Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is starting a broad effort in Pakistan and Afghanistan to prevent the Taliban from using radio stations and Web sites to intimidate civilians and plan attacks, according to senior U.S. officials. As part of the classified effort, American military and intelligence personnel are working to jam the unlicensed radio stations in Pakistan's lawless regions on the Afghanistan border that Taliban fighters use to broadcast threats and decrees. U.S. personnel are also trying to block the Pakistani chat rooms and Web sites that are part of the country's burgeoning extremist underground. The Web sites frequently contain...

The Internet has become a favored propaganda tool for Islamists, terrorists and al-Qaeda types the world over. It is used to distribute their videos, release their fatwa’s, troll for recruits, shore up their base, coordinate their activities and influence the mainstream media. It has also given birth to a whole class of ‘anti-jihadists’ who now wage their own propaganda war of commentary, analysis, and occasional mockery using websites and blogs as their personal weapons in the Terror Wars. The internet jihadist has now been matched by the keyboard crusader. Some present themselves as scholarly, analytical, ‘think tank’ type websites. Others...