert use of a media platform to influence public opinion and shift social attitudes during the war against ISIS. The article on Britain's hidden influence in Iraq first appeared in Safir Arjan.

According to the report of Ambassador Arjan, Deckardel website published a note and claimed: the withdrawal of US-led coalition forces from Iraq will end another chapter of military presence after the Anglo-American attack in 2003; But the British influence operation has left a less colorful record.

Leaked documents reveal details of a complex campaign designed during the war against ISIS; The campaign centered on the Yalla news platform and social network, especially for Iraqi youth. The documents reveal that a British government contractor intended to use the platform's vast influence to shape Iraqi public attitudes while London's role remained hidden.

The documents raise fundamental questions about who was directing the messages, who was paying for the project, and how much Yella's audience was aware of the platform's alleged independence.

According to the data related to this platform, "Yella" was founded in 2015 by a group of young Iraqi journalists and became one of the largest news and social networks in Iraq; A platform that had millions of followers in Iraq and the region.

In the introduction of this collection, it is stated that "Yala" is the most reliable and reliable source of information for Iraqi youth. Also, this platform claims that, unlike other Iraqi media, it is editorially and financially independent; Although he admitted that maintaining such independence is difficult.

However, leaked British government documents paint a different picture; An illustration of the massive undeclared financial flow and significant control over the content produced by this platform.

"Yella now has over 5 million followers," one of the documents reads. 92% of its followers are inside Iraq and 35% of them are women. The platform employs around 100 freelance journalists, influential figures and comedians across Iraq to produce content. It also produces exclusive content in both languages ​​for its Arabic and Kurdish sections; Including high-quality video and image reports from all over Iraq, attractive infographics and thematic collections.

Leaked documents show that the cost of the British government for "Yala" in the fiscal year 2019-2020 was about 4.3 million pounds, and another 4 million pounds was allocated for the following year. These amounts were used to run the website, Instagram and YouTube accounts and Facebook pages of this platform in Arabic, Kurdish and English languages.

Contrary to Yella's claim of financial independence, the documents show that millions of pounds were spent by the UK on the project and that there was close monitoring of its activities and content. The large advertising company M&C Saatchi was at the center of this plan.

In the proposals presented to the British Foreign Office, the company mentioned "extensive experience in implementing sensitive and non-attributable programs for government clients".

The company's proposed methods included creating "a separate business entity" to run the project publicly and using "trusted" connections to build an internal network of influencers, journalists and content creators.

"Mndsi Saatchi" company also suggested using "content production workers who speak local dialects" to increase the credibility and cultural authenticity of the project, and also use local cultural consultants.

In Iraq, the company suggested another way to hide the project's chain of command and communications, "the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) associated with Iraqi and Kurdish immigrant communities." All payments related to invoices and costs of active forces will be made through an intermediary to create a distance between M&S Saatchi's global services and the content production teams inside Iraq.

By 2019, four years after Yela's launch, the platform had, according to the project's contractor, gained "significant reach and recognition" in Iraq and beyond. MMDC Saatchi proposed that this capacity become a "massive penetration campaign"; The campaign aimed at "strengthening the sense of individual agency and increasing social cohesion" in areas that were previously under the control of ISIS.

The audience of this plan was not only limited to the areas formerly controlled by ISIS, but included Iraqis throughout the country and even the West Asia region. This project turned everyday narratives about work, travel and social life into a tool for continuous efforts to influence the way the audience views themselves and the government.

MMDC Saatchi proposed the implementation of multimedia campaigns to strengthen "individual agency, social cohesion and national unity" among Iraqi audiences. "Yala" online accounts were supposed to be "the main tool to influence the attitudes and behaviors of the audience"; So that users are exposed to positive content through collaboration with a network of trusted influential people.

The goal was to create a "user experience similar to personal and life coaching or mentoring programs."

This proposal did not ask content producers to deny the problems and difficulties of Iraqis' lives. On the contrary, he argued, accepting these problems makes the messages more real and believable.

MMDC Sachi also announced: "The sense of individual agency and resilience can be strengthened through content production with the direct cooperation of target community members, local media and small influencers whose credibility and scope of influence have been tested and proven."

The information contractor promised to work with "youth psychologists and education experts" to design a set of sustainable educational content; Collections including social videos and interactive charts that can be published on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube and users can follow them at their own pace and time.

