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An Al-Tikriti (Saddam Hussein’s clan) speaking for al Qaeda cell in Europe?

Abu Hafs Al-Tikriti threatens France on behalf of Abu Hafs Al-Masri Brigades (??????
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Within days of the French election results being announced a self-described al Qaeda cell in Europe, Abu Hafs Al-Masri Brigades, warned France of a “bloody jihad attack” in response to their electoral decision. The threat, posted on Islamist websites and translated by MEMRI, was signed by “Abu Hafs Al-Tikriti, The Abu Hafs Al-Masri Brigades, European Division.”

The Abu Hafs Al-Masri Brigades, who al Qaeda #2 Ayman al-Zawahiri has claimed responsibility for, has a history of threats and claimed attacks in multiple European countries, including claiming responsibility for terrorist attacks in London in 2005 and Madrid in 2004. The group is named in honor of Mohammed Atef, the former al Qaeda military commander who has been named in intelligence reports cited in George Tenet’s book “At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA” as an al Qaeda leader who sought out closer links with Saddam Hussein’s regime, including weapons training.

Those familiar with leaders of the former Iraqi regime of Iraq likely recognize Abu Hafs Al-Tikriti’s surname. Al-Tikriti is said to mean “from Tikrit” and is well known as being Saddam Hussein’s hometown. Al-Tikriti is also the name attached to many prominent leaders of Saddam Hussein’s former regime, picked for their loyalty. Al-Tikriti’s were prominent in many of Hussein’s most trusted positions and many of the original members of “Iraq’s 55 Most Wanted”. Al Tikriti’s filled positions including Hussein’s personal secretary, leaders of his trusted Fedayeen Saddam, Mukhabarat (IIS) leadership, Republican Guard leadership as well as WMD specialists and military leaders.

It’s possible the Al-Tikriti linked to the recent threat was not a member of the Hussein regime. It is possible that if he were a member of the former Iraqi regime that he did not become linked to the European al Qaeda affiliate until post-invasion. It’s also possible that Al-Tikriti made up the name to disguise the author’s true identity (as the Middle East Media Research Institute’s Dr. Nimrod Raphaeli told this site often happens) but the long list of Hussein loyalists who have been caught in cooperation with al Qaeda and the common enemies of both Hussein loyalists and al Qaeda indicates a possibility that Hussein loyalist/al Qaeda cooperation isn’t limited to Iraq, where Iraqi officials have blamed years of postwar violence on Baathist/al Qaeda cooperation.

Update: Professor of Middle East History at Haifa University and author/expert on Iraq/Saddam Hussein, Amitzia Baram, stated that “the guy is not necessarily a member of Saddam’s tribe (Albu Nasser) but, more certainly, he is from the town of Tikrit - Saddam’s birthplace where other tribes, too, flourish. But he is an ex-Ba’thi very likely” when contacted by this site for comment on the possible background of Abu Hafs Al-Tikriti.

Update II: In a possibly related story two senior leaders of al Qaeda were reported captured in Tikrit, Iraq on June 23.

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Secular Baathist/Islamic extremist divide overcome repeatedly in Iraq

For a regime long said to be sharply opposed to radical Islamic groups the secular Baath Party that formerly ruled Iraq has seen a conspicuously large number of its members caught in close collaboration with al Qaeda and other Islamic groups in post-invasion Iraq.

A recent arrest in Mosul identified a former Saddam Fedayeen leader as an insurgent leader responsible for al Qaeda/foreign fighter camps in Syria.

On March 23, the Tactical Report, an online Middle East intelligence service, reported that a former Saddam Hussein officer was appointed as an al Qaeda leader to set up attacks on Iraqi oil sites.

In addition to these “new converts” a number of older stories on the same topic were passed along to www.regimeofterror.com.

One story, from the Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat translated by a reader at Powerlineblog notes that one of the late Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s top men, Omar Hadid, was a former personal body guard of Saddam Hussein and had trained with al Qaeda in Afghanistan before fighting against coalition forces in Fallujah and elsewhere. Hadid, according to an al Qaeda biography after his death, also had a relative who was an official for Iraq’s Intelligence Services and worked with Hadid on postwar operations. It should also be noted that, according to Knight-Ridder news services, Hadid’s background included outright conflicts with Saddam Hussein’s regime though he testified to the country’s move away from secular restraints after the first Gulf War.

