It. Forgot. The Internet.
To read the strategy (.pdf), unveiled on Wednesday by counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, is to view a pledge to send armed drones and special operations forces from Pakistan to Yemen to Somalia to the Sahel. It’s obsessed with physical safe havens for terrorists in places from “northern Mali” to Mauritania. But it has practically nothing to say about one of the most important places al-Qaida inspires new adherents and spreads its propaganda: the internet.
This is the most strenuous treatment of online jihad in the entire 19-page document: “Mass media and the internet in particular have emerged as enablers for terrorist planning, facilitation, and communication, and we will continue to counter terrorists’ ability to exploit them.” Sometimes the U.S. will spread its “positive vision of engagement with Muslim communities” through “person-to-person engagement,” and other times “through the power of social media,” it promises.
This isn't 1995. How you forget about online extremism is beyond me. I did, however, receive this comment from the piece:
Spencer Ackerman - you're a moron! STFU!
I'm saying US should terminate all terrorists. You're saying US should cripple the internet for half the world (as it is already trying to do, fucking it up, setting a precedent for other nations as they ironically are reaching same conclusions and setting a precedent for us, its vicious) in order to catch them.
Drones are fine, but you, sir, are an idiot because you do not realize the expense at which you are proposing to deal with the situation. Brennan is doing the right thing not touching something that is dear to many people worldwide. He attacks the problem, minimizes collateral damage and residual impact it may have on the world post-al-Qaida. Censor one thing, and it snowballs out of control. First its the terrorists, then they'll find another excuse, and another, and suddenly before you know it you can't even post your retarded articles on Wired. Aren't you a sharp cookie.
As the author of this post, I'm pretty sure I never called for any online censorship.
As I have stated before, the strategy employed by the CIA and the Defense Department is about increasing their share of the federal budget. Neither the CIA or Defense Department wants to mention al-Qaida's online capabalilities, since it can be hacked into by domestic crime fighting organizations such as the FBI. Unfortunately, Obama seems to be taking advice about fighting terrorism from the CIA and the Defense Department without realizing that it is in their own self interest to keep the "war," on terrorism going.
Posted by: John Henninger | 06/30/2011 at 06:44 PM
Lively and interesting picture and article is quite uplifting.I like it very much.
Posted by: Pandora Charms | 07/01/2011 at 12:40 AM