Finding Jihadists online requires the sleuthing of an Archangel

Time has proven anti-Jihadist Internet sleuth codename Archangel right: Congress: Al-Qaeda is using the Internet to recruit terrorists in the U.S. Jihadists on the Internet are prolific, so much so that they mirror a line in use during the Cold War: “They’re everywhere!” “In six years I have bookmarked some 6,000+jihadist websites and the list is still growing,” Archangel told Canada Free Press (CFP) last July. And now just two months shy of one year later, the bipartisan report by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has been unveiled by Senators Joe Lieberman ((I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) at a press conference on Capitol Hill Thursday.

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Lieberman and Collins told reporters that al Qaeda and other Islamic terrorist groups are using the Internet to recruit and train extremists in the United States. Lieberman defined “homegrown” terrorists as American citizens or long-term residents, “The sophisticated use of the Internet by international terrorist organizations and their followers is increasingly a cause of this homegrown terrorism,” he said. The Internet, the report says, gives disaffected people who have access to a computer a way “to identify and connect with networks throughout the world…and gain expertise that previously was available only in overseas training camps.” On July 20, 2007, Archangel explained in a CFP story why the Worldwide Internet is so vital and valuable to terrorists: “It has removed the need for a physical training camp,” he said, “When the United Stares went into Afghanistan after 9/11, the primary targets being bombed and raided were the long established training camps scattered through Afghanistan. Once we had destroyed the camps, al Qaeda simply went online.” “It gave them mobility, secrecy and allows for training new recruits and allows for further training of existing members,” he said, The number of Jihadists online is definitely on the increase. Collins said it is troubling that “we don’t know how many people are being radicalized because it’s very difficult to track.” The report calls for better coordination to meet the growing threat. “We need a well-coordinated national plan to counter terrorists’ use of the Internet and to isolate and discredit their violent ideology and, of course, the means to stop them before they carry out their violent, hate-filled acts against this country and its citizens,” Lieberman said. Lieberman and Collins also called on American Muslim leaders to help counter the threat. Lieberman said it was a mistake to underestimate the tactics used by “the minority” of Muslims, who believe in Jihad, or struggle, struggle, to create a caliphate, or global Islamic state. “The terrorists, who some still mistakenly dismiss as people living in caves, are as sophisticated in their communication abilities today as the very sophisticated members of this generation,” Lieberman said. He said that latter day sophistication for terrorists includes the coordination of the message being disseminated to American through virtual clearinghouses. Al Qaeda or allied violent Islamic organizations manage a multi-tiered only media operation consisting of several production units to create content with the core message used to recruit and train terrorists. The congressional report cites one website, at-Tibyan Publications, which posted the text of “39 Ways to Serve and Participate in Jihad. It offers tips on fundraising, weapons training and “raising children to love Jihad and those who wage it”. The congressional report concludes that “this is a critical challenge for homeland security of the United States; one the U.S. government must work quickly and aggressively to overcome. The safety of the American people depends on it.” If there is one thing that CFP’s July 2007 story proves, it’s that the U.S. government needs Codename Archangel. Related Reading:

NATO allies sign cyber defense pact

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Seven NATO allies signed a deal Wednesday to fund a research center to boost the alliance's defenses against cyber attacks, seen as a growing threat to military and civilian computer networks. The center is based in the Baltic nation of Estonia, which was hit last year by an unprecedented wave of cyber attacks that crippled government and corporate computer networks. The attacks followed a dispute over the relocation of a Soviet war memorial in the Estonian capital, leading many to suspect the Kremlin was behind the virtual strikes. Moscow denied involvement. Defense chiefs from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Italy, Spain and Slovakia all signed the agreement to provide staff and funding for the center in Tallinn. More...