Posted on 08/20/2005 12:25:44 AM PDT by Straight Vermonter
Dubai - An al-Qaeda linked-group has launched what it calls a media jihad, or holy war, to "terrorise" United States-led forces in Iraq and their families by bombarding them with e-mails and by posting gruesome photos online.
The group, calling itself the "Brigade of Media Jihad", called on its militants to "post terrifying pictures on the internet in order to terrorise the enemy", said a statement on an Islamist website whose authenticity could not be verified.
"Our objective is to undermine the morale of our enemies, dash their hopes and dreams and reveal the truth of what is happening in Iraq. The media war is an integral part of the war on the ground," said the statement.
Breaking soldiers morale
The group said it has launched its media offensive in several languages "on hundreds of internet forums and through horrific e-mails sent to enemy soldiers and their families in order to terrorise them and break their morale".
"We have succeeded in attacking 1,600 forums and electronic addresses through which our messages have reached 60,000 people," it said.
The relatives of US soldiers are being shown "the reality that their sons are living" in Iraq, the group boasted.
The statement accused "Crusaders" of controlling the mainstream media "and so we decided to use an important outlet, the Internet, that they cannot control".
Islamist groups, including those linked to al-Qaeda, have posted hundreds of statements on the Internet over the past two years to claim attacks on US-led forces in Iraq and Iraqis and others who work for them.
Grim footage
The online statements are often accompanied by video to provide proof of bombings, kidnappings and killings.
The brigade claims to be part of the "World Islamic Media Front", which has uploaded on to Internet sites footage of military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places where Islamist militants operate.
Last week, it posted a film, Top Ten, in which it showed a selection of attacks on US troops carried out by the Islamic Army in Iraq and the al-Qaeda organisation in the Land of Two Rivers, the group of al-Qaeda frontman Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
The footage showed the bodies of alleged US soldiers, mutilated and burnt.
Arab satellite channels, mainly the Qatar-based al-Jazeera, regularly air the videos, making a point to say that their authenticity cannot be verified.
The US administration has repeatedly accused Arab television channels, particularly al-Jazeera, of being a key tool for extremist propaganda through its coverage of attacks in Iraq.
The brigade also published "a technical document to help the mujahedeen make the best use of the camera".
It advises militants to take close-ups of the site of an operation before it is carried out, "film as clearly as possible images of horror caused by the explosion and record the wills of martyrdom-seekers", or suicide bombers.
my eyes
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dang, this was gonna be my last message before going to get some shuteye! I'm ruined!
I wonder what old movies are on tonight....
Don't most Americans have fire walls and anti-spam stuff today? How are these "messages"? going to get through?
These guys have reached as many people (60,000 according to the article) as Air-head America!
I wonder if they owe anybody any money.
They can post all this stuff they want. It will only serve to piss off our troops and make them more fierce fighters.
I'll tell you one thing, if any of us tried posting this kind of trash on the internet our wonderful government would be knocking on our door within minutes!
Tell me there isn't some incest going on here!
They all look alike!
Was it Bill or Hitlary that was Helen's love child?
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
LOL...these "media jihadis" don't want to strap on the old bomb belt. It's much easier to send vile emails to soldiers' families in the US. I certainly hope they have Cindy Sheehan on their list, but then, she's on their side. The solution would be to put a smart bomb down on every internet cafe in the Middle East that we can trace their emails to.
D.N.C talking points.
Al Jazeera West (CNN), is doing the terrorists' job for them. Six AM, and they're showing Cindy Sheehan's life story.
"Our objective is to undermine the morale of our enemies, dash their hopes and dreams, reveal the truth of what is happening in Iraq, and sell a ton of Viagra".
Yawn...terrorized by spam? Bring it on. Would love to see the enticing titles they'll give their e-mails.
70 HOT VIRGINS WANT TO MEET YOU TONIGHT!
Shouldn't this be hotlinked to the rest of the Cindy Sheehan stuff?
The definitive link to Al Qaeda in Iraq.
re: terrorists are going to do for us what our media refuses to do
What a great observation!
So why exactly is it that we are not going after these guys. I would think tracking them down would be fairly easy.
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