Terrorists Take Recruitment Efforts Online

Scott Pelley On The Use Of The Internet To Recruit Jihadists

(CBS) 
Al Suri may be arrested, but Katz says, "Who cares?"

"For the jihadist it really does not matter at this stage. He did what he needed to do. When 9/11 happened, his training camp was destroyed. He retired and the only thing that he wished for is that I know that eventually I'm going to be arrested or killed. All I want to do is put all my knowledge and everything I learned in my life in this book, so it will be my brain and my knowledge will be in the possession of every potential jihadi," Katz explains.

At West Point, cadets are being taught to recognize the Web’s power as a new weapon.

Stephen Ulph is a consultant to West Point. He’s a researcher and writer on militant Islam. He told 60 Minutes the greater danger on the Web isn’t beheadings, it's a much wider scheme to hijack Islam itself.

"What they're dealing with is a massive battle for Islam, for the hearts and minds of Islam, of Muslims," Ulph explains.

In Britain, authorities say Web sites create terrorists at home. Ulph says the approach to a new recruit goes like this. "They throw a bomb into his mental universe. They throw a bomb into it and then and shatter it. And, then say, 'Right. Here's how we're going to reassemble these fragments,'" Ulph explains.

"You're not a proper Muslim, but here's how you can be a proper Muslim?" Pelley asks.

"That's how they argue it. And, they say, 'And, you're not a proper Muslim, nor are your parents.' Very important implication there. If your parents aren't proper Muslims, if the sheik of a mosque isn't a proper Muslim, what are you doing obeying them?" Ulph agrees.

Asked what they're told a proper Muslim is, Ulph says, "Well, once they've softened him up and he's now in freefall, they say, 'This is your identity. We're gonna put the "j" back into Islam. It's jihad.'"

In January, several suspects were arrested in Britain in a plot to behead a soldier and put the video on the Web. An elder from the local mosque had this to say.

"We never taught him like that, how he become, then we found out he has a friend somewhere on the Internet," he said.

The effort to radicalize Muslim youth has gone corporate with jihadi media organizations. One called as Sahab is a production studio for Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al Zawahiri. Another, the al Fajr Media Center, turns mayhem into music videos.

"What you're dealing with al Fajr is a small number of individuals who have organized themselves into a tight network, they trust each other, and they've developed a really good distribution system so that when they have something the material propagates and gets published all over the Internet fast. I mean, it's a really remarkable thing to watch," says Aaron Weisburd.

"You know, when I mentioned al Fajr, you eyes lit up. Why?" Pelley asks.

"Well, al Fajr is interesting, al Fajr took the system of content distribution that for example Irhabi 007 was involved in, and really made it made a system out of it," he explains.

"Now, they are able to distribute, touch of a button, anything they want anywhere they want. This is unheard of in history. We're witnessing this war, we're witnessing this ideological war on our own desktops," says Stephen Ulph.

General Custer sees this as one of those moments in history when innovation changes warfare, like tanks in the First World War and atom bombs in the second.

"Can you imagine thousands of tanks on a battlefield now? I can't. It's a battlefield now of asymmetric. There is no front line of troops. Civilians are targets. The press has no credentials here. Kidnap them. Put a gun to their head and put 'em on the evening news," he says. "It's a different type of warfare. It's a battle of perceptions. And al Qaeda understands it. And America needs to understand it."

[egroegennud]

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?

[log_out]

You alredy lose the war. Its matter of time and you will retreat from Iraq. Then you will turn the world in a new cold war.
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.

[alreadyknown]

You Tube has tons of these recruiting videos. It has been a major tool of usage for these Jihadist recruiters. Why 60 min hasn't said more about the site is beyond my comprehension considering that CBS has an account with You Tube. I'm sure their contributors are there as well. 60 min could have done a better job of letting the public know this.

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.

[alreadyknown]

You Tube has tons of these recruiting videos. It has been a major tool of usage for these Jihadist recruiters. Why 60 min hasn't said more about the site is beyond my comprehension considering that CBS has an account with You Tube. I'm sure their contributors are there as well. 60 min could have done a better job of letting the public know this.

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.

[alreadyknown]

You Tube has tons of these recruiting videos. It has been a major tool of usage for these Jihadist recruiters. Why 60 min hasn't said more about the site is beyond my comprehension considering that CBS has an account with You Tube. I'm sure their contributors are there as well. 60 min could have done a better job of letting the public know this.

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.

