March 4, 2007
Terrorists Take Recruitment Efforts Online
Scott Pelley On The Use Of The Internet To Recruit Jihadists
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Jihadists Recruited On Web
In Full: Army Brigadier General John Custer warns that the Internet is the single most important venue for the radicalization of Islamic youth. Scott Pelley reports.
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Taking The Battle To The Web
Gen. John Custer and Stephen Ulph characterize what terrorists have been able to achieve online.
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Pelley's Reporter's Notebook
Only On The Web: Scott Pelley discusses his "60 Minutes" report on how Islamic extremists are using the Internet for propaganda and recruiting.
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It is certain that virtual reality is doing real damage with intelligence, recruiting, fund raising and the spread of Islamic extremism. This assault may start with bytes, not bullets, but American generals will tell you, it’s a hot war all the same on a battlefield called "jihad.com."
"Without a doubt, the Internet is the single most important venue for the radicalization of Islamic youth," says Army Brigadier General John Custer, who is the is head of intelligence at central command, responsible for Iraq and Afghanistan.
Custer says he knows where the enemy finds an inexhaustible supply of suicide warriors. "I see 16, 17-year-olds who have been indoctrinated on the Internet turn up on the battlefield. We capture 'em, we kill 'em every day in Iraq, in Afghanistan," he says.
Asked if the Internet is training up new battalions of those young people, Custer tells Pelley, "It's a self-fulfilling prophesy that’s exactly what the jihadist Internet is there to do."
And this, Custer told 60 Minutes, is just how they do it. "You start off with a site that looks like current news in Iraq. With a single click, you're at a active jihad attack site. The real meat of the jihad Web site, Jihad Internet. Beheadings, bombings, and blood. You can see humvees blown up. You can see American bodies drug through the street. You can see small arms attacks. Anything you might want in an attack video. Next link will take you to a motivational site, where mortar operatives, suicide bombers, are pictured in heaven. You can you see their farewell speeches. Another click and you're at a site where you can download scripted talking points that validate you have religious justification for mass murder," he explains.
"It's ironic, isn't it, this whole idea of martyrs living forever. Turns out to be true," Pelley remarks.
"It is," Custer remarks. "Every martyr craves immortality. And on the Internet, they can have it."
The number of Internet sites has exploded since 9/11. It’s estimated there are 5,000 today. Custer says anyone watching them could actually believe the U.S. is on the run.
"It's a war of perceptions. They understand the power of the Internet. They don't have to win in the tactical battlefield. They never will. No platoon has ever been defeated in Afghanistan or Iraq. But, it doesn't matter. It's irrelevant," Custer says.
That’s what Abu Musab al Zarqawi understood when he used the Internet to promote himself as head of al Qaeda in Iraq.
"When Abu Musab al Zarqawi, a street thug, beheaded an American businessman he became a rock star over night," Custer says.
"Nicholas Berg was beheaded just to provide material for broadcast," Pelley remarks.
"Exactly, Custer agrees. "The same with American contractor's bodies in Fallujah in April of '04. The same is Daniel Pearl havin' his throat slit havin' a gun put to his head. The power of the Internet is unbelievable."
That power is so menacing, General Custer wouldn’t say anything at all about how the U.S. is fighting the Jihadi Internet online. But 60 Minutes found other Americans who have started their own counter attack. Aaron Weisburd joined the battle from his home in Illinois.
"I'm in Carbondale. In the middle of middle America. Waging war against them. It makes a very small world. What works in a cave in Afghanistan, you know, works in a living room in Carbondale," Weisburd says.
Weisburd was so angered by what he saw on the Web that he quit his job as a programmer and now spends every day attacking extremist websites.
His goal is to mess with them online. "Absolutely. In as many different ways as I can," he says.
And he says he's "sowing seeds of distrust."
Weisburd cooperates with the FBI, Homeland Security and British police, all of whom know him as unrelenting. He blows the whistle on the Web sites and asks Internet providers to take them down. He says he’s helped shut down nearly a thousand.
Produced By Harry Radliffe
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Scroll through the information at www.memri.org, look at the videos, and then, with all due respect for your opinion, explain why the 60 Minutes report should be unbiased.