As previously detailed in a piece at The American Thinker by Ray Robison, the fighting in Fallujah a number of years back also saw the teaming up of many members of Saddam Hussein’s former Republican Guard and foreign and domestic jihadist fighters.

Reportedly there were “scores of men” like Abu Mustafa (who) was one former military officer who told TIME that he spent his time in jail (post-invasion) “studying Salafi Islam and receiving lessons in jihad from bearded Iraqis and detainees who came from places like Syria and Saudi Arabia” before joining the jihadist fighters in Iraq.

Abu Ali was “Among those who have thrown their support behind the jihad is insurgent leader Abu Ali. A ballistic-missile specialist in Saddam’s Fedayeen militia, he fought U.S. troops during the invasion and has served as a resistance commander ever since, organizing rocket attacks on the green zone, the headquarters of the U.S. administration in Baghdad. When interviewed by TIME last fall, he spoke of a vain hope that Saddam would return and re-establish a Baathist regime.” How Ali pictured a “secular” leader tolerating the type of violent Islamic extremism that Ali and others had helped spread in Iraq is quite a paradox.

One of the many anti coalition groups fighting in Iraq, called “Battalions of Islamic Holy War”,
whose leaders also met with TIME magazine, was “founded by frontline officers from Saddam’s intelligence services and the Republican Guard who once shunned terrorist attacks that killed innocent Iraqis” later represented a “significant Iraqi wing of al-Zarqawi’s network.” The Senate Intelligence Committee’s report in 2004 revealed some intelligence that predicted these sorts of relationships.

These additions add to an already sizeable list of ex-Baathists/Saddam loyalists who sided with Islamic/jihadist fighters and al Qaeda in Iraq. While it is certainly possible that many of these religious conversions and new relationships were initiated post-invasion, drawn together by the common enemy of U.S. led forces in Iraq, it is unlikely that the countless (likely hundreds) remnants of Hussein’s secular regime did not have at least some kind of a foundation for a relationship with these groups prior to March 2003. The type of trust and confidence necessary to give assets including money, weapons, arms, safehouses and training and reciprocal placement of Baathists into al Qaeda leadership positions only leads an outside observer to conclude that the two sides shared common grievances, common goals and common beliefs.

It has been 4 years since Operation Iraqi Freedom began and many of these relations that have been discovered post-invasion give cause for re-thinking prewar assumptions that secular Baathists wouldn’t cooperate with Islamic militant/terrorist groups, just as some in the government had predicted as being possible prior to invasion, contrasting the conventional wisdom of then and now.

Former Iraqi Minister says Hussein’s regime used jihadist groups to counter Shi’ites

A former Defense and Finance Minister of post-invasion Iraq, Ali A. Allawi has completed and just released a book titled “The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace” that talks about the inner workings of many things that took place in post-invasion Iraqi government.

Amir Taheri’s review of the book for Asharq al Alawsat reveals that Allawi’s points to some of the roots of today’s violence in Iraq going back over a decade to when Saddam Hussein used violent groups for his own domestic purposes.

One of the most interesting revelations in this book is Allawi’s account of the emergence of Arab Sunni radicalism in Iraq.

He (Allawi) shows that the first Jihadi groups were patronized by Saddam to counter-balance Shi’ite influence from Iran. Saddam may not have entered into a formal alliance with Al Qaeda. However, as Allawi shows, he was in league with Al Qaeda-style Jihadis, such as Jund al-Islam (Army of Islam) and Ansar al-Islam (Victors of Islam), for a decade before he was toppled.

Kurdish officials have also testified that Ansar al Islam was also employed by Hussein’s regime to counter their leadership.

Allawi’s book is now available for order through Amazon.com and, based on the reviews, the book appears to be a fascinating read.

