[Clips] Finger points to British intelligence as al-Qaeda websites are wiped out

Tyler Durden camera_lumina at hotmail.com
Mon Aug 1 07:54:26 PDT 2005


Gee, that's great. A global organization that has taken the task of 
worldwide censorship into its sweaty little hands.

Did the google cache'd versions of these sites dissappear too?

Tor networks, anyone?

-TD

>From: "R.A. Hettinga" <rah at shipwright.com>
>To: cryptography at metzdowd.com, cypherpunks at jfet.org
>Subject: [Clips] Finger points to British intelligence as al-Qaeda   
>websites are wiped out
>Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2005 23:02:53 -0400
>
>--- begin forwarded text
>
>
>  Delivered-To: clips at philodox.com
>  Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2005 23:01:38 -0400
>  To: Philodox Clips List <clips at philodox.com>
>  From: "R.A. Hettinga" <rah at shipwright.com>
>  Subject: [Clips] Finger points to British intelligence as al-Qaeda 
>websites
>   are wiped out
>  Reply-To: rah at philodox.com
>  Sender: clips-bounces at philodox.com
>
>  <http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-523-1715166-523,00.html>
>
>  The Times of London
>
>  July 31, 2005
>
>  Finger points to British intelligence as al-Qaeda websites are wiped out
>  Over the past fortnight Israeli intelligence agents have noticed 
>something
>  distinctly odd happening on the internet. One by one, Al-Qaeda's 
>affiliated
>  websites have vanished until only a handful remain, write Uzi Mahnaimi 
>and
>  Alex Pell.
>
>  Someone has cut the line of communication between the spiritual leaders 
>of
>  international terrorism and their supporters. Since 9/11 the websites 
>have
>  been the main links to disseminate propaganda and information.
>
>  The Israelis detect the hand of British intelligence, determined to 
>torpedo
>  the websites after the London attacks of July 7.
>
>  The web has become the new battleground of terrorism, permitting a 
>freedom
>  of communication denied to such organisations as the IRA a couple of
>  decades ago.
>
>  One global jihad site terminated recently was an inflammatory Pakistani
>  site, www.mojihedun.com, in which a section entitled How to Strike a
>  European City gave full technical instructions. Tens of similar sites, 
>some
>  offering detailed information on how to build and use biological weapons,
>  have also been shut down. However, Islamic sites believed to be 
>"moderate",
>  remain.
>
>  One belongs to the London-based Syrian cleric Abu Basir al-Tartusi, whose
>  www.abubaseer.bizland.com remained operative after he condemned the 
>London
>  bombings.
>
>  However, the scales remain weighted in favour of global jihad, the first
>  virtual terror organisation. For all the vaunted spying advances such as
>  tracking mobile phones and isolating key phrases in telephone
>  conversations, experts believe current technologies actually play into 
>the
>  hands of those who would harm us.
>
>  "Modern technology puts most of the advantages in the hands of the
>  terrorists. That is the bottom line," says Professor Michael Clarke, of
>  King's College London, who is director of the International Policy
>  Institute.
>
>  Government-sponsored monitoring systems, such as Echelon, can track vast
>  amounts of data but have so far proved of minimal benefit in preventing, 
>or
>  even warning, of attacks. And such systems are vulnerable to 
>manipulation:
>  low-ranking volunteers in terrorist organisations can create background
>  chatter that ties up resources and maintains a threshold of anxiety. 
>There
>  are many tricks of the trade that give terrorists secure digital
>  communication and leave no trace on the host computer.
>
>  Ironically, the most readily available sources of accurate online
>  information on bomb-making are the websites of the radical American
>  militia. "I have not seen any Al-Qaeda manuals that look like genuine
>  terrorist training," claims Clarke.
>
>  However, the sobering message of many security experts is that the
>  terrorists are unlikely ever to lose a war waged with technology.
>
>  --
>  -----------------
>  R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
>  The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
>  44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
>  "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
>  [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
>  experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
>  _______________________________________________
>  Clips mailing list
>  Clips at philodox.com
>  http://www.philodox.com/mailman/listinfo/clips
>
>--- end forwarded text
>
>
>--
>-----------------
>R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
>The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
>44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
>"When the hares made speeches in the assembly and demanded that all should
>have equality, the lions replied, "Where are your claws and teeth?"  --
>attributed to Antisthenes in Aristotle, 'Politics', 3.7.2





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