"The online world of Islamic extremists, like all the other worlds of the Internet, operates on a subtly psychological level that does a brilliant job at keeping people like Abumubarak clicking and posting away -- and amassing all the rankings, scores, badges, and levels to prove it. Like virtually every other popular online social space, the social space of online jihadists has become "gamified," a term used to describe game-like attributes applied to non-game activities.
It turns out that what drives online jihadists is pretty much exactly what drives Internet trolls, airline ticket consumers, and World of Warcraft players: competition."
[more inside]
posted by vidur
on Jan 14, 2012 -
22 comments
'They blow each other up by mistake. They bungle even simple schemes. They get intimate with cows and donkeys. Our terrorist enemies trade on the perception that they’re well trained and religiously devout, but in fact, many are fools and perverts who are far less organized and sophisticated than we imagine. Can being more realistic about who our foes actually are help us stop the truly dangerous ones?'
The Case for Calling Them Nitwits.
posted by shakespeherian
on Jun 24, 2010 -
108 comments
The FBI has released their extensive files on US Senator Edward M. Kennedy to the public, covering their relationship with him between 1961 and 1985. The seven files, totaling more than 2,200 pages of documents
reveal (among other things,) the perhaps unsurprising news that the late Senator
received "scores" of
death threats from radical groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, “Minutemen” organizations, and the National Socialist White People’s Party. The release was initiated by a Freedom of Information Act Request from
Judicial Watch on May 3, 2010, (Complaint
pdf) but the FBI gave the Senator's family the
"rare opportunity" to raise objections before releasing the file.
posted by zarq
on Jun 14, 2010 -
20 comments
The Road to Guantanamo , the latest film by prolific UK director Michael Winterbottom, details the experiences of the
Tipton Three (previously discussed
here), a trio of British Muslims who stumbled into US custody in Afghanistan shortly after 9/11 and ended up spending two years in Gitmo. The film tells a powerful if
somewhat one-sided story of naivety, incompetence and rank injustice.
Last night the film was shown on Britain's Channel 4 to an
estimated 1.6 million viewers, and it was the talk of the Berlin Film Festival a couple of weeks ago. In a bizarre twist, on their return from attending the premiere of the film in Berlin, the Tipton Three and the actors who played them were
arrested and interrogated about terrorism links. Luckily for them, this time their captivity was measured in hours, not years.
posted by LondonYank
on Mar 10, 2006 -
23 comments
Not-in-the-NewsFilter "Is Mr. Ashcroft neglecting real threats to the public because of his ideological biases?" Paul Krugman on the case of William Krar, a terrorist the justice department isn't talking about.
posted by jpoulos
on Jun 22, 2004 -
32 comments
National Security Letters and John Doe --once only issued against suspected terrorists and spies, NSLs now can be used, thanks to the Patriot Act, against all and any of us. John Doe, the currently gagged owner of a small ISP was targeted for the political speech of his customers and is fighting, along with the ACLU and others.
More here (and more inside)
posted by amberglow
on May 30, 2004 -
20 comments
What are the real causes of terrorism?
Tired of the "
they hate our freedoms" spiel? What are the real causes of terrorism? and are we addressing them or in fact exacerbating them?
"... the variable that came up most frequently was not poverty or human-rights abuses, but perceived humiliation. Humiliation emerged at every level of the terrorist groups I studied — leaders and followers."
posted by specialk420
on Jan 13, 2004 -
45 comments
US fires Guantanamo defence team If we make the rules, we will win the game. "A team of military lawyers recruited to defend alleged terrorists held by the US at Guantanamo Bay was dismissed by the Pentagon after some of its members rebelled against the unfair way the trials have been designed, the Guardian has learned"
posted by Postroad
on Dec 3, 2003 -
22 comments
A "Disappearance" In America - Arrested without charge. Secret warrants and subpoenas. No arrest record. No accusation of a crime. Solitary confinement. No access to a lawyer. No comment from the authorities. No court appearance. In other countries, this would be a "disappearance". Here in America, it's just the Patriot Act
at work. Read the story of
Mike Hawash, and ponder where this country is headed.
posted by laz-e-boy
on Apr 7, 2003 -
44 comments
They want to kill us all Forget the ‘root causes’, says Mark Steyn. The massacre in Bali was part of the continuing Islamofascist war against the West, and those who ignore it are sleepwalking to national suicide
I wait now--loaded with my meds--for the Left to call for more understanding, help for the poverty stricken, and understanding. Incidentally, if you turn to http://www.debka.com/ today, you will see that they claim Bin Laden alive and well in Saudi Arabia!
posted by Postroad
on Oct 20, 2002 -
108 comments
Bush Doubted on 9/11 Panel Angry lawmakers accused the White House yesterday of secretly trying to derail creation of an independent commission to investigate the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks while professing to support the idea. The White House responded by renewing its pledge of support for the proposal and suggesting an agreement was near.
posted by tranceformer
on Oct 15, 2002 -
38 comments
It appears that there is another twist in the Abu Nidal death as reports are claiming that Saddam Hussein had Abu killed because Nidal didn't want to train Al Qaeda terrorists in Iraq and strike the US. This does contradict the Iraqi claims that Abu killed himself for plotting to overthrow Saddam.
