The little blue AKs we post when a site is removed from a server are not a claim of responsibility. In fact, they are not even a sign that we think the removal of any given site was a good idea (and there is no value in letting the bad guys know which sites we like and which ones we don't like).
What with all the sites being shut down right now we thought it was a good time to issue this reminder.
If you're not happy about a certain site going offline recently, we may very well feel your pain.
If you are busy filing complaints with service providers, consider the following: a jihadi site is like an informant. If you kill it, it doesn't talk any more.
On the other hand, the better the informant, the better placed the informant is inside the targeted organization. So if you let the guy live to provide more information, you also let him live to continue to be part of the problem.
It is necessary to strike a balance between the need to acquire information about the adversary and the need to defeat the adversary. Finding that balance is difficult under the best of circumstances. These are not the best of circumstances.
While websites are not people, the victims of terrorists *are* people - the consequences of failure to strike the right balance between leaving sites online and taking them down are potentially catastrophic.
Posted on 31 July 2007 @ 15:33