I know this may seem like navel gazing to a lot of you -- and to be honest at some level it is -- but besides quoting me extensively the article does point out the problem of internet jihad. I know the kind of MSM media coverage of the phenomenon is hit or miss and tied to breaking stories about eHadis being arrested, but as long as it is hit we need to remind people that these internet jihadis are threats.
Minor threats? Maybe most of the time, but still threats.
Also, that it sometimes is hard to tell the difference between those online users who are only minor threats and major threats. For instance, who would have thought that Nidal Hasan was capable of the Fort Hood massacre? This is why all online followers of jihad need to be taken seriously.
While the rest of America was stunned to hear that a suburban Pennsylvania woman allegedly used the Internet identity of Jihad Jane and tried to join militant jihadists, for a group of 'Net vigilantes it was old news...
Groups like JawaReport, Quoth the Raven and the YouTube Smackdown Corps claim they had been monitoring LaRose's growing militancy for three years, and watched as the Internet -- particularly YouTube -- fed her fervor....
"There are certainly many others out there who are more eloquent and appear to be more dangerous from the way they talk," a man calling himself Rusty Shackleford told ABC News...
Shackleford said his goal from the beginning was combating violent Islamist material and support on the Web.
Much more in the story. Again, they use the unfortunate term "vigilante" to describe what we do, but other than that I have no complaints. In fact, what we do has nothing to do with "vigilantism" at all. Aaron wrote something about this a few months back (sorry, can't find the link) in which he reminded people that there is nothing illegal about contacting network administrators and using open source material to tie cyber jihadis to the meat world. In fact, some might just say we're being good citizens.
PS to Jarret Brachman -- the term "eHadi" kicks "jihobbyist" butt, any day!
Update by Howie: My duties here include adding links that Rusty can't find.
For any action to be characterized as "vigilantism" two conditions must be met:
1. The act must be unlawful.
2. The actor must not be a government agent.
Tales of daring-do and complaints of cyber vigilantism should both be viewed with a good deal of scepticism. Much of what is called vigilantism is perfectly lawful, and many of the actors - regardless of the methods they use - are associated with this or that government.
Perhaps the most ironic aspect of all the media attention in the latest criminal allegations against "Jihad Jane" is that Colleen LaRose of Pennsylvania is only the latest example of this odd emerging trend in homegrown terrorism. Indeed, LaRose is hardly alone in this category, whether we speak of London resident Samina Malik, an active user on jihadi social networking forums who busied herself with transcribed Al-Qaida training manuals into English during spare time at her job working in secure areas of Heathrow Airport--or Canadian citizen Beverly Giesbrecht (a.k.a. Khadija Abdul Qahhar), who was taken hostage by the Taliban during rather suspicious travels through North Waziristan. Both men and women who were once written off as hapless wannabes and mere "jihobbyists" are unexpectedly rising to the occasion, in often quite desperate bids to prove their total commitment to the cause.
These individuals are, more frequently than not, English-speaking with only a cursory knowledge of Arabic or the Middle East. Their pedigree is less than elite, and they lack the traditional connections back to Al-Qaida's central leadership. Yet, even Al-Qaida's senior echelon now openly recognizes the critical value of these potential "lone wolf" operatives.
I would like to point out that these people can be quite effective spreading al-Qaeda's message in the stead of regular media outlets.
I see two major purposes in this. A. Yes they are looking for recruits and to spread their ideology. B. As a way to bypass and talk directly past the media. Often in messages directed at the public at large.
How does he Respond? By reprinting an official propaganda piece by al-Qaeda when he knows he's in the news. His goal in my opinion is not to "inform" but to assist al-Qaeda, for whom he has expressed his support many times, in getting the largest number of eyes on al-Qeada's message as possible.
He's basically reprinting the terms that al-Qaeda has demanded for our surrender.
If you fail to respond to all these conditions, then prepare for fight with the Islamic Nation. The Nation of Monotheism, that puts complete trust on Allah and fears none other than Him.
But Ms. LaRose’s militant leanings were not a surprise to everyone. A collection of anti-jihadi Internet activists have been following her postings at least since September 2008.
One forum where activists tracked her was My Pet Jawa, where volunteers research Web sites they believe are tied to Al Qaeda or other militant groups and pressure Internet service providers to stop hosting the sites. The founder of the site, who requested anonymity because he said he had received death threats over his work, said Ms. LaRose was unlike most of the militants he tracks.
She made little effort to hide her true identity, he said, and she seemed to be using the radical sites almost as a dating service. “It was like she was looking for a soul mate,” he said.
On one Web site, Ms. LaRose corresponded with a man between December 2007 and February 2008 about her loyalty to jihad and her desires to marry him as soon as she could travel to see him. On another, Ms. LaRose sought advice in December 2007 about how to bring an Egyptian boyfriend, with whom she had been corresponding for more than a year, to the United States for the holidays.
