Dragnet on the net

Strategy Page:

While it is commonly believed that the Internet has been a boon to Islamic terrorists, this has not been the case. The main reason for this is that the Internet gives terrorists the illusion that they have a safe, secure form of communication. But there are so many administrative tools available to police, that can detect this communication, that the net result is the Internet has become a prime counter-terrorist weapon.

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The general public, and many journalists, are unaware of this situation. Terrorists tend to be better informed about the dangers of using the Internet, because so many of their cohorts have been taken down because their Internet communications were intercepted. But because Islamic terrorists tend to be rather too cocky, or too confident because they are on a mission from God, many continue to employ the Internet despite the obvious dangers.

One of the alleged great strengths of al Qaeda, after their Afghan bases were lost in 2001, was the dispersed quality of the organization. The problem with that is that most of these "dispersed" are untrained in the need for OPSEC (Operational Security, things like not using the Internet for critical communications.) The higher up the food chain you go, the less use of the Internet you encounter. At the very top, people like Osama bin Laden and his key lieutenants rely on human couriers, often to deliver memorized messages verbally. While the lower ranks of al Qaeda are entranced by the Internet, and other communications technology, the guys at the top are terrified of it. Mostly, it's a matter of experience. See enough of your chums get caught, or killed, because of cell phone, email or beeper use, and you get a bit paranoid of this stuff.

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It is difficult to find good information on the information war. It is surprising to me that we cannot find the locations where the al Qaeda vido's are distributed, for example. Perhaps some think there is some value in allowing them to continue some communications, but if so they ahve not explained why. This report from Iraq the Model indicates that some of the enemy in Iraq have gone back to primitive communications because of the dragnet. This has to have a negative effect on their command and control ability.