Moslem protestors carrying English signs insulting to them, not Americans-Fiction!

Picture of Apparent Moslem Protestors With English Signs Insulting to Them-Fiction!

Summary of the eRumor: The message says that the picture is of a group of Syrians who can't speak Arabic, much less English. They allegedly hired an English-speaking man to create signs for them that they thought would be insulting to Americans. The man was a retired U.S. Army sergeant, however, and they unwittingly conducted their protest with signs that said "WE ARE IDIOTS!", "BOMB US NEXT!", and "PLEASE KICK OUR ASSES!"

The Truth: There is no evidence that this ever really happened. There is no confirmation that this is a picture of Syrians. From evaluating the pictures itself, it's obvious that someone used a computer program to replace whatever messages were originally on the signs with the English phrases. One of our TruthOrFiction.com subscribers pointed out that the lettering on the signs doesn't conform to the uneven surface on the banner and that when the picture is enlarged one of the letters is actually pasted over a portion of one of the men's foreheads, a clear indication that the messages on the signs were pasted over the original picture. Last updated 1/1/06

A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:
Subject: Fw: This is priceless Most Syrians struggle to even read Arabic - much less have a clue about English. So, how does a group of Syrian protest leaders create the most impact with their signs by having the standard "Death To Americans" (etc.) slogans printed in English? Answer: They simply hire an English-speaking civilian to translate and write their statements in English. Unfortunately, they were unaware the "civilian" insurance company employee hired for the job was a retired US Army sergeant. Obviously, pictures of the protest rally never made their way through the Arab TV network, but the results were "Priceless".