MUST stick together on the Issue of Terrorism, again Thank you for reporting on this a new Light for all viewers to see & shed some new light this Heartwrenching subject! GOD Bless you all! Nick! B.
This is a total government propaganda hit piece to take our internet away....trust me...they have been planning on way to restict our the internet and they will use this B.S. to do it....wake up America
www.prisonplanet.tv
I am a PC, network, & web literate former LEO. How can I help?
frankme
frank@ulaca.org
AMERICA IS FASCIST
THE ELITE OWN AND RUN THE "NEWS".
OUR MAINSTREAM NEWS IS PROPAGANDA.
THE AMAZING PART IS HOW POWERFUL THE PROPAGANDA IS. MORONS.
With all the measures put into place and how peoples' connections are LOGGED by ISPs (and now mandated by federal law if I recall correctly), there is little anyone needs to worry about. If some b******* wants to talk about blowing things up via the internet, the sites visited are a giveaway. Heck, with all the lawsuits the RIAA has filed against folks who share music files over the "anonymous" peer sessions, it's being tracked and the real troublemakers are being gone after.
Relax, folks. There is nothing to be paranoid about.
Those opposed to the War need to realize their antics are Killing Our Sons and Daughters. The Janes, Barbaras, Seans, Pelosis and the Merthas are contributing also.............This is Treason and should be dealt with firmly. The American People hate it.
Let's Sound Off to the World, These IDIOTS don't speak for America...........
If we want our young people in uniform home, we must prevail................
To: minutes4u, fascistusa, lOVE IT OR LEAVE IT..
You feel so strongly, join them and leave us....
Perhaps your head would be the next one they remove..............You too are propaganda for them, keep looking to the left, the right sure doesn't need you.................
Ezekiel chapters 8, 10, 39, 40 and 43
Think about it, Jihad for a building which is not even in the right location, what else is off-center to the truth.
Oh, yea it is this; the 10 Tribes were deported from Samaria to Assyria, currently Turkey, Syria and Afghanistan. The two tribes were deported from Jerusalem to Babylon, currently Iraq.
Further, for those who understand Revelation 2 & 3, the 7 churches are all in Turkey currently Islamic states, meaning the DNA scattered there is still there and running through the veins of the young men and young women.
The angel Gabriel prophesied that in the twenty-first century terror would arise; the process is one of identifying the wheat (good) from the chaff (evil), hence 911.
Culpability is a strange animal, as we continue to walk in miss information we are all culpable to the deaths of the young on all sides.
I salute those in the article who are working towards revealing the truth of the error.
Well anyways, nobody is promoting this stuff more than our own mainstream media here. They're making them famous like they talk about. What easier way to be a rockstar, reminds me of when they came out with rap music, crack cocaine, and gangstas... they promote the ***, they sell it, they profit from it. Media/gov what a scam...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wurt2rqmUr0
Even Christians sell violent video games that kill Muslims! These games teach our young kids to devalue life as they kill, kill, kill one Muslim and "bad guy" after another - so that by the time they're 19 years old and in the Army in a war of choice - they shoot innocents, rape and murder them - without a second thought!
We are no different from Muslim extremists in ideology. We've become a very militarized nation - and defen$e contractors and panelists on Fox News associated with rightwing think tanks filled with defense contractors and former military - are happy to see wars of choice!!
And will do whatever it takes to keep Americans {{{fearful}}} - to justify more wars.
The Arabs and Jews hate each other -so it seems. There is a powerful Jewish lobby in America. It all adds up...
Its sad that history often repeats itself.
The Arabs and Jews hate each other -so it seems. There is a powerful Jewish lobby in America. It all adds up...
Its sad that history often repeats itself.
Eat ***. YOUR GOVERNMENT LIES TO YOU.
YOUR GOVERNMENT LIES TO YOU.
OUR COUNTRY IS NOT A DEMOCRACY.
IF PEOPLE LIKE YOU HAD INTELLIGENCE AND BALLS WE WOULDN"T BE IN THIS MESS.