Carbomb diplomacy

Iraq’s former embassy in Greece added to list of Hussein’s international terror outposts

A recent story in the Greek news outlet Ekathimerini, pointed out to Regimeofterror.com by Dr. Laurie Mylroie, reported on previously undisclosed evidence implicating Saddam Hussein’s regime in international terrorism aspirations. The report reveals an incident in which a number of items were secretly removed from Iraq’s embassy in Greece during the run up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The items removed fit a pattern of behavior but also raise a number of questions.

Ekathimerini reported that it had been made aware of “a joint operation by Greek and US secret service officers in March 2003 (which) led to the seizure of a large cache of explosives from the basement of the Iraqi Embassy in Athens.”
The types of explosives reportedly discovered were particularly noteworthy .
“Sources said a raid on the embassy unearthed explosive materials, car bombs, detonators, several guns and dozens of rounds of ammunition. Much of the material was “ready to use” while some was too old to be of any value, according to sources who said all the material was destroyed within a few weeks of discovery.”

The presence of car bombs, explosives and the other materials in this instance would indicate that Hussein’s Iraq had used it’s Greek embassy just as it had used it’s embassy’s in the Philippines, Jordan, Prague, and Yemen in recent years, as a hub for terrorism. This is to say nothing of Iraq’s planned international terror attacks in London (as reported on page 53 of the Iraqi Perspectives Project) or the attempted bombing attack by Iraqi operatives in Bahrain during the runup to the invasion of Iraq (Senate Intelligence Report: Phase II).

This discovery follows Iraq’s modus operandi of using their embassies and diplomatic privileges as cover for hiding and moving weapons/explosives/equipment abroad for potential terror attacks.

These were not the first time Iraq had dipped its toe in the waters of international terrorism. In 1998, in what some viewed as a possible buildup to war between the U.S. and Iraq, U.S. News and World Report cited intelligence officials saying over 30 teams of terrorists, each team consisting of 2 to 3 men had been dispatched by Baghdad in 1991 and indicated that similar attacks may take place against U.S. interests again in 1998 in the case of a war with the U.S.. (It should also be noted that those in the intelligence community were said to be split during this time period as to whether or not Iraq had already dispatched similar teams of terrorists at this point.) The men, who were disguised as businessmen, used Iraq’s diplomatic pouches to move automatic weapons, explosives and timers to embassies around for planned attacks.
Former deputy director of the State Department’s counterterrorism office during the Gulf War, Larry Johnson, told U.S. News and World Report in the same piece that car bombs, assassinations and hostage taking were “likely scenarios.”

With the discovery of Greece as a front in Iraq’s pre-invasion international terrorism attempts maybe Americans will even one day be made aware of what the other 6 or 7 countries are which U.S. government officials told the Washington Post’s Walter Pincus were targeted anti Western bombings by Iraqi Intelligence.

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Letter from man claiming to be al Qaeda member calls Saddam "hero," "martyr," and "living leader"

A man claiming to be a representative of al Qaeda recently sent a threatening letter to an Arabic Australian newspaper, which called Saddam Hussein a “hero,” “martyr,” and a “living leader.” While the man’s links to al Qaeda could not be verified, his comments about recently deceased former Iraqi dictator noted al Qaeda and Hussein’s shared outspoken loathing of both America and Shi’ites.

“You are low infidels and scum. You Shiites are dogs. You are scum, to be trodden underfoot. From Moqtada Sadr to Hassan Nasrallah, all your leaders are dogs and scum. Do not think that the death of Saddam will save you. We will deter you with terrorism here inside Australia.

“We will destroy the newspaper’s headquarters in Sydney very soon, God willing. We will destroy the newspaper’s headquarters in Melbourne. You will be butchered. Every Iraqi Kurd and Shiite in Australia will be butchered. I promise you in the name of Al-Qaida. You will be trodden on with shoes, you dogs.

“Has the death of the President, the martyr, the living leader and hero who will never die, Saddam Hussein, a lesson for you? Do you want to savage the Sunnis, you dogs? I say to you, and repeat and reiterate, do not forget that one day we will take revenge, God willing, by liquidating the dog, Moqtada Sadr, who visited America and gave up Saddam.

