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This is the internet source that provided the MER newsletter with the breaking story about U.S. Special Forces operating in tandem with the IDF on the West Bank.
DEBKAfile
Friday, March 22, 2002
ABOUT US
DEBKAfile is a self-supporting Internet publication devoted to independent, investigative reporting and forward analysis in the fields of international terrorism, intelligence, international conflicts, Islam, military affairs, security and politics.
DEBKAfile comes out seven days a week in English and Hebrew with additional language sites planned.
Traffic
At the last count:
152,000 core audience.
A total of 1,239,000 visitors per week and 4,200,000 per month
62% of our audience is American, 30% Israeli, 8% from 96 countries on every continent and
2 readers in space, aboard the international space station.
58% of our viewers are aged from 25 to 46, including many members of the free professions, government officials, financial leaders, military and intelligence personnel, academics, students and incorrigible skeptics.
Our articles are regularly quoted and credited by a host of international television, radio and print media.
DEBKAfile has been cited as Best of the Web by Forbes, selected Hot Site by USATODAY and profiled in the New York Observer (A Web Site With the Inside Dope on the Middle East), Time Magazine, Jonathan Margolis, Evening Standard, London (The site that spies read), Le Monde, Paris, Corriere della Sera, Milan, Wired News (Debka: Conflict’s Drudge Report?), NEW MEDIA ( For the real skinny on the Afghan story), Haaretz Magazine and Globes Digital. Articles are in preparation in Harpers and Rolling Stone.
A brief roundup of their comments is appended to this page.
Staff and Methods
Giora Shamis is Chief Editor and CEO; Diane Shalem, English Editor and Head of Research. Both had long records as international correspondents with mainstream media before opening DEBKAfile in the summer of 2000.
DEBKAfile’s editorial desk, located in Jerusalem, Israel, is supported by half a dozen full- and part-time correspondents, contributors in world hot spots and a far-flung web of tried and proven sources.
We have also developed informal swap and links connections with reputable writers and publications on most continents.
DEBKAfile does not by-line its articles as part of a calculated and unique professional approach. Often group efforts, our articles represent diverse input and ideas from different sources as seen from various angles. Unlike the traditional “beat” approach to current affairs, this method broadens their scope, lifting their content out of the localized DEBKAfile is self-financed, has no axe to grind and speaks for no government, group, organ, institution, political party or interest.
plane and reducing its susceptibility to local interests and bias.
Some exclusive world beats in 2001:
- The Bush-Putin pact for collaboration in the war on terror
- Osama bin Laden’s secret citadel in Afghanistan
- The Chinese military presence with al Qaeda in Afghanistan
- The secret signing of a Syrian-Iraq military collaboration-cum-oil pipeline treaty
- Saudi Arabia’s refusal to let the US use its air bases for the war on terror
- How the terrorists planted a digital mole in the White House
The broadening of our story-bases is one of the ways DEBKAfile has jumped aboard the Internet revolution.
Another is its active interchanges with readers, who e-mail us in their thousands from far and wide, with comments – not all complimentary, thoughts and impressions, corrections, pointers and, sometimes, first-hand leads that after careful checking yield important disclosures.
We value these correspondents highly, read all their messages and reply to as many as we can.
The name DEBKA comes from the dance that is popular from Afghanistan to the Middle East and reflects the complexities of those regions. It is done differently in each country and by every ethnic group, like the approach to war and peace. The whole region is preoccupied with the subject, but each entity has its own take.
DEBKAfile also publishes a confidential newsletter DEBKA-Net-Weekly with exclusive political and military analyses and prognoses for subscribers ($120 p.a. for 48 issues).
Available too upon request is DEBKA Customized Service: Analyses, forecasts and tips, tailored to the specialized requirements (daily, weekly or monthly) of select clients.
Contact us at gedit@debka.com
For further information, you may apply to dedit@debka.com
Telephone: +972-2-582-4094 Fax: +972-2-532-4135
Address for sponsors: dedit@debka.com
Our Webmaster may be reached at admin@debka.com
25 November, 2001
What They Say About Us
“This Jerusalem-based site has achieved recent notoriety for its tip-sheet-like reports from the war zone… Debkafile has been ahead of he pack often enough to suggest that the reporting is good.”
Forbes.com Best of the Web Dec. 2001
“It just happens that a lot of the site’s subscribers are spies and reporters. The site,,, is a fascinating mix of information and speculation from the not-so-grey area where journalism meets intelligence work.
“So how reliable are DEBKAfile’sstories?
”…the two stories that were proved correct this week will add hugely to the site’s credibility. It said several weeks ago that George Bush had agreed with Vladimir Putin that the Russians should mobilize a million-strong army paid for by the US, to work side-by-side with America in an occupied post-war Afghanistan. A fortnight ago it reported that Bin Laden may fake his own death… hence the attempts to secure bin Laden DNA.”
Evening Standard, London, Jonathan Margolis, Nov. 28, 2001
“On several occasions, Debka.com has beaten the Western media to information that has later shown up in U.S. newspapers… At its best, Debka.com reads like a tip sheet from the desert, from people who know… If you want to be on the cutting edge during these days of crisis and international chaos, check out DEBKA for yourself.
Is it worth $120 a year to get the news before the rest of the world?”
THE NEW YORK OBSERVER Sept. 26, 2001
“The result isn’t much to look at, but Debkafile is beating out big-name American and international news sources on several key stories and attracting flocks of new readers in the process… USA today, CNN and NBC all reported last Friday that American and British forces were in Afghanistan scouting out terrorist hiding places; Debkafile had the same story days earlier, and included details about Russian intelligence officers and German commandos joining in the incursions.”
WIREDNEWS Oct. 13, 2001
“So, how do you find out what’s really going on in the U.S.’s mounting war against Osama bin Laden and his ilk hiding out in Afghanistan and other terrorist-protecting countries…? You might turn to where a lot of journalists are turning, Debka.com.
NEW MEDIA Oct. 3, 2001
DEBKAfile is quoted on Chinese Muslims helping the Taliban on
WTNT/Radio (Savage Nation broadcast/Mike Savage) Oct. 8, 2001
DEBKAfile is sourced for report on White Russia selling arms to Muslim extremists by Aftenposten, Norway Oct. 31, 2001
“…came to Debka via the Internet site of the Hamas organization. They frequently quote reports from Debka. It took a long time before I understood what this Debka was that they keep mentioning.”
Haaretz Magazine, Oct. 19, 2001
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