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| Iraq |
| U.S. pulls plug on 6 al-Qaeda media outlets in Iraq |
| 2007-10-05 |
| Domestic outlets like Daily Kos and the Puffington Host will continue to be ignored. The U.S. military says it has captured at least six al-Qaeda media centers in Iraq and arrested 20 suspected propaganda leaders since June. The seizures of the centers underscore the importance al-Qaeda has placed on media, primarily the Internet, as a tool to communicate to its members and use against U.S. forces in Iraq. The group's media emphasis continues to increase, intelligence analysts say. The progress against al-Qaeda's media operations stems from new offensives aimed at al-Qaeda sanctuaries and an emphasis on blunting the terrorist group's extensive propaganda operations, U.S. officers say. "One of our goals is to target these propaganda networks, and we've had more success over the past three months," says Air Force Col. Donald Bacon, a staff officer at Multi-National Force-Iraq. Those seizures have sharply curtailed the amount of videos and other communications posted to the Internet from Iraq, Bacon says. Recent U.S. efforts have made it difficult for al-Qaeda's Internet operations, but such successes are hard to define and may only be temporary, says Rita Katz of the SITE Institute, which monitors terrorist websites. The SITE Institute noted al-Qaeda in Iraq's recent distribution of a 20-minute video, called "The Astray Arrow," alleging the failure of the coalition's offensive in Diyala province, Operation Arrowhead Ripper. Al-Qaeda's media output in Iraq dipped starting five or six weeks ago, Katz says, but it has since recovered. The terrorist group's media centers are nondescript from the outside but jammed with production equipment, Bacon says. One house raided recently in Samarra, north of Baghdad, included 12 computers, 65 hard drives and a filming studio. The U.S. military says it has uncovered media operations in the past, but not as many as in recent months. It is not clear how many centers exist, Bacon says. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #9 I'm also haliburton but as an asisde I've still got the coffee mug of Atlata's "view of the world" surrounded by the great mall wall. It's actually sad. I haven't been down Peachtree-Battle in well over 15 years til last week. Don't know when I might've gone had it not been for $12 falcon tickets Which allowed me and my 10 year old to dine like kings at Fellini's pizza on Peachtree in Buckhead, otherwise it'd been the Varsity for my grease intake |
| Posted by: Beavis 2007-10-05 22:48 |
| #8 BTW Go DAWGS kick Tennessee's arse tomorrow |
| Posted by: Halliburton 2007-10-05 22:35 |
| #7 TW it's down town Atlanta. They could do that in the Highland's, L5P or old buckhead my olde haunt off, Delmont, buts its still tenuous as whether Atlantan's will visit. Especially necks like me from the outer burbs of Forsyth, Hall, Cherokee for example |
| Posted by: Halliburton 2007-10-05 22:33 |
| #6 I liked Greta better before the mouth job. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-10-05 16:31 |
| #5 I never will forget travelling to work one day (I work just 2 blocks from CNN in Atlanta), and right across the street, staring CNN in the face was a HUGE Fox News billboard. It was touting how they had "stolen" Greta from CNN (years ago), but I guess CNN got even with stealing Kiran Chetchry. I'd like an off-season swap of those two back to their original home bases to up the "babe factor" on Fox again. I wish I would've taken a pic of the billboard, though! |
| Posted by: BA 2007-10-05 15:52 |
| #4 They also forgot MSNBC. |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2007-10-05 13:29 |
| #3 It's Atlanta, Beavis. They'll quickly fill it with a couple of strip shopping centers containing really wonderful restaurants. ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-10-05 13:23 |
| #2 1) That would leave a real big hole by Philips Arena |
| Posted by: Beavis 2007-10-05 08:44 |
| #1 Here's another you can take down.... One CNN Center, Atlanta, GA. 30348-5366 |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-10-05 06:11 |