“You are dogs, you are scum, you are filthy, you are the lowest people on the face of earth. Your writers and correspondents are scum. I have all their names. I will uncover their addressees my own way, through our well-structured organisation in Melbourne and Sydney.”

Subliminal Message Mayhem

Video, sound and images have seen drastic increases in their resolution, quality, and depth in the last decade. Fueled by the improvements of both software and processing power, all forms of media have embraced the digital revolution. Music albums are now exclusively produced on a computer, magazine images are retouched by computer, and every minute of television has been enhanced with computer graphics and animations. The internet by its very nature exists in this digitized form giving anyone the ability to alter and modify to their will.

There has been a dark side to these improvements; covert psychological techniques are now being on a regular basis. It should come as no surprise that even the major media networks have their works inundated with subliminal messages designed to motivate you as a consumer, influence your voting, and keep you in-line with the masses.

What Are Subliminal Messages?

Subliminal messages are images and sounds embedded within a medium that eludes normal perception. A person will not consciously realize they have been shown a subliminal message, however the hidden messages will influence the brain subconsciously and can alter behavior.

Subliminal Sound

The mainstream beliefs about subliminal sound involve backmasking and other types of voice distortion. Backmasking is when a person records a spoken phrase and then plays it in reverse as part of the music. Unfortunately, there is little to no evidence that these techniques actually work. The human brain does not have the ability to flip sound around, nor can it interpret sounds that are played at a decibel too quiet to hear.

The covert messages in sound are usually in the form of audible speech patterns. A good hypnotist can influence by using specific words and by emphasizing certain parts of their speech. A master salesman will use things like presuppositions and embedded commands to make you more likely to buy. Non-verbal sounds include background noise and music that can alter your behavior. None of these techniques, however, are considered “subliminal,” because all of them can be clearly heard and consciously pointed out.

While I’m not going to say that subliminal messages in sound are impossible, I will say that I seriously doubt the current claims to its effectiveness. There are no professional studies that I can’t cite, and I’m yet to see any substantive “double-blind” evidence.

Subliminal Print Ads

Visual subliminal messages are a different story. The most pointed out of subliminal messages can be found in pictures and images. In this form of media the original images are carefully altered to include the hidden images or words.

Here is a nice video showing off print ads with subliminal images in them.

Subliminal Video

There has been controversy surrounding the effectiveness of subliminal video images. The blog Choking On Popcorn has a nice summary of how the controversy started:

“The most famous story about subliminal manipulation is that of the infamous experiment held in 1957 at a movie theatre in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Here it was believed that ultra-fast editing of images of popcorn and Coke throughout the movie would lead to a significant increase in refreshment sales during the intermission. This experiment caused such a stir, that subliminal messages were outlawed and deemed unethical. However, it soon appeared to be a hoax and the experimenter James Vicary admitted that he had been tampering with the results.”

The original experiment was a hoax, but psychologists have been studying whether or not subliminal images flashed in video can influence behavior. It has been shown that subliminal messages can indeed have an effect on behavior, but not in the way that Vicary believed. Subliminal messages are only effective when it comes to establishing familiarity and creating associations.

Subliminal messages work because of the phenomenon of priming. “Priming (from Wikipedia) in psychology refers to activating parts of particular representations or associations in memory just before carrying out an action or task.” Once you have been primed with an image, your memory will tend to recall other things your brain has associated with it when you are shown that image again.

I hope I haven’t gotten too technical, but to put simply:

Subliminal messages are not effective at getting you to purchase soda, but if you already intend to buy soda they are good at helping you choose Pepsi over Coke.

A paper from the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology explains this in much more detail: Beyond Vicary’s fantasies: The impact of subliminal priming and brand choice (HTML version).

Darren Brown does a good job of explaining this and then uses the technique to influence some advertisers… Pretty cool stuff.

Subliminal Advertising and Politics

Earlier this month I posted about subliminal messages on Fox News. In a video clip, a viewer caught the news channel inserting images of John McCain during the broadcast. Here is the video again:

While many readers quickly dismissed this as “paranoia” and “conspiracy theory,” I’m going to look at this in the context of subliminal advertising and priming… I would argue that this image may not get people to go out and vote for this candidate, but if someone already intends to vote it will influence which candidate that they vote for…

Other Subliminal Messages

The movie Fight Club was filled with subliminal messages, here is a video clip that shows when they were used.

