Posted on 06/13/2004 1:27:42 PM PDT by sarcasm
MANAMA, Bahrain - Web sites featuring videos of the beheading of Americans or captives pleading for their lives have become part of an electronic war of incitement, humiliation and terrorist outreach, experts say, providing a window into the minds of militant Muslims who hate the West.
The latest dramatic Web posting came Saturday, a short video that showed no faces but included a voice yelling in English: "No, no, please!"
The video showed a shot fired, then the scene of the falling body of what appeared to be a Western man — identified as Robert Jacobs, an American killed by suspected al-Qaida militants in Saudi Arabia last week. Two gunmen then fired at least 10 more shots, before one of them kneeled and motioned as if he was beheading the fallen man.
An earlier video showed the beheading of American Nicholas Berg in Iraq (news - web sites). The CIA (news - web sites) has said the black-clad militant shown on the video decapitating Berg was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a former commander for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) now believed to be leading resistance to Iraq's U.S. occupation.
"The aim is really to spread as much terror as possible and make it available to as many people as possible, especially in the West," where Internet use is more common, said Dia'a Rashwan, a Cairo expert on Islamic militants.
In what Rashwan calls a a war of "ideology, images and perception," the Web is a place for militants and their sympathizers to exchange the latest news, debate their definition of Islam, share how-to manuals, extoll their heroes and vilify their enemies.
Images of American soldiers pointing guns at children, Iraqi prisoners being tortured, and Muslim rebels in the Philippines being decapitated pop up again and again. Contributors sign off with pictures of bin Laden or large machine guns.
Militants can put images on the Internet most TV news producers would consider too shocking to televise. The Internet, though, also can be subject to censorship.
Postings signed by the Saudi branch of al-Qaida — everything from claims of responsibility for attacks in the kingdom to training and diet menus for a fit fighter — started popping up on a sub-domain of a Qatar-based Web-hosting company run by Murad Alazzeh.
Alazzeh told The Associated Press he shut down one of his two servers after his site was repeatedly hacked. He said he has cut subscribers from 48,000 to 4,000.
The Web savvy, though, have ways around the gatekeepers.
The Malaysian company that hosted the site on which the Berg beheading video was first posted shut it down days later, but surfers combing Islamic forums could find it elsewhere.
Contributors on forums or chat rooms alert one another to the latest postings. Links are sometimes written in a kind of code, with letters or numerals missing from addresses. The initiated or the patient can figure out what's missing by perusing the rest of the posting.
Experts say Islamic groups were among the first in the Arab world to realize the importance of staying connected. Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood uses dozens of Web sites to post literature banned by the government. Lebanon's Hezbollah is known for the sophistication of the propaganda on its Web site.
Until the site was taken over by an American hacker, one site appeared to be the place where al-Qaida reported on developments in fighting in Afghanistan (news - web sites), and, some law enforcement officials believe, posted low-priority information for its to fighters. Some top al-Qaida operatives were trained as cyber specialists.
The mushrooming of the sites and forums is an indication of the growing number of people who sympathize with militants who argue Islam is under attack in by the West, said Rashwan.
Young, educated, unemployed people can spend hours managing or contributing to such sites from their own homes, rather than traveling to Iraq or Afghanistan to do battle. Their targets are people like them in the developing world — educated and disenfranchised — and Westerners.
"They have no other part in holy war. Electronic holy war is their contribution," said Rashwan, whose book "Electronic Jihad" is to be published soon in Arabic and was to be translated into English soon.
Some say the sites may offer well-hidden clues about coming attacks. Other experts say they have little to do with terrorist operations or planning, but prepare the ground for recruiting.
"Over time, the propaganda is part of the conveyer belt to encourage people to figure out where they can join," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, an Alexandria, Virginia, research center on security issues.
While Net cops have many monitoring tools, those who want to hide their identities and intentions can do so on the Web.
"It is difficult to know when a statement is posted, it is difficult to know if this is someone who has sworn allegiance to (bin Laden). ... It is difficult to understand who is the ultimate sponsor," Pike said.
Hmmm, I think they're trying to get every last American armed & ready for em.
There's been a whole lot about Americans failing to understand the mind of those in other nations. From my POV, it's a two way street. Being misunderestimated has it's drawbacks, but it also has it's advantages.
Ping to this thread...
===
===
LINKS OF INTEREST
http://www.truthusa.com/LinksOfInterest.html
SEPTEMBER 11, 2001: ATTACK ON AMERICA!
http://www.truthusa.com/911.html
Thanks for the ping.
The terrorists using every tool and avenue they can.
They also know how to use propaganda.
Ping
After all, they have the full cooperation of the u.s. media, hollywierd, and all tyhe dnc whores to help their cause.
I wish I were young enough to be in a rifle company again.
5.56mm
There's been a whole lot about Americans failing to understand the mind of those in other nations. From my POV, it's a two way street. Being misunderestimated has it's drawbacks, but it also has it's advantages."