[tor123-2009]

So our Army Gen. John finally figured out we've been SWIFT-BOATED by the enemy not only on the ground or green zone but in cyberspace. AMAZING. He could have called Karl Rowe or the ranch to get that formula from Mr. Bush or his VP side show...or call their favorite TV station (FOX) or simple consult with the White House staff in touch with the religious right. Mr. Bill...the sky is falling...And the beat goes on...See you at the trillion dollar war budget mark... celebration... to toast our great churning money machine economy providing the engine to pay for Mr. Bush's next folly.

[mikegeorge24]

The Military invented the Internet. See Hobbes internet time line:

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.

[pjoegoowy]

On a related subject & perhaps as a followup, I wish 60 Minutes would cover this. Google:
"60 minutes" Pallywood

[riangi]

The elite's attack on the Internet continues.... what else is new?

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!

[bartgoode]

I thought ONINE RECRUITMENT was a problem when they started showing commercials for GOARMY.COM! And those commercials where guys climb rocks, fight dragons and then turns into a Marine! -- Thousands of young men being told Military service is cool and finacially beneficial -- then they wind up sitting in their own feces at Walter Reed Hospital. For all their evil, JIhadists at least tell their guys the truth. Military service will kill you. -- WE make it sound as if American Service is a manly picnic where you see the world and get great benefits.

To me they're both despicable.

[notblue]

All anyone has to do is frequent these comment areas to know this article is true.

[benzacharia]

For those who wish to join the fight against islamic jihad, Aaron can be reached at "internet-haganah DOT org" OR "LittleGreenFootballs DOT com" his nic is "Aaron".

[obiquital]

I love how they use American inventions to claim that America is evil and that America should be destroyed. Don't they realize that they could not get their message out without America having invented these things? The telephone, the computer, the internet, using electricity. Everyone uses it and America made it possible.

[rohink-2009]

Thank you Jetslags

[jetlagsa]

bluestardad-you think the arabs will settle their differences and live in peace??just spent 16 years there and here's a big news update: it won't happen, now or ever, without democracy. where do you live? fantasyland?democracy paired with capitalism is still the best form of government to date. if you have a better and PROVEN method, let us all know.democracy forces education, which in turn brings knowledge and then low and behold, TOLERANCE.i know the arabs very well and i can assure you there will be no working it out among themselves without democracy. they have had a couple thousand years to work it out and i haven't seen any permanent peace achieved.
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.

[grumpas]

Lieber1881 You are the one ignoring the truth!!!!! Israel is like the US they have squandered a lot of good will over the years by behaving very badly! By proving to the world they aren't the innocent nation they claim to be! They took the damned country away from the Palestinian's in 1948 and now they are whining because they have suicide bombers! Well....dah!!!! What did they expect....the Palestinian's to love them for the gesture????? We all know who the enemy is...it's al quaeda!!! It's to bad George Bush didn't know who it was when he invaded Iraq! Maybe he could have saved lives and billions in wasted tax dollars by fighting al quaeda insteading of wasting his time on Iraq! I have a damned clear picture of who and what the problem in the middle east is! I for one am fed up with having to take care of Israel so they can survive as a nation! If they can't do it by themselves then so be it! But, it's time for us to start worrying about our own survival not Israel's!

[neojoker]

Yes, they can weed out those mangy speakeasy *** offenders, but Al Queda blantantly recruiting on the net is just too much for them. It's all just a contrived freak show, for our benefit and manipulation.

[crater7]

THERE IS A PLUS SIDE TO THIS STORY. IF THE TERRORIST, CAN RECRUIT ON THE WEB, THIS ADMINISTRATION SHOULD BE SMART ENOUGH (YOU THINK) TO USE THESE SITES, AS A TOOL TO GO UNDER COVER BY POSING AS A POSSIBLE RECRUIT. MAYBE SOME OF THE FOLKS WHO WRITE THESE COMMENTS ON THIS SITE WOULD GLADLY VOLUNTEER TO INFILTRATE THESE ORGANIZATIONS. MOST ALL HAVE A VERY GOOD LINE OF BULL SH** .

[inventagod]

The religo-nazis on this board are frothing at the mouth, hoping to spread their rabid self-loathing to each other. You are completely missing the point of the news story while you are engaging in the mad-dog back-biting and whining. My guess is the p*ssing and moaning will continue until the Bu$h administration shuts down the internet in the name of 'freedom', and then it will be too late...

[lieber1881]

Aaaaah,

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.