In a rare glimpse into cyber warfare tactics, a top U.S. official has acknowledged that the U.S. government hacked into websites run by al-Qaida's affiliate in Yemen, changing advertisements that boasted about killing Americans into advertisements that underscored the deaths of Muslim civilians in al-Qaida terror attacks. Now this is the part that they admit. I liken it to the iceberg and the Titanic. The thing that did all of the damage was the part that was submerged out of sight. When the crew saw the sliver that was above the water it was too late to do anything about it. By this I mean that there is no doubt that the cyber warfare with al-Qaeda goes much deeper that what they are telling us about here. This is the sanitized portion of the deal. Now having said this let me go on with the rest of the article. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that State Department specialists attacked sites tied to al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) that were trying to recruit new members by bragging about killing Americans. "Within 48 hours, our team plastered the same sites with altered versions of the ads that showed the toll al-Qaida attacks have taken on the Yemeni people," Clinton said. "We can tell our efforts are starting to have an impact because extremists are publicly venting their frustration and asking supporters not to believe everything they read on the internet." It had been suspected that the U.S. government played some role in shutting down several jihadi web forums earlier this year, but officials from the CIA and counterterrorism community had previously denied any involvement. Of course they will deny but it doesn’t take much of a brain to realize that the issue has to be much more serious than this. This is cyber war but it is war nevertheless. The object is to win and the game is for keeps so what do you think our government has been doing? Highlighting the government's use of smart power to fight extremists, Clinton said that military and civilian specialists around the world are focused on preempting, discrediting, and outmaneuvering extremist propaganda. Calling them "a digital outreach team," Clinton said the specialists are fluent in Urdu, Arabic, and Somali. The group is already patrolling the web and using social media and other tools to expose a-Qaida's contradictions and abuses, including its continuing brutal attacks on Muslim civilians. Clinton also said that under her tenure the State Department has become more active in working with the Defense Department and the intelligence community to use diplomacy as a tool to fight terrorism of all forms and extremist propaganda. The Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, according to Clinton, was created to find ways for civilian diplomats and experts to better aid military operations in hot spots. Clinton said the bureau sent a team of experts ahead of the Special Operations mission in Central Africa to talk to village leaders and rebels who would be open to defecting or helping the U.S. find the warlord Joseph Kony. Clinton said the State Department's Counterterrorism Bureau is currently spearheading a diplomatic campaign around the world, working with local governments and leaders to squeeze any funding venues for al-Qaida and its affiliates. She said the State Department trains nearly 7,000 police, prosecutors, and counterterrorism officials from more than 60 countries. There are many more elements to cyber warfare than what Mrs. Clinton is telling us about here. The operation has to be much deeper than what she has revealed to us. You had better believe that. Military Ring Express
Related Articles -
cyber warfare, cyber war, us cyberwar, al-qaeda cyber war,
|