| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Tech |
| Jihadis Turn to the Web for Tactical and Training Purposes |
| 2005-08-08 |
| Edited for a taste of what the article is about. al Qaeda and allied groups are using the Internet to recruit more fighters, spread their message and train their followers to commit acts of terror. Samples of terrorist manuals and screenshots of jihadist Web sites are also available. Al Qaeda suicide bombers and ambush units in Iraq routinely depend on the Web for training and tactical support, relying on the Internet's anonymity and flexibility to operate with near impunity in cyberspace. In Qatar, Egypt and Europe, cells affiliated with al Qaeda that have recently carried out or seriously planned bombings have relied heavily on the Internet. Such cases have led Western intelligence agencies and outside terrorism specialists to conclude that the "global jihad movement," sometimes led by al Qaeda fugitives but increasingly made up of diverse "groups and ad hoc cells," has become a "Web-directed" phenomenon, as a presentation for U.S. government terrorism analysts by longtime State Department expert Dennis Pluchinsky put it. Hampered by the nature of the Internet itself, the government has proven ineffective at blocking or even hindering significantly this vast online presence. Among other things, al Qaeda and its offshoots are building a massive and dynamic online library of training materials -- some supported by experts who answer questions on message boards or in chat rooms -- covering such varied subjects as how to mix ricin poison, how to make a bomb from commercial chemicals, how to pose as a fisherman and sneak through Syria into Iraq, how to shoot at a U.S. soldier, and how to navigate by the stars while running through a night-shrouded desert. These materials are cascading across the Web in Arabic, Urdu, Pashto and other first languages of jihadist volunteers. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #2 I'd like to think that is already happening, Dreadnought. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-08-08 15:36 |
| #1 Of course, this game can be played both ways. There's nothing stopping us from setting up our own websites, full of bomb making instructions guaranteed to be more hazardous to the the maker than the target. And why not set up our own cells while we're at it? Jihadis check in, but they don't check out. Do this often enough and no jihadi will trust a damn thing he sees on the net. |
| Posted by: Dreadnought 2005-08-08 10:56 |