Digital Journal — If fighting a tightly organized but globally widespread network of terrorists isn’t difficult enough, then the rise of jihadist recruitment through the Internet will only make the war on terror more complex.
A recent CBS report revealed the success behind online Islamic extremism and its 5,000 websites catering to jihadist wannabes. “Without a doubt, the Internet is the single most important venue for the radicalization of Islamic youth,” Army Brigadier General John Custer told 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley.
Custer explained how terrorists win a different kind of battle through their online recruitment strategies. “It’s a war of perceptions,” he said. “They understand the power of the Internet. They don’t have to win in the tactical battlefield.”
Here’s how these e-terrorists lure gullible youth: The site looks similar to an Iraqi news site, but after a single click the user is taken to a jihad attack section. Various images crowd the page, from beheadings to violent bombings to American bodies being dragged through streets. Another link will shuttle the user to a motivational area that justifies Islamic extremism by quoting scripture and playing short videos glorifying past suicide bombers. “Every martyr craves immortality. And on the Internet, they can have it,” Custer says.
But they don’t enjoy a free ride with their online extremism. CBS also profiled a private firm hired by the U.S. government to monitor terrorist activities on the Web. The Site Institute infiltrates chat rooms by inventing jihadi personalities to gain the trust of the members. The firm’s representative pointed out that a typical forum had 17,869 members.
There’s even a guidebook for the clueless terrorist. The book “39 Ways to Serve and Participate in Jihad” details how terrorism supporters far from the front lines can spark enthusiasm about the jihadist movement in their respective countries. Along with other popular material for quashing U.S. imperialism, it’s available for download through the Net.
“If we do not treat the Internet as a critical battleground in this war on terror, we will not defeat the enemy,” said Ritz Katz of the Site Institute.
Academics are also sounding the alarm. Professor Gabriel Weimann of Haifa University in Israel recently issued a report titled How Modern Terrorism Uses the Internet, concluding that the U.S. administration “must become better informed about the uses to which terrorists put the Internet and better able to monitor their activities.”
But Internet surveillance carries its own baggage. “If [we’re] fearful of further terrorist attacks,” Weimann writes, “and circumscribe our own freedom to use the Internet, then we hand the terrorists a victory and deal democracy a blow.”
We’re at a crossroads: monitor terrorist activity but risk alienating Netizens who believe in freedom of speech, or let the Internet continue to be the home for every kind of organized group. Perhaps taking one path isn’t the answer. What governments should start doing is using their imagination to invent technology that will cast a global eye over online terrorist activities without getting all Big Brother on everyday people. Yes, it’s easier said than done.
Until an expansive solution has been proposed, terrorist groups will continue to recruit youth and spread their political ideologies online. The Internet has forever changed the battlefield.
