Posted on 01/05/2008 3:29:12 PM PST by Cannoneer No. 4
Joseph Shahda: Internet Counterterrorism Shadow Warrior
Jerry Gordon
In the world of special ops against Islamic terrorism, there is group of talented private “shadow warriors” engaged in fighting the little known “internet Jihad” war. One of those “privateers”, Joseph Shahda, emerged from the shadows in a series of investigative articles by New York Times reporter, Michael Moss, that appeared on October 15th and 21st.
The first article discussed the internet Jihadis themselves, including, most dramatically, 21-year-old Samir Khan of North Carolina who ran an internet relay for al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, seemingly with impunity. In the October 21st article, Joseph Shahda emerged from the shadows, replete with photograph, to discuss his private efforts that have successfully taken down several dozen Jihadi websites and forums. These were spreading hate and training potential terrorists in techniques that ultimately can be used to kill our troops on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq and even here in the US. Shahda does this at great personal risk, including having received several death threats.
Shahda is uniquely qualified to engage in this private shadow war. Born and raised in a Christian community in Lebanon, he is multi-lingual and conversant in several Arabic dialects. He was educated in science and engineering in both Lebanon and the U.S. Shahda considers his efforts to eliminate Jihadi terrorist websites as “payback” in gratitude to America, the country that gave him the opportunity to become an accomplished immigrant and professional engineer. His technical training, along with his linguistic and cultural skills, allows him to surf the Internet to strike at Jihadi websites and bring them down. He does this without government or private support, working several hours each evening.
Mr. Shahda has family back in Lebanon. Unfortunately, he can’t return there. Instead, his parents travel to visit him. The reason? Hezbollah has him on their watch list and will attempt to kidnap him should he return there. Fearless, Shahda is steadfast and perseveres in the battle against internet Jihad.
We interviewed Shahda for the New English Review and subsequently have given him opportunities to identify specific Internet Jihadi threats. One of those threats was the purported Al Qaeda “cyberspace attack” scheduled for Veteran’s weekend. Shahda’s notice of this attack may have spoiled their efforts.
Shahda’s commented:
In every passing minute that these terrorist websites/forums are still up more people are recruited for Jihad and taught how to conduct terrorist actions. This is simply not acceptable during a time of war. The US government, in my opinion, is divided on the issues of what to do about the terrorist websites. There are some people in the intelligence community who believe there is a value to gain from keeping these websites up. Sadly, they could not be more wrong. Getting real actionable intelligence from a terrorist website or forum is extremely difficult and requires a lot of time and a lot of luck. In many cases, the small amounts of actionable intelligence would only be noticed after the event occurs.
Ironically, two of the more dangerous al Qaeda websites: "Ekhass" and "Al Hesbah" are hosted by an Internet Service Provider here in the US. Shahda is involved in a controversy about shutting down these two terrorist websites and forums hosted by PalTalk in Manhattan. The controversy has to do with whether, by maintaining these websites and chat rooms, they provide actionable intelligence. The contretemps between Shahda and certain Internet counterterrorism monitoring groups surfaced in a current profile of him in Boston Magazine entitled, ”Click, Click, Boom”.
In the Boston Magazine article, Dr. James Forest, Director of Terrorism Studies at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point said:
“You’re basically playing whack-a-mole. My own personal belief is that Mr. Shahda should leave such endeavors to the professionals.”
Shahda is not alone in advocating the strategy of shutting down the terrorist websites to protect our national and homeland security. Senator Joseph Lieberman, chairman of the US Senate Homeland Security Committee has taken the same position. Shahda points to an October 2007 Homeland Security report, released by the White House, which indicated that they are going to go after the terrorist websites and forums and said “…we will seek to deny the Internet to our terrorist enemies as an effective safe haven for their recruitment, fund-raising, training, and operational planning.”
As the author of the Boston Magazine article noted:
“With nothing more than a pair of laptops, Joseph Shahda is waging a do-it-yourself war on terrorism that is proving very successful at frustrating his targets. Not to mention the federal government.”
What are the rest of you doing?
ping
Did you ever get your gun?
Joseph you be very careful.
must read, save for later.
Being on the Hezbollah watch list is a badge of honor, sir. I admire you more than ever.
bttt
Ahh, yes, the old “leave it to the professionals (government)” argument posited by those who oppose this private party’s efforts. Phoenix memo? That was actually sourced from a government employee, but look what the higher ups did. And those are the folks in charge. The subject of this article is an unsung and un-thanked hero. He gets my salute.
Atleast he has whacked a few moles.
You’re a hero, jveritas.
Mr. Shahda deserves great respect.
The ODA commander neither commands nor controls the G-Chief. He convinces the G-Chief that not only is the idea a good one, the whole thing was his idea all along.
Not all soldiers carry guns.....
Outstanding post! Outstanding human being! Thank you, Joseph!
I am proud of your FRiend! Stand tall but be very careful. God bless and God Speed.
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