Saudi Arabia is supporting the Sunni insurgents and al Qaeda in Iraq. The Bush administration is funding Iran Contra style, al Qaeda in Lebanon! Everyone knows that the Saudi Royal Family is a family friend of Bushs and that puts him at odds with American national interest! Israeli Neocons are pushing the Bush administration to attack Iran. The Blind support of Israel is ruining Americas credibility as a negotiator in the Middle East. Afghanistan is falling apart because this administration has pulled assets from that theater of war. The longer we interject American military and money in the Middle East the longer the problems will exists. If America pulls out of the Middle East then the countries will have to work out their differences between themselves and true peace will be achieved. Israeli lobbying groups are selling access to American elected officials as you can see in their lobbying group advertisement below. Israeli Neocons are causing our Elected officials to fight their wars in Proxy! Follow the money see how many Congressmen are influenced by AIPAC money and how they are voting on Iraq!
http://www.aipac.org/forms/join_aipacClubs.htm
Bush Funds Al Qaeda here is the stream read it yourself!
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/070305fa_fact_hersh
Write your Representatives and Senators! http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
House Speakers email address: AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov
Even Christians sell violent video games that kill Muslims! These games teach our young kids to devalue life as they kill, kill, kill one Muslim and "bad guy" after another - so that by the time they're 19 years old and in the Army in a war of choice - they shoot innocents, rape and murder them - without a second thought!
Your assessment is a bit shallow. As a member of the armed forces idon't kill and rape inocent people. Kids playing video games is not a lot different from kids of previouls era who went outside and played army or cowboys and indians. Did you have sthe same opinion in the 60's and 70's before computers and PS2 were around? An Army recruitment video (or any other service for that matter) can hardly be compared to a torrorist recruitment video. Armed Forces Recruitment promos emphasis learning technology and bettering yourself. So tell me how they are the same?
Saudi Arabia is supporting the Sunni insurgents and al Qaeda in Iraq. The Bush administration is funding Iran Contra style, al Qaeda in Lebanon! Everyone knows that the Saudi Royal Family is a family friend of Bushs and that puts him at odds with American national interest! Israeli Neocons are pushing the Bush administration to attack Iran. The Blind support of Israel is ruining Americas credibility as a negotiator in the Middle East. Afghanistan is falling apart because this administration has pulled assets from that theater of war. The longer we interject American military and money in the Middle East the longer the problems will exists. If America pulls out of the Middle East then the countries will have to work out their differences between themselves and true peace will be achieved. Israeli lobbying groups are selling access to American elected officials as you can see in their lobbying group advertisement below. Israeli Neocons are causing our Elected officials to fight their wars in Proxy! Follow the money see how many Congressmen are influenced by AIPAC money and how they are voting on Iraq!
http://www.aipac.org/forms/join_aipacClubs.htm
Bush Funds Al Qaeda here is the stream read it yourself!
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/070305fa_fact_hersh
Write your Representatives and Senators! http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
House Speakers email address: AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov
I cannot understand why UK and US forces are not uploading positive images onto You Tube and Live Link, showing the schools which are working, the hospitals which are working, the Police who are working, the Iraqi Army who are working.
As for Al Qaeda, we'll see in the coming months, they might have volunteers prepared to die for the cause. The job of the UK, US, Canadian and Dutch soldiers amongst others is to enable that to happen.
Isn't it nice that Jew-haters like Bluestarbigot - who had described himself as a former US Army officer - yeah, right, and Cmmwyrd - or whatever the Islamonazi's name is come right out of the woodwork when it comes to Al Qaeda - and presumably their support for the scum.
Let's blame it on Israel and Dem Jooz, not those who were responsible for 9/11 or the beheadings, or the Madrid and London and Bali and Kenya bombings, nor the slavery and slaughter in the Sudan. Bluestarbigot, if he were truly an Army officer - and he might be, is a traitor if he can't figure out who the real enemy is.
But the Jooz are such a convienent scapegoat. Pity the poor Palestinians and never mind they behave worst than innocent animals. The Joozs are at fault.
Let me tell you this - outside of the Judenrats out there, guys like Soros who was a Nazi Collaborator during the Holocaust, or Howard Zinn who regrets bombing Nazis during WWII but has never expressed regret for being a Stalinist, it is devout Jews - and Christians trying to save us all from the beheadings, from the hajibis, from Sharia.