Here is a McDonalds Ad in the Middle of the Show Iron Chef.

Fast food Carl’s Jr. does the same thing on the show Beauty and the Geek.

Make This Information Mainstream

Subliminal messages are a very real thing. The general public needs to be aware and corporations/individuals need to be held accountable for these deceptive practices. Hopefully this has opened up your eyes.

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How To Lie Like A Dog

In todays society lying is no longer an option, it is a skill that is absolutely necessary for survival.

I’m not here to discuss the ethics of lying (that’s what philosophy websites are for), nor am I here to tell you to always be “good” (the world isn’t black and white by the way). Nope, I’m here to tell you how to lie and lie so well that no one (not even your own mother) will know.

But this is only fair. The world can be a downright evil place and it’s totally reasonable that you have the tools to fight back. With that said I’m going to treat everyone like an adult, and ask that you use these abilities for good… mmmkay?

Hypnosis Control and our affiliates in no way condone unethical behavior.

A Sharp Double-Edged Sword

Knowing when you should lie is a tricky skill all by itself. So before lying you should first evaluate both the potential benefits of a successful lie against the consequences of getting caught. If the benefits clearly outweigh the risks, then you are probably good to go. But remember that you may be risking your own reputation by lying and there are social consequences (people may no longer trust you) if you get caught.

Sword

The Truth About Lie Detection

The best lie-detecting psychologists in the business will point out that there is no foolproof method for detecting lies. Let me make this very clear: THERE IS NO FOOLPROOF METHOD FOR DETECTING LIES.

When a trained professional wants to know if someone is lying, they are forced to look for indirect signs. They look for behaviors and language that seem out of place. Things like nervousness, hesitation, and defensiveness are some of these signs. Even polygraph tests look for indirect signs, such as a change in heart rate or blood pressure.

Polygraph

Telling effective lies, however, is not simply about trying to mask these outward signs. Lying convincingly is all about your own MINDSET. When you have the correct mindset your body language and behavior will automatically follow. You will not even have to think about masking behaviors because all of your behaviors will seem natural. You will show none of the indirect signs and your lies will become indistinguishable from the truth.

Create A Plausible Story

The first thing you’re going to need to do before lying is prepare the story that agrees with all the available evidence. This story needs to be kept as simple as possible and things that are “out of the ordinary” must be kept to a bare minimum. Really picture yourself in that situation as vividly as possible, and go over it a few times in your head. If anything seems unbelievable then you need to come up with a better story.

Burning houseAlso be sure that your behavior in the story is “in character.” For example, hardly anyone is going to believe that you were late for work because you ran into a burning house to rescue an old women. However, most people will believe that you were late for work because you tripped on the sidewalk and tore a hole in your pants. While it’s not necessary to be self deprecating or embarrassing, keeping the story “in character” makes the story personal and much more believable.

To make sure that your story is good also ask yourself the 6 Ws for your story: Who, What, When, Where, Why and HoW.

- What were you doing?

- Who were you with?

- When and Where were you?

- Why were you doing what you were doing?

- And HoW did you do it?

Also try to imagine how someone else (an onlooker) would see the whole situation. If the story still seems legitimate, then you have probably got a good story.

Practice The Story And Develop Details

Go over the fake story as many times as you can in your head. Try to imagine tons of other little details that may not be directly relevant to the story, but will give your story depth. The most effective details are unverifiable and subjective (e.g. “the soda was flat”).

LiesHere are some good questions: What were you wearing? Were you hot or cold? Did you feel healthy/sick? Were you hungry? Did you have to go to the bathroom? Did the air have a scent or smell ? What did it sound like? Were you preoccupied with something at the time?

Also be sure to consider your emotional state. Think about how you were feeling at each and every moment of the story. Were you happy, sad, angry, etc.?

By rehearsing and questioning your story, your brain will begin to take the story from your imagination and put it into your memory. Ideally you want the entire story stored in your memory. When you are primarily using your memory you will only show those behavioral cues (eye movements, facial twitches, and body language). It doesn’t matter if the memory is the truth or a lie because your memory does not know the difference. All that matters to you is that you display memory-accessing behavior and deceive anyone watching.

