Interesting Article...

I found this article on the Washington Post today and thought that it was interesting and relevant to the Comm 361 class I am taking right now.

EXCERPT 1:
"On March 25, a Taliban Web site claiming to be the voice of the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" boasted of a deadly new attack on coalition forces in that country. Four soldiers were killed in an ambush, the site claimed, and the "mujahideen took the weapons and ammunition as booty.""

EXCERPT 2:
"The Taliban's account was pulled last week when a blogger noticed the connection and called attention to it. But the odd pairing of violently anti-American extremists and U.S. technology companies continues elsewhere and appears to be growing. Intelligence officials and private experts cite dozens of instances in which Islamist militants sought out U.S. Internet firms -- known for their reliable service and easy terms that allow virtual anonymity -- and used them to incite attacks on Americans. "

EXCERPT 3:
"Militants' use of U.S. Web hosts has sparked occasional spats between the United States and its allies, as well as endless debates over whether it is better to shut down the Web sites when they're discovered or to let them continue to operate. By allowing them to remain online, intelligence analysts can sometimes discover clues about the leadership and structure of terrorist groups, some analysts say.

"You can learn a lot from the enemy by watching them chat online," said Martin Libicki, a senior policy analyst at the Rand Corp., a nonprofit research organization. Libicki said the bloggers rarely spill secrets, and most are "probably using this more for public affairs rather than recruitment.""

You can read more HERE.

The reason I thought the article was interesting is because of the discussion on terrorists groups using blogging tools and the debate as to whether or not these blogs should be shut down or continuously monitored in order to find out more "clues".

I wonder....do these terrorists groups suspect the American government is reading their blogs? Hmm...I wonder whether or not these terrorists would REALLY put vital information up on their blogs, or maybe, they really just don't understand the power, and lack of privacy on the internet. But I guess it's like what Martin Libicki said, they can learn a lot just by watching the terrorists chat. Interesting...