This is getting stranger and stranger. Is this just creative writing by Iraqi opposition? Won't these claims be used to justify claims that Saddam is harboring Terrorists? Will the US awkardly praise Abu for turning down Saddam's offer?
Who knows..
posted by RobbieFal
on Aug 24, 2002 -
15 comments
The new tapes obtained by CNN are somewhat disturbing. Has anyone else been able to catch some of them, either online, or on CNN Live? The chemical testing on the dogs is particularily interesting. Suddenly, experts are wondering if Al Qaeda has more technological capability then was previously estimated. Do you think that they have indeed made it past the stage of torturing dogs, and could pose a serious chemical threat? What is the likelihood that these weapons will be used?
posted by dgt
on Aug 19, 2002 -
36 comments
Is the FBI dragging it's feet in the anthrax investigation? It appears they have reason to do so. Dr. Barbara Rosenberg presents a compelling argument that the likely homegrown terrorist is known but revealing his identity could be embarrassing to the government.
posted by nofundy
on Jun 25, 2002 -
26 comments
“I accuse the media in the United States of treason.” - A terrorism analyst chides the U.S. media for identifying possible security vulnerabilties, to the advantage of terrorists:
"No terrorist group that I am aware of has the time and manpower to conduct this type of extensive research on a multitude of potential targets. Our news media, and certain think tankers and academicians, have done and continue to do the target vulnerability research for them."
posted by rowell
on Jun 19, 2002 -
35 comments
"Before There Was Terrorism ...there was land confiscation...settlements...occupation...checkpoints..."[and retreating a little further in time, the Holocaust, repeated
pogroms, the Diaspora, etc.] "In late March, responding to the Seder massacre - a suicide bombing that killed 27 Israelis gathered for a Passover meal - President Bush said that 'justice and cruelty have always been at war, and God is not neutral between them.' He had used this same phrase in his speech to Congress after September 11....Bush believes justice lies entirely with Israel, cruelty with the Palestinians, and that God is therefore on Israel's side. Interestingly enough, Elie Wiesel wrote in his novella Dawn that God is a terrorist. Dawn is Wiesel's story, said to be at least partially autobiographical, about a young man who fights against British control of Palestine in the 1940s by joining the Irgun, Israel's pre-state terrorist organization led by Menachem Begin. Wiesel calls the organization a terrorist organization, without embarrassment, throughout the novella, and about midway through, by way of justifying his hero's actions, he declares that 'God is a member of the Resistance movement, a terrorist.'"
Huh?
God? Has Ashcroft been notified of this? It gets so damned
confusing these days to pick out the
terrorists.
posted by fold_and_mutilate
on May 3, 2002 -
16 comments
Islamic nations dodge defining terrorism. The Organisation of the Islamic Conference is divided over whether Palestinian suicide bombers should be classified as terrorists. On the other hand, there's no question that Israel practises terror.
Rather than stick their necks out and commit to something, they'll leave it to the good ole UN to decide who is a terrorist. That'll solve everything.
More depth here.
posted by badstone
on Apr 2, 2002 -
14 comments
so which "officials" do we believe? is this a final salvo from the "now disbanded" office of military misinformation?
i don't know which is spookier the thought of the threat, or the folks in charge getting their "credible" info from some clown in las vegas??
posted by specialk420
on Mar 7, 2002 -
4 comments
"They are hardened criminals." Is the "domestic terrorism" of radical animal-rights and environmental groups really the same as the 9/11 attacks? Or just an excuse to crack down on liberals?
posted by centrs
on Feb 13, 2002 -
50 comments
televised suicide: the goofiest bin laden rumor yet? good lord. the story claims bin laden is going to kill himself on tv to trigger attacks on monuments around the world. even the tabloids have been staying away from the attacks, for the most part. but when
this story went by on a ticker while i was surfing, i just had to look. what's the strangest post-attack rumor you've heard so far? i want obscure, here, people, not anything about malls on halloween.
posted by onthestereo
on Dec 10, 2001 -
16 comments
Terrorist or Not? OK, I know what you're thinking, another AM I _____ or not? It is, but this one is actually pretty cool. Dossiers of famous terrorists and non-terrorists from the present back to Atilla the Hun. Interesting stuff and worth a few minutes of your time.
posted by cell divide
on Oct 12, 2001 -
12 comments
A European Dragnet captures new clues to bin Laden's network. They believe that for the sake of Jihad, or holy war, they can jettison the usual practices of devout Muslims. They call on adherents instead to burrow into the cultures they seek to eradicate. Let's have a block party.
posted by semmi
on Oct 12, 2001 -
6 comments
