Iraqi Insurgent Media: War of Images and Ideas

[marct]

Hi Armchairguy,

In the war of ideas the USA needs to gain back some credibility.

Totally agree. The problem, however, is that this relies on American politicians and, ultimately, on the American public standing up to those politicians and saying "a pox on both your parties". It also relies on promulgating a set of philosophical principles and then applying hem in action. You've got the first (the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence come to mind), but the second is sorely lacking in the political and bureaucratic spheres.

On a slightly different tack, why aren't the wizards of computer warfare inside the military actively attacking jihadist web sites and media outlets? If an ISP gets in the way..tough luck. They should turf the Jihadists on their own or they have shown themselves to be part of the problem.

Two reasons. First, they are very useful for monitoring IO trends and tracking interest levels. Second, not all of he ISPs are in the US and an attack on an ISP could be considered an act of war.

As for showing themselves to be part of the problem, this isn't quite true. The offer by MEMRI is an attempt to help the ISPs identify sites that are problematic, something that many ISPs have a great deal of difficulty with.

Marc

[Armchairguy]

Hi MarcT and Ken White.

I see your points. I guess we would be ruining one of our own intelligence assets. Another idea might be to make our own pseudo jihadist sites filling the areas seen by potential recruits with divisive information that makes the jihadists look stupid and fractured?

Another idea slightly off topic. Given the digital technology of Hollywood I wonder if we have enough video from AQ spokesmen to make phony AQ videos. It might be nice to see the faithful confused with the messages being sent out by their leadership. Might even be able to cause some friction in the ranks.