Is Mitt Romney Unwittingly Defending The Perpetrators of an Internet Hoax Designed To Inflame Tensions in the Middle East?

Sam Bacile (a name which suspiciously sounds like imbecile)  the film director of the anti-Islamic movie that has led to riots in Egypt and Libya and the death of US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and 3 others, does not even exist!

The Israeli government has just confirmed he is not an Israeli citizen as he claims, and this may be part of an elaborate Internet hoax gone terribly wrong.

Israel says filmmaker behind anti­-Muhammad movie is not a citizen
Consultant on film says producer uses fake name and identity as part of disinformation campaign –Times of Israel

Israeli officials said Wednesday they had no record of Israeli citizenship for the filmmaker responsible for an anti-Islam film that sparked deadly riots in Egypt and Libya.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they had not heard of Sam Bacile and there was no record of him being a citizen.

Bacile, a 56-year-old California real-estate developer, wrote, directed and produced a film depicting the Muslim prophet Muhammad as a womanizer, fraud and madman. He told the Associated Press he is a Jewish Israeli-American.

On Wednesday, Atlantic correspondent Jeffrey Goldberg reported that Bacile was a fake name and the filmmaker was likely not even Jewish.

Goldberg said he spoke to Steve Klein, who worked with Bacile on the film, and that he confirmed Bacile had no connection to Israel.

“I don’t know that much about him. I met him, I spoke to him for an hour. He’s not Israeli, no. I can tell you this for sure, the State of Israel is not involved … His name is a pseudonym. All these Middle Eastern folks I work with have pseudonyms. I doubt he’s Jewish. I would suspect this is a disinformation campaign,” Klein said.

Hollywood insiders have no idea who the film director is. And so far only scant details are known about the movie’s shadowy writer/director who calls himself Sam Bacile. The only interviews with him have been done by phone, and what little information he has revealed raises more than a few red flags. via International Business Times:

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Bacile identified himself as an Israeli-American real estate developer based in California. But Internet searches reveal no trace of a real estate developer doing business under that name. His age is in question as well. The Wall Street Journal said he was 52 while AP reported his age at 56.

Bacile has reportedly gone into hiding following the protests. Speaking by phone to the Times of Israel, he said he was not anticipating the violent reaction provoked by the film. “I feel sorry for the embassy. I am mad,” he said.

But according to Steve Klein, who claims to have worked as a consultant on the film, Bacile knew it would ignite violence. Speaking to the Associated Press on Wednesday, Klein claimed to be reluctant to help Bacile with the movie, telling him, “You’re going to be the next Theo van Gogh.” The comment was a reference to the Dutch filmmaker who in 2004 was gunned down by an Islamic extremist after he made a movie that criticized Muslim societies’ treatment of women.  

In fact, Klein himself is a shadowy figure. He apparently authored a self-published book on Islam (with a poorly designed cover), but aside from that, he has not left many tracks. In a phone interview with the Atlantic on Wednesday, Klein said he believes Bacile is not Israeli and, most likely, not Jewish. He also said that Bacile was a pseudonym and that he did not know his real name. 

Mitt Romney may in fact be defending the perpetrators of an Intenet hoax which has now led to the death of a US Ambassador. 

Sam Bacile And His Low-Budget Anti-Muslim Movie: Is It All A Hoax? International Business Times

Details — however minimal — have begun to surface about the amateur filmmaker whose movie ridiculing the Islamic prophet Muhammad sparked deadly protests in Egypt and Libya.

Four Americans have been killed in the demonstrations, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya. In Cairo, protesters climbed the walls of the U.S. Embassy compound and tore down the American flag. “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger,” they chanted.

All this over a few movie clips that look like they were produced by a group of high schoolers in a Video 101 class. Reminiscent of low-budget, unfunny comedy sketches, the clips — supposedly from a movie called “Innocence of Muslims” — depict Muhammad as a freewheeling, womanizing shyster who promoted child abuse. It sparked violent protests on Tuesday after clips of the film surfaced on YouTube, some of which were later dubbed in Arabic.

But so far only scant details are known about the movie’s shadowy writer/director who calls himself Sam Bacile. The only interviews with him have been done by phone, and what little information he has revealed raises more than a few red flags.

So is there a Sam Bacile, and does “Innocence of Muslims” even exist?

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Bacile identified himself as an Israeli-American real estate developer based in California. But Internet searches reveal no trace of a real estate developer doing business under that name. His age is in question as well. The Wall Street Journal said he was 52 while AP reported his age at 56.

Bacile has reportedly gone into hiding following the protests. Speaking by phone to the Times of Israel, he said he was not anticipating the violent reaction provoked by the film. “I feel sorry for the embassy. I am mad,” he said.

But according to Steve Klein, who claims to have worked as a consultant on the film, Bacile knew it would ignite violence. Speaking to the Associated Press on Wednesday, Klein claimed to be reluctant to help Bacile with the movie, telling him, “You’re going to be the next Theo van Gogh.” The comment was a reference to the Dutch filmmaker who in 2004 was gunned down by an Islamic extremist after he made a movie that criticized Muslim societies’ treatment of women.  

In fact, Klein himself is a shadowy figure. He apparently authored a self-publishedbook on Islam (with a poorly designed cover), but aside from that, he has not left many tracks. In a phone interview with the Atlantic on Wednesday, Klein said he believes Bacile is not Israeli and, most likely, not Jewish. He also said that Bacile was a pseudonym and that he did not know his real name. 

Update: According to the Times of Israel, officials for that country confirmed that they have no record of Israeli citizenship for a Sam Bacile.

Bacile claims to have made “Innocence of Muslims” on a budget of $5 million with the help of 100 Jewish donors, but one look at the film clips on YouTube will call that claim into question. The movie appears to have been shot using a consumer-grade DV camcorder with amateur actors, fake backgrounds and cheap sets. The lighting and sound are of equally low quality. In Hollywood dollars, $5 million may be considered low-budget, but if the filmmaker really spent that much money on this shoddy work, it’s his donors who should be doing the protesting.

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