Al Queda goes all You-Tube Debate - PhillyBlog

seand · #1 (**permalink**) 12-20-2007, 02:54 PM

Now this is the proof the trend has gone too far.

Quote:

Al-Qaeda deputy seeking participants for online Q&A

By Anna Johnson
Associated Press
CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaeda has invited journalists to send questions to its No. 2 figure, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in the first such offer by the increasingly media-savvy terror network to "interview" one of its leaders since the Sept. 11 attacks. The invitation is a new twist in al-Qaeda's campaign to reach a broader audience and is an effort by Zawahiri to present himself as a sophisticated leader rather than a mass murderer.
The move "shows how this group with seventh-century ideology is exploiting 21st-century media capabilities," said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert and professor at Georgetown University in Washington.
The advertisement, issued by the group's media arm, Al-Sahab, on an Islamic militant Web site, invites "individuals, agencies and all media" to submit written questions for Zawahiri by sending them to the Web forums where Al-Sahab traditionally posts its messages.
Al-Sahab asked the forums to send it the questions "with no changes or substitutions, no matter whether they agree or disagree" with the question.
It said it would take questions until Jan. 16; after that, Zawahiri will answer them "as much as he is able and at the soonest possible occasion." It did not say whether his answers would be in writing, on video or on audiotape.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world...nline_Q_A.html

So how does this square with those that say how we are portrayed in Islamic and Arab media is not that important strategically?

seand · #2 (**permalink**) 12-20-2007, 03:16 PM

My other question. If Al Queda's #2 is talking about putting video answers to internet submitted questions online, how the hell is it that we haven't found them yet? At a certain point the whole "remote corner of Pakistan" starts to wear a little thin.

AMonte · #3 (**permalink**) 12-21-2007, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seand

My other question. If Al Queda's #2 is talking about putting video answers to internet submitted questions online, how the hell is it that we haven't found them yet? At a certain point the whole "remote corner of Pakistan" starts to wear a little thin.

RIGHT?!?!? WTF?

Google Earth released images for locating Steve Fossett's presumably crashed plane (http://www.stevefossett.com/) pretty instantly (in terms of when the images were taken...they're usually a few months/years old). Just recently, they've released a KMZ file for photos ONE HOUR OLD!! (http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archi...antarctic.html)

You know how f-ing bored I am right now? I'd comb the whole g.d. desert before lunch. How is there absolutely no way we've caught or seen any of these guys. Somehow, ABC news found him (granted, pre-9/11), but still, how in the hell have we not found them again? Something ain't right.

seand · #4 (**permalink**) 12-21-2007, 06:58 PM

So I'm wondering how Al Queda's #2 would respond to the global warming question from the animated snowman.