These "modules" were supposed to be "light, practical and fun" and often told through the experiences of successful and well-known people; For example: "10 things I did to become a ...".

For example, in one plan, to showcase Iraq's multi-ethnic history and heritage as a potential source of political and economic power, the content production team will produce a travel series featuring three comedians from the south, north, and Baghdad.

Each of these influential people was responsible for designing a travel plan for the other to introduce the region where they live and introduce the audience to the lived experience of the people of that region and the historical and cultural diversity of Iraq.

The program's activities and challenges could range from visiting the main attractions by boat in the Iraqi wetlands to something as simple as having tea with one of the participants' grandmothers.

Although these programs were to be hosted "natively" on Yella's platforms, participating influencers also promoted them through their personal channels and social networks. M&S Saatchi also planned to work with "national and local television and radio networks" to convert this content into playable formats and increase its reach.

The company said it has established relationships with "a wide range of media outlets across the country" and expects to use those connections "effectively." Such an approach would make the content that was produced within the framework of the British program to be published beyond the official accounts of "Yella"; While many audiences were not aware of its original source:

“The penetration campaign will be rolled out to target audiences through a series of key media touch points. These contact points are carefully selected by the media strategy team so that they have the greatest reach and the messages are placed in a position that creates the greatest ability to change attitudes and behaviors on an individual and social level. The campaign will attempt to shape choices, reinforce positive ideas and change social perceptions, and over time will focus more on user-generated content."

A campaign that promised "individual agency, social cohesion and national unity" might seem harmless in communities affected by ISIS rule. But Yella's audience didn't know that British contractors were driving and shaping the content they consumed.

London's role in the attack on Iraq and the history of this country in the war against ISIS increase the importance of this concealment. The same platform that was presented to the Iraqi youth as an independent media was actually being used to advance a foreign government's influence campaign.

M&S Saatchi's project was supposed to have a deep and personal impact on the audience. The company claimed that "its communication campaigns will operate in an atmosphere that can evoke emotional, intellectual and social responses".

This meant significant capacity to influence the perceptions and behavior of millions of vulnerable and disaffected people across West Asia.

In addition, M&S Saatchi's audience targeting strategies were largely detailed and carefully designed; In such a way that it was possible to identify "certain segments of the audience and even specific people" and then they could be targeted with psychological operations approved by the British intelligence apparatus through "Yella".

This news, entertainment and social network platform, which is still very popular and is presented as an "independent" media, was only one component of an extensive mechanism of psychological warfare that London created more than a decade ago in Iraq under the pretext of countering ISIS propaganda; A mechanism that was never completely dismantled.

Underpinning these covert efforts was a 2015 "target audience analysis" by British intelligence. This analysis suggested continuous messages to be conveyed to the Iraqi population through different local channels and at the same time provided a broad understanding of how to influence citizens of different religions and ethnicities in different regions.

As the "Cradle" website previously reported, this plan included the use of "tribal leaders and religious clerics" as means of spreading propaganda messages; Especially to promote a positive image of "Sunni Arab self-government" in local areas.

It is noteworthy that M&S Saatchi was also in charge of managing this operation. In its proposals to the UK Foreign Office, the company described its experience in "working with specific leaders to help them express their ideas and views through professional writing, public speaking training and support in organizing events".

MMDC Sachi's activities also extended to the website "Imams Online", which was primarily aimed at Sunni clerics. Previous Cradle reports have examined the group's efforts to influence the content of sermons, including material on Palestine that promoted peaceful forms of solidarity.

Wider documents also document efforts to shape perceptions of Iran; However, in order to attribute all dimensions of this agenda to the "Yala" platform, the specific content produced by this media should be examined separately. The connecting point of these actions was the contractor's use of apparently local media and trusted intermediaries to convey messages whose main sponsor remains hidden.

For example, the "Cradle" publication had previously revealed that only a few hours after the assassination (martyr) of Sardar Qassem Soleimani, commander of the IRGC's Quds Force, in January 2020, the "Global Strategy Network" network, which acted as an information intermediary for MI6, activated its network of citizen journalists in Aleppo and its media production facilities to produce an anti-Iranian video in this context.

This video was published by the Saudi network "Al-Arabiya" and this content reached the audience of 22.5 million people of this network. Also, Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State at the time, reposted it on his account.