by Aaron Weisburd
The story Cyber Vigilantes Track Extremist Web Sites, Intelligence Experts Balk at Effort is a fabrication, not to mention a gross misrepresentation of what we actually do. You would think, from reading the story, that the author actually spoke to me. Such is not the case. That my name is spelled three different ways should serve as some indication that there is a problem with the story. Do they have editors at Fox? Evidently not.
Then there is this lovely bit of fiction:
"There are a lot of weekend warriors and quasi vigilantes out there that think they can do what the government can't," said a private intelligence contractor for the U.S. government who has been investigating jihadist Web sites for more than 15 years. The contractor spoke to FOXNews.com on condition of anonymity due to his continuing work with U.S. intelligence.
15 years eh?
There were no jihadi websites 15 years ago.
15 years ago was 1993.
The Mosaic browser had only just been released for Unix systems running X-Windows (which is in no way connected to Microsoft's Windows).
In 1993 Windows '95 was still three years away.
The declaration of Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders was signed 23 February 1998. Speaking of jihad in the current sense of a global jihadi movement prior to that date is problematic.
The Blind Sheikh and his gang did the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993, but this was at best a precursor to the global jihad, and in any event, the Blind Sheikh did not have a web site in 1993.
As for the comments of Radu, assuming he is quoted accurately, they are not worthy of response. The man clearly has no knowledge of me or the activities I engage in. Then again, neither does the story's author, Carmen Gentile. So at least Gentile and Radu are well paired.
Posted on 22 March 2008 @ 15:14