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Another article on a subject that has been a topic of discussion lately:

Al Qaeda Videos May Be Doctored
August 13, 2007

Media and terrorism experts alike have remarked on the increasing sophistication of al Qaeda propaganda videos that continue to be released by the group's media wing, as Sahab. One computer expert, however, has conducted extensive image analysis on many of the videos and concluded that in many cases the tapes were likely doctored to give a false impression of the speaker's location.

Neal Krawetz, founder of Hacker Factor, a computer security and consulting firm, created a computer program which he uses to analyze screen frames from various al Qaeda videos, including those of al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al Zawahri and American al Qaeda commander Adam Gadahn. His software suggests that in many cases the sophisticated backgrounds were likely added after the video of the speaker was recorded.

Photos: See What's Behind al Qaeda's Propaganda Tapes
By looking at the error levels of the different elements in the still frames, or JPEGs, he can tell which elements are older and which are newer. In other words, he can tell which areas of the video were modified more recently. For example, in one video of Zawahri released in July of last year, he appears to be seated in a news studio complete with a backdrop of images of the World Trade Center attacks and hijacker Mohammed Atta.

Excerpted

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/08/al-qaeda-videos.html

Russia seeking two suspects in terror blast probe
Tue, 14 Aug 2007

Moscow - Russian officials investigating a bomb attack on the country's most vital rail connection on Tuesday said they were seeking information on two suspects seen on the rail line by passengers prior to the blast, news agency Interfax reported citing Interior Ministry officials. Experts had drawn up sketches of the suspects based on eyewitness descriptions.

The remote-detonated blast late Monday blew the Moscow-St Petersburg Nevsky Express, one of Russia's most modern trains, off the tracks as it travelled at around 180 kilometres an hour with 251 people on board.

Investigators said remains of a homemade bomb with the force of two kilos of TNT were found. The blast left a metre-and-a-half-deep crater at the Novograd Veliki site near Malaya Vishera 500 kilometres north of Moscow, Itar-Tass news agency reported.

Excerpted

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/93573.html

FBI, ICE disputes impede terror probes
Aug.14.2007

WASHINGTON — Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents ignored or dropped leads and at times entire cases involving terrorist activities because of disputes with the FBI, says a report by federal officials released Monday.

In examining 10 cases that began at ICE and were taken over by the FBI, the inspectors general of the Homeland Security and the Justice departments found that seven suffered from lack of cooperation until they were taken over by the Joint Terrorism Task Forces, which the FBI controls. The report cited delays and refusals by the FBI involving investigative actions that needed court approval, which led ICE agents to avoid leads and cases that would have required FBI involvement.

"We were ... extremely troubled that ICE agents would say that their agents declined to undertake a case of potential national security significance for such petty reasons," the inspectors general wrote. Still, they said, "while the hostility to the FBI's dominance in the field of terrorist financing investigations is palpable, we have no direct evidence that any ICE agent has actually been derelict."

The report, which was dated July 2, was posted online Monday by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, a member of the Judiciary Committee. He had asked the inspectors general to examine the effectiveness of an agreement between the Homeland Security and Justice departments aimed at addressing the coordination of terrorist financing investigations. Using a hypothetical example, the report said, if a case involved two leads — one involving illegal drugs and the other involving terrorism — an agent would pursue the drug lead in order to avoid working with the FBI. In such cases, the agent did not always forward the terrorism lead to the joint task force, the report said.

Excerpted

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-08-14-fbi-immigration_N.htm

Al Qaeda Videos May Be Doctored

I am not sure why this keeps coming up lately... it always seemed that most were likely shot in front of a black/green screen then mixed with a computer produced graphic as a background. They have learned time and time again that any indication where they are can become a targeting device.. some, like Zarqawi, learned the very hard way.

If Zawahri travels (or sits comfortably at a house somewhere) with a digital video camera and a blank background screen, he can record, pass off a small chip to a courier (or, more likely, upload via anonymous server) to the producers and they have it on the "street" in little time.

Yes, their media wing is relatively sophisticated -- but it's not necessarily any more sophisticated than a skilled amateur with video editing tools at their disposal. Adding in a background (perhaps from multiple images) is probably not terribly difficult.

An argument could probably be made that there are coded messages in the images chosen, but that has always seemed to be somewhat of a stretch... Some props are seen throughout time (like the weapons), that's clearly intentional but might just be for an overall message of militancy in that piece of propaganda.