Unfiltered resources for your personal War On Terror

SITE (The Search For International Terrorist Entities) assists the US government with terrorism research.

I happened to visit its website to review some source material for a discussion I was having with Seekerof on the authenticity of a widely posted alleged Al Qaeda operative.

On its own website SITE lists the following as the official websites for major terrorist organizations:

AL-QAEDA
www.conrado.net/_vit_inf/

Content: This site is al-Qaeda�s official website. Mostly in Arabic, the site contains official statements from al-Qaeda�s various bureaus and leadership, including taking credit for several terrorist operations, such as September 11, the USS Cole bombing, and the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in East Africa.

AL-QAEDA
www.waaqiah.com

Content: This site took over for the now defunct Azzam.com, the major distributor of al-Qaeda propaganda in English. Azzam.com was shut down several times for its radical propaganda. The website, in true Azzam.com tradition, contains interviews with top al-Qaeda leadership, like Ayman Al-Zawhiri, and has propaganda espousing hatred towards the West and glorifying martyrdom.

AL-QAEDA IN CHECHNYA
www.qoqaz.com

Content: Qoqaz.com contains the latest news of the al-Qaeda affiliated Mujahideen fighting in Chechnya. This site of the jihad in Chechnya has several pictures of injured mujahideen, as well as copious amounts of anti-West propaganda.

HAMAS
www.palestine-info.info

Content: Official website of the designated terrorist group, Hamas. The site issues press releases on behalf of Hamas and contains graphic pictures and detailed biographies of those �martyred� in their terrorist activities.

HIZBOLLAH
www.hizbollah.org

Content: Official website of the designated terrorist group, Hizbollah. The site espouses terrorist activities for the sake of Jihad, containing multimedia content such as pictures of people burning American flags and videos of terrorist operations.

PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD
www.qudsway.com

Content: Official website of the military wing of the designated terrorist group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Images, music, and videos all related to jihad appear on the site, as well as proud proclamations of successful operations.


It is my view that on any and all of those websites there will be a mix of suggestive reinforcement of poor ideals, and complete disinformation. I also have to wonder how closely anyone that ever visits them would come under the microscope!

Does anyone have an opinion on whether it is safe or unsafe to visit these sites for research purposes?

You are being watched and your location is known. so what difference does it make? Educate yourself is one thing. what you do with knowledge is another.

"It is my view that on any and all of those websites there will be a mix of suggestive reinforcement of poor ideals, and complete disinformation."

As I mentioned before, I would have great tendency to agree with what you have said. My only contention would be with the word: "complete".
In all that 'disinformation', as many of us might term it, there will always be those who see it as 'truth'. These type sites are not for the majority but for the minority. They draw or target a small percentage and with that small percentage, continue to proper or maintain.


"I also have to wonder how closely anyone that ever visits them would come under the microscope!"

Well, as Patriot mentions, these type sites are probably monitored, but as MA mentions, how closely and then how closely by those who maintain the site(s).


"Does anyone have an opinion on whether it is safe or unsafe to visit these sites for research purposes?"

Hmmm, I'm abit stiffled in giving an appropriate answer to this.....
I would think that with anything, one would run a difinite risk but to claim the extent of that risk, I would not be able to give an answer to suffice. IMHO, the risk would be significant if posting on a forum, if any of the said sites had one. Hell, to be perfectly honest....I just can't answer this one.....



regards
seekerof

Originally posted by MaskedAvatar
SITE (The Search For International Terrorist Entities) assists the US government with terrorism research.

I happened to visit its website to review some source material for a discussion I was having with Seekerof on the authenticity of a widely posted alleged Al Qaeda operative.

On its own website SITE lists the following as the official websites for major terrorist organizations:

AL-QAEDA
www.conrado.net/_vit_inf/

This site doesn�t work. Conrado.net is the homepage of a guy named Conrado Salas Cano, and he�s got a lot of links to skeptics/science sites. Nothing to do with terrorism apparently.

AL-QAEDA
www.waaqiah.com

Dead link.

AL-QAEDA IN CHECHNYA
www.qoqaz.com

I can believe it does contain the latest news of the Mujahideen fighting in Chechnya, but it�s hard to tell as I don�t read Arabic. Has some video that involves a lot of things blowing up with some flashy graphics, very likely propaganda.

HAMAS
www.palestine-info.info

This site works, the English pages reads like a newspaper. The content reads like a Jakomo post. Jump directly to the English page here: www.palestine-info.co.uk...

HIZBOLLAH
www.hizbollah.org

This the Hizbollah site alright, but the English page doesn�t seem to get updated very often. The most recent entry is six months old, with some going back to �96. Lots of video and press statements.

PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD
www.qudsway.com

It�s all in Arabic. Without a translator, can��t get any information. Lot�s of text, though.


It is my view that on any and all of those websites there will be a mix of suggestive reinforcement of poor ideals, and complete disinformation. I also have to wonder how closely anyone that ever visits them would come under the microscope!

If I get a knock on my front door, I�ll let you know.

Does anyone have an opinion on whether it is safe or unsafe to visit these sites for research purposes?

I suppose that depends on what you perceive the danger to be. The government doesn��t have the resources to track everyone who gets curious, and the terrorists put up the websites because they want to be looked at. In my opinion, it�s safe.

[Edited on 23-12-2003 by Mycroft]

[Edited on 23-12-2003 by Mycroft]

Mycroft

Thanks for checking these links from SITE and for your reviews of them and your closing opinion.

It puzzles me just a little that SITE would be highlighting dead links to Al Qaeda, but then again nothing should really surprise in the field of terrorism research or spurious links between any country or other entity and Al Qaeda.

I wonder if anyone saw the Director interviewed on FOX, or if anyone has alternative views of the vailidity of information from SITE which does appear to be well compiled and user-friendly, unlike your typical terrorist organisations....

Does anyone remember ummah.com before the fall of the taliban?

Was outrageous propoganda most of the time, interesting to see what the other side was reading. I don't know if it was taliban-controlled but about the time they went down, the site disappeared, now its back with a more refined (bland) style.

Originally posted by MaskedAvatar
It puzzles me just a little that SITE would be highlighting dead links to Al Qaeda, ...

Given the very nature of the organization, I would not be suprised if they had difficulty in securing a reliable host, and possibly are operating these links thru ever changing connections, changing IP's, and a Dynamic DNS resolver to their zone settings. Possibly hosting on a desktop winbox, or even a laptop.

They would only have to bring the site live on a pre-determined scheduled basis, or times, and could change locations of the physical server. The DynDNS would make the easy name connection valid and the link useful for visitors, then.

If this were the case, then you can be sure all traffic thru the domain name is probubly monitored at the registrar level, for the requesting IP's.
.

All kind of "resources for 'your' personal war on terrorism":

"Links of Interest"
Link:
www.truthusa.com...




regards
seekerof

[Edited on 27-12-2003 by Seekerof]