美軍自2001年開始追捕 al Qaeda, 四年以來, 只見 al Qaeda 於網路上頻頻捕光, 卻不見其真實的踪影. 最近美軍又在伊拉克死傷慘重, 不論美軍還是一般的美國人都希望美國早日撤軍. 近日美國政府遂向傳媒吹風說, al Qaeda 的總部己從實質的空間 (physical space) 轉移至互聯網 !
這種說法捕捉了 "真實" 的現像, 因為可以看到 al Qaeda 於互聯網上的蹤影, 但卻完全是愚民的說法, 為自己反恐失敗去尋找說詞和出路. 美軍將會回到美國, 但反恐戰不會因此而完結, 更多的資源會投到CIA和反恐部門去進行國際化間諜活動, 亦會合理化粗暴的互聯網操控和規管.
且看 Washington post的報導 (節錄), 亦有網上video供參考:
...
Al Qaeda suicide bombers and ambush units in Iraq routinely
depend on the Web for training and tactical support, relying on the
Internet's anonymity and flexibility to operate with near impunity in
cyberspace. In Qatar, Egypt and Europe, cells affiliated with al Qaeda
that have recently carried out or seriously planned bombings have
relied heavily on the Internet.
Such cases have led
Western intelligence agencies and outside terrorism specialists to
conclude that the "global jihad movement," sometimes led by al Qaeda
fugitives but increasingly made up of diverse "groups and ad hoc
cells," has become a "Web-directed" phenomenon, as a presentation for
U.S. government terrorism analysts by longtime State Department expert
Dennis Pluchinsky put it. Hampered by the nature of the Internet
itself, the government has proven ineffective at blocking or even
hindering significantly this vast online presence.
Among other things, al Qaeda and its offshoots are building a
massive and dynamic online library of training materials -- some
supported by experts who answer questions on message boards or in chat
rooms -- covering such varied subjects as how to mix ricin poison, how
to make a bomb from commercial chemicals, how to pose as a fisherman
and sneak through Syria into Iraq, how to shoot at a U.S. soldier, and
how to navigate by the stars while running through a night-shrouded
desert. These materials are cascading across the Web in Arabic, Urdu,
Pashto and other first languages of jihadist volunteers.
The
Saudi Arabian branch of al Qaeda launched an online magazine in 2004
that exhorted potential recruits to use the Internet: "Oh Mujahid
brother, in order to join the great training camps you don't have to
travel to other lands," declared the inaugural issue of Muaskar
al-Battar, or Camp of the Sword. "Alone, in your home or with a group
of your brothers, you too can begin to execute the training program."... ...
Al Qaeda's innovation on the Web "erodes the ability of our
security services to hit them when they're most vulnerable, when
they're moving," said Michael Scheuer, former chief of the CIA unit
that tracked bin Laden. "It used to be they had to go to Sudan, they
had to go to Yemen, they had to go to Afghanistan to train," he added.
Now, even when such travel is necessary, an al Qaeda operative "no
longer has to carry anything that's incriminating. He doesn't need his
schematics, he doesn't need his blueprints, he doesn't need formulas."
Everything is posted on the Web or "can be sent ahead by encrypted
Internet, and it gets lost in the billions of messages that are out
there."
The number of active jihadist-related Web
sites has metastasized since Sept. 11, 2001. When Gabriel Weimann, a
professor at the University of Haifa in Israel, began tracking
terrorist-related Web sites eight years ago, he found 12; today, he
tracks more than 4,500. Hundreds of them celebrate al Qaeda or its
ideas, he said.
"They are all linked indirectly
through association of belief, belonging to some community. The
Internet is the network that connects them all," Weimann said. "You can
see the virtual community come alive."... ...