Technology

The author of this book is a communication professor at a university in Israel thus by virtue of being at the center of terrorism-effected state he has come up in convincing manner to present troubling analysis of the phenomenal popularity of internet by pugnacious extremist organizations that seek to institute their message of hate and spur recruitment through global forums. Thus the theme of this account revolves around the capacity and buoyancy of terrorists in fighting their wars not only on ground but in the realm of cyberspace too. The very dominion of terror on the internet is an attempt by the author to answer the emerging and painfully dynamic arena. Thus by gliding through this topic he has tended to lay us bare and exposed to the burgeoning challenges that arise over the smoky scene of uncertainty and risk. Uncertainty that is the result of growing and intricate presence of terrorists on the sphere of Internet.  Terrorism is thus Wiemanns theme and its resulting ramifications is the concern he is tries to interrogate.

The research involved
Gabriel Weimann is an eminent and acclaimed analyst of the menace of global terrorism and its related mass media, and his credentials gets amplified by his knowledge in the field of communication as he teaches in Haifa. Since the start of 1997 he has not also instigated debate but lead a large research particularly based on studying role of internet in the realm of terrorism. To come out with authentic and convincing results catalogued and tracked multitude of websites that had been the tool of terrorist organizations. The research data not only encompassed those sites that directly had been involved as the mouthpiece of terrorism but he tended to document those that had been used as proxies by their affiliates to spread word of hate, indoctrination, recruitment, gathering critical mass support, appealing and collecting funds and to plan and synchronize their attacks. The breadth and depth of data and culmination of crucial lessons lead Wiemann to publish five books more then hundred chapters and articles for books, journals and magazines encompassing the topic of conflict, extremism, terrorism, hate debate, mass media, the usage of IT and the internet.

To come up with emphatic analysis he dug deeper into sphere of terrorism by not only siphoning and categorizing the type of usage by the terrorist by also by inspecting and analyzing the material of them. He tried to understand their motives and tactics by digging into the material pasted. To come up with the essence and commonality between all of these messages he applied multitudinous analytical approach on the all written, audio and visual substance displayed.

Questions
He elaborated underlying arguments during in seminars and workshops fellow-ship years that his research has tried to answer, in a way highlighting the focus of his endeavor through following questions

Who really are the terrorists on Internet As lumping all the struggling groups under one umbrella would be unreasonable for those having legitimate consternation. Where lie the fine line and who is the arbiter to lob good from bad

Spurring from first question is the second and more intriguing debate as to who should be lumped under the elucidation of being a terrorist. This perplexity raises concern for the world that has to come up with clear and consolidated definition of terrorism, one that is universally acceptable
How the terrorists and their organizations use internet Is there common pattern among all groups or its use varies across regions depending upon the type of message that is being given.

What are the different schemes and strategies of these organizations, what is the rhetorical maneuvering And does it change with the nature and ferousity of message
How does the free-world democracies respond to threats emerging from such Internet based wars

Sphere of research
Weimann has explained some of his research findings on internet by shedding light on the various channels and mediums that such shadowy organizations have used for nefarious purposes that include

Psychological warfare
Promotion and the co-occurring propaganda
Digging through the available data on internet (data related to government and public and orchestrating plans for executing their designs)
Meeting out to sympathetic and generating funds from them
Expanding sympathizers for support, seaving backers for funds and carving out collaboratorshard core advocates for recruitment, thus dilating the support
Coming out with channels of communications and networking with similar terrorist groups
Sharing their designs, information, expertise, instructions and techniques
Planning, coordinating activities
Waging an impactful cyberwar and the hanging cyberterrorism

Lope holes
Weismanns account overall has been strong and persuasive and this is because of the fact that he consistently backed his findings by investigative results of his exhaustive research. Nevertheless his accounts sometimes begin to loose sheen and vivaciousness, thus appears life less.
Cyberterrorism is one thing that vehemently dismissed as hallow threat although we lately have seen attacks those becoming more and more persistent on US government websites by vexatious elements mostly emerging from Asia. He rightly says that such organizations have nothing or little to do by abrogating sites or stealing data which to some extent lie in their incapacity to seep into or their lack of stakes yet such attacks are a reality. However it might require research of another level to dig into the patterns and source of such attacks but shrugging off their capacity to cause disrupt is no more impossible. Rather a simulation conducted by the United States Home Land security (2007) on a possible cyberterrorist attack on US northern electric grid showed that the team of hackers broke into grid operations and successfully shut it down. Thus wider loopholes are waiting to be abused it just the matter of time when and who would break in through the back door. Thus Weismann assertion that no terrorist has yet been able to penetrate into major western computer and causing major harm is itself refuted by their own homeland exercises that convey vulnerabilities.

As Robert H. Fort stated in the International Herald Tribune by saying Weismann by asserting too much article and stories from news papers and journals has rather made his book more of an academic report. Though theres nothing wrong with this approach but perhaps over burnt himself and his readers.

Fort goes further by saying that on the issues of Patriot Act and liberties, Weismann went over board by giving broader coverage to both the proponent and critics, while putting little or no serious analysis of his own.  