Find Confidence By Believing Your Story

Now that you’ve got a good alibi and have set it into your memory it’s time to start believing your story as literal truth. Religion has shown us time and time again that your mind can be manipulated to believe just about anything as fact. So believing your own modest alibi should be no stretch of faith.

When you have gotten to the point of believing your own story NO ONE will be able to tell you are lying without hard evidence. Polygraph tests, MRI scans, and lie detection software will all indicate that you are telling the truth once your own brain really believes.

For this step make yourself comfortable and close your eyes. Concentrate and slowly go over the whole story. Imagine yourself in 1st-person, experiencing every single moment of the story, detail by detail. Know that the events unfolded exactly how you imagine them. Know that what you are thinking is real. Watch the whole story again in you head, but this time see yourself from afar. Notice all the little details you overlooked earlier. Go over the story one more in your head, detail by detail. See the story unfold in any order that you like. This story you see is what happened and you are confident about it.

Mr T

Prepare For Questions

Naturally people may ask you about what happened. Try to imagine how you would respond and try saying the answers out loud. By rehearsing you will prepare yourself and seem much more confident when you actually answer. Know that your answers are true to what you believe, and other people will trust this confidence.

Trained professional will often look for altered sentence structure and for words that are emphasized. A nervous person will tend to emphasize odd words and will think too much about how they are saying their answer. A confident person, on the other hand, will see the story unfolding in their head. They will not put too much thought into how or what they are saying and their speech will flow freely.

The Moment Of Truth

Your brain is confident in what you believe. Tell you story to anyone with ease.

Bush Rumsfeld

Don’t Fall For Bluffs

There is still the chance that someone may doubt you and will try to catch you with a bluff. A bluff happens when a doubter lies to you about what they know in an attempt to catch you off guard. The doubter doesn’t actually know the truth but is hoping that you will panic and admit to lying without first seeing/hearing the evidence. Don’t fall for it. The trick is to remain calm and “deny, deny, deny.”

This is how a bluff happens… quoting a Seinfeld episode called “The Red Dot.”

Elaine: Hey George, did you buy that sweater knowing that red dot was on it because you could get it at a discount?

George: What? Did I what?

Elaine: You did didn’t you.

George: Elaine, I’m, I’m shocked. I’m shocked. Here I go out in the spirit of the season (Elaine looking like she’s not buying a word of it) and spend all my savings to buy you the most beautiful Christmas sweater I have ever seen to show my appreciation to you at Christmas and this is the thanks that I get at Christmas.

Elaine: Well Jerry told me that you did.

George: You told her? How could you tell her? I told you not to say anything.

Jerry: I didn’t tell her you stupid idiot. She tricked you!

Seinfeld RestaurantElaine bluffed and George fell for it.

When someone tries to bluff, just remain calm and deny. The doubter is taking a risk by doubting what you have said, and it lets you and everyone else that they don’t trust you. You can use this to your advantage as long as you stay calm and collected.

Advanced Techniques

If you would still like some extra practice to perfect your lying, try recording yourself on video telling both lies and the truth. Notice differences in you facial gestures and body language and practice until the two are indistinguishable. Practice makes perfect.

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Subliminal Advertising By Fox News

I noticed this on reddit today… Someone slowed down the Faux News animation and what do you see? It’s a picture of McCain! This is a perfect example of subliminal message in television… Shame on you Faux.

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False Memory

No one’s memory is perfect. Here is a nice little demonstration showing how your memory can be manipulated and tricked. So the next time you are “absolutely sure” of something, consider that you may in fact be wrong, especially when objective evidence is available.

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Imagination the Cause Of Religion

An article in the New Scientist Reported about how human imagination may be the underlying cause of religion.

The previous theory said that social bonding was the culprit, but this may only be a side effect.

“We had to evolve the necessary brain architecture to imagine things and beings that don’t physically exist, and the possibility that people somehow live on after they’ve died.”

See the original article: Religion A Figment Of Human Imagination.

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