It is a shame that under a coward like Olmert, Israel isn't the same as it once was. Otherwise, I can also assure you that we wouldn't have to worry about Al Qaeda or Iran. Bigot and his traitor friends aren't even fit to shine the shoes of guys like Wolfowitz, Feith or Perle.
do you realize they have one of the lowest book translation rates on the planet?if you don't translate all that intellectual wisdom from the free world, you are stuck with ignorance, in perpetuity.have you ever wondered why the culture that brought us the first alphabet and early intellectual thought, doesn't produce anything but oil now?what stopped them? it is backward radical religion and dictatorships.
you better get down on your knees and pray that america does not pull out. that democracy succeeds. otherwise your grandkids will be wearing thawbs and speaking arabic.
democracy is our only hope that our kids and grandkids will be safe and free here.
To me they're both despicable.
God forbid commoners should actually be able to "freely" communicate with each other. Oh my god, then we just may gain influence over the public domain. That would be just horrible, as the public domain is the exclusive domain of the capital class, for only they have the knowledge and intelligence to "run" society. We're just stupid commoners who at best only know how to follow orders. The Internet is therefore a weapon against ourselves and we are just too dumb to understand that.
Give me a break!
We've finally got a weapon that gives us a hope in hell that we can push back these parasites and their political puppets... and dammit, we are going to use it to our own advantage!
"60 minutes" Pallywood
http://www.zakon.org/robert/internet/timeline/
If an organization is doing something illegal online, as with child pornography, the crime is investigated, and the guilty parties are arrested and tried in a court of law. Then they go to jail.
Likewise if a website is in fact one of these Jihadist sites, the FBI, with all of the resources of the Federal Government at its beckoned command, could be infiltrating the culprits--getting inside these organizations the Military is complaining about--and then taking the appropriate actions to bring the members to justice.
This is what is wrong with the Republican Neocon viewpoint that all solutions in the war on terror are military, when we should indeed be using every means at our disposal; diplomatic, CIA, technological, and especially law enforcement and the judicial system.
Complaining that the Internet and HTML are somehow by nature at fault is dangerous. And this fear mongering coming from the military of a country founded by Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin? Once our rights are surrendered they will not be returned us so easily.
We who are at You Tube battle these Jihadist on a daily basis. Here's just 1 example of a recruiting video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGoq6fUK4HU
And no matter how many times it's flagged, You Tube still does not remove this trash. Yet, they will allow even more garbage such as inflammatory vids against Christianity, but when it comes to inflammation against Islam, "Heaven Forbid", those videos are immediately yanked at the Muslim's request.
We who are at You Tube, battle these Jihadists on a daily basis. Here's just 1 example of a recruiting video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGoq6fUK4HU
And no matter how many times it's flagged, You Tube still does not remove this trash. Yet, they will allow even more garbage such as inflammatory vids against Christianity, but when it comes to inflammation against Islam, "Heaven Forbid", those videos are immediately yanked at the Muslim's request.
We who are at You Tube, battle these Jihadists on a daily basis. Here's just 1 example of a recruiting video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGoq6fUK4HU
And no matter how many times it's flagged, You Tube still does not remove this trash. Yet, they will allow even more garbage such as inflammatory vids against Christianity, but when it comes to inflammation against Islam, "Heaven Forbid", those videos are immediately yanked at the Muslim's request.
The US will be never the negotiator of peace. You have only power to force some country's to talk about negotiation. It's your foreign police, that build an image of the evil war machinery in the minds of main public, in the east. And that i mean Europe too. Don't buy that thinks, that politicians said about war on terrorism and war on Iraq, they tried to be diplomatic. Ask the public in the Europe, what's they oppinion about US.
Will you be so stupid and negotiote with evil(US)? - You are asking that the people in the middle east.
Will you be so stupid to negotiote with terrorists?
- It's the same qeustion like that before, but its adressed to US site.
The public is the negotiator, which forces politicians to make some decisions. And you haven't the public favor's.
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by egroegennud
March 7, 2007 9:34 PM PST
- I am a typical American citizen who has access to the internet from my home computer. I am ready and willing to serve my country as a member of a cyber militia who, if only instructed how to proceed, could help my country attack the enemy on-line.Where is the leadership that could guide us all to take part in something such as this?
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