The thing they don't have the capacity to understand is the nature of a free people.
Terrorism is a double-edged sword.
Since we can't tell which raghead country the next attack is coming from, we'll just have to share the pain.
John Pike again.
It is difficult to understand who is the ultimate sponsor," Pike said.
Try this john, it doesn't matter.
(he is still trying to assign responsibility to
some one else.)
Yep.
OPINION: The extremists and terrorists (domestic and foreign) seem to be 98% full of chicken manure on the 'net -- pure evil propaganda. It's the other 2% that should be monitored closely.
I even see people on the left talking about arming themselves. Course, they're talking about doing it cuz they think they might have to protect themselves from those of us on the right. LOL Regardless, if it comes down to the battle for our freedoms, as opposed to inflicting something unwanted on others, the clarion call of freedom is a mighty force to be reckoned with.
Thanks for the ping.
You're welcome.
June 13, 2004
Jeremy Reynalds
P O Box 27693
Alb., NM 87125-7693
Tel: (505) 400-7145
www.joyjunction.org
More Disturbing Pictures of America's Military Circulate on the Internet
A picture showing what appears to be a member of the U.S. Military Police with a dog on a leash dressed with Arab head gear is making its way around radical Islamic internet sites.
While there is no caption accompanying the picture and no way of knowing whether it is genuine, in view of the Abu Graib prison scandal just the picture's existence is sure to inflame an already very volatile situation.
The picture shows the apparent military police officer (MP) looking down at the dog and smiling. The MP is standing on gravel in front of a grassy incline. A source who tracks radical Islamic activity on the Internet said while the picture has "floating around" for a while she had not seen the Arabic looking text clearly visible where the gravel and grass meet.
An additional picture also making its way around jihadi groups shows a close up of the dog dressed in the same Arab headgear but without the MP.
An official from U.S. Central Command said one always questions the authenticity of such pictures.
A spokesman from the U.S. Dept. of Defense speaking on condition of anonymity said he was unable to say anything without knowing the context in which the picture was taken, but that the military does take situations like this seriously and they are investigated.
For example, the official said, there are a number of ongoing investigations into the Abu Graib Prison scandal. "Once those investigations are complete we will make the results available to the general public."
While the authenticity of these pictures is not known, Islamic militants appear to be posting them on web sites and chat groups in order to stir up hatred against the West. But the postings on these radical Islamic Web sites are getting increasingly vitriolic, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
Sites featuring videos of the beheading of Americans or captives pleading for their lives are become part of an electronic war of incitement, humiliation and terrorist outreach, experts told the AP, providing a window into the minds of militant Muslims who hate the West.
The latest dramatic Web posting came Saturday, a short video that showed no faces but included a voice yelling in English, "No, no, please!"
The AP reported the video showed a shot fired, then the scene of the falling body of what appeared to be a Western man — identified as Robert Jacobs, an American killed by suspected al-Qaida militants in Saudi Arabia last week. Two gunmen then fired at least 10 more shots, before one of them kneeled and gestured as if he was beheading the fallen man.
An earlier video showed the graphic beheading by militants of American Nicholas Berg in Iraq.
"The aim is really to spread as much terror as possible and make it available to as many people as possible, especially in the West," where Internet use is more common, Dia'a Rashwan, a Cairo expert on Islamic militants, told the AP.
In what Rashwan called a war of "ideology, images and perception," he told the AP the Web is a place for militants and their sympathizers to exchange the latest news, debate their definition of Islam, share how- to manuals, extoll their heroes and vilify their enemies.
Images of American soldiers pointing guns at children, Iraqi prisoners being tortured, and high tech visual images calling for young Muslims to get involved in Islamic holy war reoccur routinely.
Militants can put images on the Internet most TV news producers would consider too shocking to televise, the AP reported. When web sites are closed down they routinely soon reappear, hosted by a different Internet service provider.
Contributors on forums or chat rooms alert one another to the latest postings. For example. The link to an al Qaida site was found by perusing a Hamas bulletin board.
Experts say Islamic groups were among the first in the Arab world to realize the importance of staying connected, the AP reported. Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood uses dozens of Web sites to post literature banned by the government. Lebanon's Hezbollah is known for the sophistication of the propaganda on its Web site.
The proliferation of the sites and forums is an indication of the growing number of people who sympathize with militants arguing that Islam is under attack in by the West, Rashwan told the AP.
Young, educated, and even unemployed people can fight an Islamic holy war from their homes rather than traveling to Iraq to do battle. Their targets are people like them in the developing world — educated and disenfranchised — and Westerners, the AP reported.
"They have no other part in holy war. Electronic holy war is their contribution," Rashwan told the AP.
Some experts say the terror sites may offer well-hidden clues about coming attacks. Other experts told the AP they have little to do with terrorist operations or planning, but prepare the ground for recruiting.
"Over time, the propaganda is part of the conveyer belt to encourage people to figure out where they can join," John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, an Alexandria, Virginia, research center on security issues, told the AP.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.