The Internet Made Me Do It!
Garry Reid, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Combating Terrorism recently spoke to the Senate Armed Services Emerging Threats subcommittee. Reid, according to a report by The Hill, said,
“Enabled by 21st-century technology, extremists have optimized the use of Internet chat rooms, Web sites and e-mail chains to spread their virulent messages and reach a global audience of potential recruits,” Reid told the Senate Armed Services Committee in prepared testimony.
“It is this highly evolved radicalization process that enabled al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to make contact with a wealthy Nigerian student living in London, recruit, train and equip him in the remote tribal regions of Yemen, position him in the Netherlands and ultimately dispatch him on a suicide mission to the United States, all within a period of weeks,” Reid added.
“By contrast, the 9/11 operation took about two and a half years to develop from the time Osama bin Laden approved it in April 1999,” he said.
Apparently terrorists had no idea of the amazing power of the internet and it’s communcation tools in 1999. Lucky for us, terrorists were still using smoke signals, the camel express, and morse code to communicate prior to the “21st-century.” I shudder to imagine the devastation terrorists could have caused if they had knowledge of chat rooms, email, and instant messaging prior to the “21st-century.” I for one had no idea it was such a big secret and assumed that most of the world was aware of such dangerous communication tools in 1999. Are these terrorists living in a cave or something?
Times are different today though and possibly through the smuggling of some infidel’s copy of Internet for Dummies, the terrorists have not only acquired knowledge of the internet, but they have also “optimized the use of Internet chat rooms, Web sites and e-mail chains to spread their virulent messages.” I’m not quite sure how one “optimizes” an email or chat but that’s exactly what they are doing according to the Pentagon. Not only are they “optimizing” internet communication but it is a “highly evolved process” that may threaten America’s security for decades to come. We can only hope Al-Qaeda doesn’t become aware of facebook or we are all doomed.
Secretary Reid isn’t sure if this whole “internet” thing will catch on but if it does, be very afraid. Regardless, your friendly National Security Agency will be more than happy to data-mine your internet activity, emails, and chats and let you know if you’re in danger.
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