Another Web group, YouTube Smackdown Corps, said it had also been tracking Ms. LaRose and complaining to the authorities about her YouTube postings for two years.
Of the 27 or so YouTube videos Ms. LaRose posted, most were training videos or violent scenes that she had lifted from jihadi Web sites. On Wednesday, all of Ms. LaRose’s videos had been removed by YouTube.
27 videos? Let me correct that. I think the reporter misunderstood. Colleen had at least 27 known YouTube accounts, each of them with many videos on them, and all of them shut down because of the work of the Smackdown Corps.
Actual conversation with New York Times reporter:
Reporter: So, why won't you be more specific on the name of the forum that Jihad Jane used to hang out on?
Jawa: No offense dude, but you're with The New York Times, an organization who's sense of discretion I don't have a lot of faith in.
You guys know how to keep a national security secret about as well as a D.C. hooker on China's payroll.
Okay, I may have made up that last part.
UPDATE(Matt Damon) I want to touch on something written in the Times piece Rusty mentions....they called US volunteers.
One forum where activists tracked her was My Pet Jawa, where volunteers research Web sites they believe are tied to Al Qaeda or other militant groups and pressure Internet service providers to stop hosting the sites. The founder of the site, who requested anonymity because he said he had received death threats over his work, said Ms. LaRose was unlike most of the militants he tracks
I and everyone on Jawa were drafted for this fight on the morning of Sept 11 2001.....when they attacked us that morning...... they wanted a fight that morning.... we gave it back to them in spades and then some..... we will do our part in hunting down everyone of the bastards .
Colleen LaRose (Jihad Jane): I Can Haz Sekrit Spy Google?
The Justice Department won't say whether provisions of the Patriot Act were used to investigate and charge Colleen LaRose. But the FBI and U.S. prosecutors who charged the 46-year-old woman from Pennsburg, Pa., on Tuesday with conspiring with terrorists and pledging to commit murder in the name of jihad could well have used the Patriot Act's fast access to her cell-phone records, hotel bills and rental-car contracts as they tracked her movements and contacts last year.
But even if the law's provisions weren't directly used against her, the arrest of the woman who allegedly used the moniker "Jihad Jane" is a boost for the Patriot Act,
For the past two years I've been arguing that the spiritual focus of the English speaking eHadi world has moved from clerics such as Omar Bakri Mohammad to Anwar al-Awlaki. Following the links in one of our posts, Steve Emerson notes that Jihad Jane -- like most of her online friends (hi Abu Fatima!) -- was also a fan:
An Internet search, however, reveals that this same person is listed as a 'friend' on YouTube's Anwar Awlaki Lectures Channel. Awlaki is the American-born cleric now living in Yemen and considered a charismatic influence over jihadis. Awlaki was in communication with Nidal Malik Hasan before the Fort Hood massacre and is suspected of encouraging failed Christmas Day airline bomber Umar Abdulmutallab.
And just a note to Steve and to any one else that's interested. Colleen "Jihad Jane" LaRose had dozens of YouTube accounts.
Also, let me echo Howie's sentiment: I'm tired. Behind the scenes here I've been getting a ton of media requests. And that's time consuming, with little payoff. So, if you have a tip be sure and email us -- it'll save me some time and it helps.
At least 14 suspected Taliban insurgents, including top extremist commander, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, were reportedly killed in a couple of US drone attacks in North Waziristan.
Acccording to sources, in the first attack, an unmanned aircraft targeted a vehicle firing four missiles in Macha Madakhel at Dada Khel tehsil, killing six terrorists.
Another vehicle, which was on its way to help the victims of the first attack, was also targeted killing eight more militants, The Daily Times reports.
An intelligence official confirmed the missile hits, but failed to substantiate reports regarding the death of Bahadur
Reports are drones flew over the area for hours until nightfall.
For those not familiar with Bahadur Jamestown has his background.
Perhaps no one has greater stature or importance in the Pakistani Taliban leadership than Hafiz Gul Bahadur, supreme commander of the North Waziristani Taliban. A direct descendant of Mirza Ali Khan, a legendary Waziristani freedom fighter who fought against the British Indian government and later against the newly established Pakistani State, Bahadur is known for hosting foreign militants, mainly al-Qaeda and other Arab groups, as well as Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani of the cross-border Haqqani network.
Hafiz Gul Bahadur is 48 years old and belongs to the Madda Khel clan of the Uthmanzai Wazir. He is a resident of Lwara, a region bordering Afghanistan and is reported to have received his religious education from a Deobandi madrassa (seminary) in Multan (The Post [Lahore], August 19). Bahadur subscribes to the Deobandi Islamic revivalist ideology and maintains a political affiliation with the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F), a Deobandi political party. Bahadur fought in Afghanistan during the anti-Soviet jihad of the 1980s and again during Taliban rule.
