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Iraqi
Insurgents Spread Message Via Internet |
Posted:
07.16.07
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Insurgent groups in Iraq are using the Internet to spread propaganda,
share information about enemies to target and try to influence
media around the world.
Printer-friendly version: PDF
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 The
free and fast flow of information on the Internet has become a
weapon wielded by insurgents in Iraq.
Last year, a report about weaknesses with an armored vehicle
called the Stryker used by U.S. forces in Iraq that was originally
posted on a U.S. Web site ended up on an al-Qaida Web site within
hours, according to Rita Katz, director of the SITE Institute,
which tracks and investigates terrorist Web activity for government
agencies and corporate clients.
The terrorist group used the Web to get the information to fighters
in Iraq.
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Shaping propaganda |
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The Internet also provides an international platform for fund
raising, propaganda and recruitment.
Hackers use stolen credit card numbers to buy weapons and supplies,
and terrorist groups have created media production branches to
create and post videos that glorify violence against U.S. troops
and Iraqis.
The largest producer is the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella
organization for Sunni insurgents affiliated with al-Qaida in
Iraq,  which
releases a video almost every day, said Laura Mansfield, a terrorism
analyst who runs a blog of terrorist Web activity and translates
Arabic material for Western media outlets.
The group released a video in June that claimed it had custody
of two missing U.S. soldiers. The video showed the soldiers' ID
cards and insurgents planning the kidnapping. It was picked up
and used in Western media outlets.
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Expanded
reach |
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Mainstream Arabic media have been the preferred outlet for jihadists
and insurgent videos for years, but increasingly, videos are released
with English subtitles aimed for viewing by Western audiences.
"They are very media savvy and they are manipulating the
heck out of the media," Mansfield said. "The videos
are more flashy and the graphics are better ... some of them could
be network documentaries. ... The software has really improved
over the last few years."
Iraqis are not necessarily the target audience for online insurgent
materials, rather the propaganda is often aimed at attracting
foreign fighters to Iraq, according to Mansfield.
With ideological writings and videos available online in many
different languages, the Internet can act as a virtual madrassa,
or school for extremists, according to terrorism expert Michael
Doran, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense.
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Jihadist
games |
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There also are popular online jihad-based video games and interactive
features.
Lt. Col. Joseph Felter, director of the Combat Terrorism Center
at the U.S. Military Academy, described at a Senate hearing one
example of a jihadist group holding an online competition in  which
the prize was to be able to launch a rocket at a U.S. base via
a computer.
Meanwhile, those working to shut down terrorist sites face an
ever-shifting target.
"There are a whole series of people that go around trying
to find all these [Web sites] and shut them down," Mansfield
said. "They will be back up in 24 hours somewhere else anyway,
it really doesn't slow things down."
--By
Talea Miller, Online NewsHour
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