Could these be willful omissions or evasions
I would come on the question on biasness later but there exists some arguments that needs to be objectively examined. My first and foremost objection is the list of recommendations that Weismann put forward to curb the menace of cyber-terrorism for instance Modification of the Patriot Act for increasing the transparency which is followed by his statement that people would have to give up some liberties while accepting limited vulnerabilities. Dig into every speech US President gave to his people and the free people of world after 911 that this is not a war on America, its a war on our values, our principle of liberty and our free way of life. Thus by pulling our strings by own hands would be giving up and playing into agenda of those who wanted to suffocate peoples freedom, as protection doesnt warrant killing independence, rather it means more enlightenment. May be America failed where they succeeded and thus instead of confining itself it needs to go forward and spread refulgence to curb the dusk.

Weismann somehow came to this point by being protagonist for education and counterterrorism sites and the promotion of harmonious use of Internet for conflict management and resolution.
Then we come across the definition of terrorists. Who are they, is their cause legitimate, are their actions admissible, who is target and are they really the people with cause and not some stooges of governments sans agencies. Who is the arbiter, who is going to decide and is their any one to listen and implement if their cause is really sanctioned. Where lie the fine line between freedom fighter and the terrorist So many questions and very few answers. Weismann has cited several examples around 30 US Department enlisted organizations each having their own causes. Like the LTTE guerilla group fighting ethnic Tamils independence from Sri Lanka, to some they are fighting for freedom and tend to spread their message across the board for their just cause while for others they are labeled as terrorists because of their brutal tactics which they claim as weapon of last resort. Thus the whole context of discussions becomes doubtful and contentious if we first tend to clarify the fine line, and Weismann glided across the very discussion without goading the controversial yet crucial discourse.

Is he biased
Comprehensively speaking Gabriel has done commendable work in tracking down the true nature of terrorists footprint on the Internet. He began his research before the start of second intifada that is known of have blankly slanted the opinion poll against the Palestinians and more importantly before the 911 that turned international opinion against Muslims at large. As far as the Israel is concerned the place where author resided and conducted research the general atmosphere had been relatively peaceful and both the side Palestinians and Israelis had been moving towards the peace process. Point of telling all this detail is the fact that there didnt exist any compelling stimulation at that time which could have compromised the writers objectivity. Also in most of the cases he came up with both the proponent and critics on any certain issue for instance cyber-terrorism, and kept his own judgment private. This also gave potent message that Weismann by virtue of being an Israeli and thus prone to skepticism kept himself clean while elucidating different hues of terrorism. His choice of studying only those organizations 30 in total which were listed on the terror list of US State Department is a clever move that made the basin of his research nonpartisan. Having said he nevertheless commented and concentrated more on Islamic terrorist activities especially those emerging from the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iran and the Greater Middle East and in general Muslim activities across the Asian, Central Asia and Africa, especially when he covers the Basque ETA, FARC guerilla organization of Colombia South America, from Chechnya, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan etc.

Most of his references his own articles from newspaper and journals had been around the activities of Hezbollah, Fatah and Hamas. The trio intrinsically against the existence of the State of Israel and thus thoroughly looked into by nature of being on and within the orders of Israel. There lies innately natural thrust by Weismann while keeping these organizations at the pinnacle of terrorism as the menace of Al Qaeda emerged almost 4 years after the research began. But we can brush this intrinsic inclination aside by keeping out to the fact that he himself had been conscious of this fact and vehemently attempted to keep the focus of his book universal rather then regional. As he admitted himself in a keynote at USIP (May 2004) that he didnt want to make this piece of research as regional handbook catering only to near Middle Eastern trouble making strands rather the nature and scope of his research and findings had been universal. And scholars believe that he did his work earnestly.

My take on conclusion
This undoubtedly is the most comprehensive book I ever read that is exhaustive, comprehensive, universal and yet eye opening. Weismann mentioned 4300 tracked websites that are run by terrorist organization though the number is quite small if compared to enormous websites which are up and still pouring in. Having said the number is still large enough to lure any person who gets into their trap and then their ability to keep changing their foot prints continuously to make them ghost sites is vexing. This along with large swathes of information had been an eye opener for me, as never before I imagined the presence this facet of terror infrastructure. His coverage of the subject in hands is splendid and his ending in caveats melded with recommendations is impressive. As he states that this is a psychological war that is being waged over the minds and hearts and their ever-increasing capacity to dodge on the internet resemble those virulent strains who mold and adapt to the changing environment and conditions. They have found a medium that they know is being extensively used by people of all age and races and they are learning and adopting to attack it. This makes Internet the most exposed and its users most vulnerable to their trap. Hes again right with all recommendations but alteration in Patriot Act and Home Land Security. Weismann direct audience is youth as they are the sect that are the most tuned to internet and they are the ones who the extremists are targeting. He rightly puts it this is the youth who gets trapped into their rhetoric so they must be taught the real truth behind those bars the truth about terrorism and their nefarious goals.

The study dates back to 1997 and a lot has changed since then. There are extended wars across the same region that initially had only been source of terrorist ideology but today it stands as the hot bed, a breeding ground of all sorts of terrorism. Most of it spurred by the actions of the same free world Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Lebanon and drumbeat against Iran, such a turmoil though intended to spread freedom and democracy in the greater Arab peninsula has rather proven to be bonanza for the same elements that merely relied on spiteful ideologies. Leaving aside the situation on ground, today the world needs renewed effort and commitments to check hate drift of contaminating cyber-terrorism.

Thus the way Internet is evolving with new trends, technologies and dimensions such that it is experiencing paradigm shifts in every three years there needs to be concerted effort in tracking this evolvement. There needs to be continuous research to equip the world with new challenges, this book laid the foundation stone of what could be next of the academic tryst.