Fabricator (intelligence)

A fabricator is an intelligence agent or officer that generates disinformation, falsehoods or bogus information, often without access to authentic resources.[1] Fabricators often provide forged documents in order to substantiate their falsehoods.[2] It is normal intelligence practice to place identified fabricators on a black list or to issue a burn notice on them and to recall intelligence sourced from them.[3][4]

A fabricator is often cited as a reliable source behind black propaganda or atrocity propaganda involving disinformation or information that has not been properly vetted but suits the agenda of the disseminating organization. Multiple fabricators are usually used to justify a Big Lie. The process of vetting to weed out fabricators and double agents is also referred to as source validation.[5] Recent examples of this include the case of the Niger uranium forgeries[6] and the mobile weapons laboratory in Iraq.[7] There are numerous cases in which it is alleged that the Soviet Union and its satellite states employed fabricators to pass disinformation to discredit activist emigres in the United States.[8]

  1. ^ Department of Defense, Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, [1], January 31, 2011
  2. ^ Dr. Robert L. Managhan, Trends in African Forgeries, [2], CIA Center for the Study of Intelligence
  3. ^ Defense Intelligence Agency, Terms & Definitions of Interest for DoD Counterintelligence Professionals, [3] Archived 2013-07-17 at the Wayback Machine, May 2, 2011
  4. ^ Dapartment of Defense, Instruction Number S-5200.42 Defense Human Intelligence, paragraph 4.i., [4] Archived 2013-02-18 at the Wayback Machine, December 8, 2009
  5. ^ The Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, Chapter 7, p. 372, [5], March 31, 2005
  6. ^ Sidney Blumenthal, Weapons of mass dissembling, [6], Salon, Feb 5 2004
  7. ^ Joby Warrick, Warnings on WMD "Fabricator" Were Ignored, Ex-CIA Aide Says, [7], Washington Post, June 25, 2006
  8. ^ Judy Feigin, Striving for Accountability in the Aftermath of the Holocaust, [8], U.S. Justice Department, Office of Special Investigations, December 2008