It just never ends. A former nice boy from New Jersey, currently an al Qaeda terrorist, is in custody in Yemen. He was a) planning a terror attack b) apprehended and hospitalized last week and c) killed a hospital guard Sunday in an escape attempt. The Yemeni military earlier reported the shooter was a German citizen of Somali origin. Fox reported today that he has dual Yemeni-American citizenship.
NBC40: Federal sources have confirmed that a man from Buena is in custody in the Middle East, and they say he's believed to be an Al-Qaeda militant who's accused of going on a deadly rampage.
A video I put together with IDF pictures, and a song in Hebrew called Hope by Subliminal.
The chorus translated is "Let's continue, our whole lives are ahead of us. It's not too late, tomorrow is a new day. The dream will die if we lose hope, so stretch forth a hand for love"
Here is The Jawa Report's exclusive report* from the person who notified the FBI about Colleen "Jihad Jane" La Rose's online activities in support of terrorism.
There have been so many media inquiries made to The Jawa Report and YouTube Smackdown about our involvement in the "Jihad Jane" case. We here at The Jawa Report and the YouTube Smackdown Corps were involved to varying degrees in tracking and "smacking down" her various YouTube videos and accounts. By "smacking down" we mean we helped with an organized campaign to "flag" terrorist propaganda videos uploaded to YouTube in an effort to have those videos removed.
Howie and Stable Hand at the Jawa Report, for instance, were much more active in following Colleen -- who in addition to calling herself "Jihad Jane" also used the name "Fatima LaRose".
Andrea, Sabby, The Bartender, Celebrimbor, & Lam from the Smackdown Corps also followed Jihad Jane over the years. And Star CMC was instrumental both in the Corps and in enlisting the help of members of the Free Republic forum for various YouTube smackdowns.
But one individual in particular decided that Colleen's pro-terrorism videos and statements crossed a line last year. I think we all thought of Colleen as pathetic and perhaps deranged. But at some time a year or more ago she also caught this person's attention and they made the judgment that Colleen was also dangerous.
This is their story:
I initially started on youtube with a channel dedicated to performing arts. Due to some disturbing comments I received on videos of Middle East Performing Arts by some so-called fanatical muslims posting comments such as, "if this were my sister I could kill her" or "if I ever if I ever see this girl I will rape her", I decided to open up a new channel and investigate further where this blind hatred for women in Middle East Performing Arts came from.
"I came to know her as a middle aged sociopath woman desperate for love, lonely and isolated"
One thing lead to another and the next thing I knew, I was dealing with fanatical's such as JihadJane/FatimaLaRose whose real identity was later revealed as Colleen LaRose. I noted this woman's dedication to Osama Bin Laden and her extreme hatred to the U.S. and all those who were not muslim wishing death upon us as well as favoriting and commenting on every terrorist video on youtube posting comments such as "you are doing a good job". Over the course of approximately 1 1/2 years we exchanged comments on youtube in reference to her fanatical beliefs, at times me becoming her main rival which drew attention from others who were monitoring her, mainly the Youtube SmackDown group who were responsible for removing many terrorist vids from youtube.
Bit by bit I learned more about Colleen through her comments or by all the information she recklessly left about herself on the web. I came to know her as a middle aged sociopath woman desperate for love, lonely and isolated, with a deep hatred for the U.S. blaming them for all her problems. She claimed her conversion to Islam was related to meeting a Muslim while on vacation in Holland who somehow made her feel special which became her quest to find a much younger wealthy Muslim husband as evident by her other website accounts with photos of possible husbands including one with stashes of cash piled around his body. Many of her comments revealed a possible husband, much younger than her, and her typical excited giggles plus questions on visa websites asking how to get this possible husband to her. All of this later revealed in searches on the web after she became radicalized.
"I noted this woman's dedication to Osama Bin Laden"
Since Fatima metamorphosed into the perfect recruit, her previous internet activity was easy to track which she listed her real name, birth date, location, and even online pictures of herself. She was the perfect recruit for extremist; lonely, isolated, blaming others for her problems, in the middle of a midlife crisis, and upset that she had to care for her elderly mother. She lashed out and converted to Islam then used this as an excuse to lash out further at society for being at fault for her problems and citing her elderly mother she had to care for who did not approve of her conversion.
Fast track to the period I came to know Colleen, she had already become radicalized. Due to her radical postings in support of Osama Bin Laden claiming him as her Sheik and idolizing 9/11 coupled with our internet encounters, I soon became friends with the group that was tracking internet terrorism - YoutubeSmackDown. We started sharing information since Colleen became their main source for finding terrorist videos on youtube since she was the main source for favoriting them.
During this period we all noticed Colleen becoming more terroristic with the U.S. for her personal problems and more fanatical in her beliefs. Many of these members had never heard of me and I had never heard of them before. However it soon became a joint effort since we watched a potential terrorist comint to life on youtube becoming more radicalized as days went on and more of a real threat to the U.S.
[Colleen in Amsterdam] "She claimed her conversion to Islam was related to meeting a Muslim while on vacation in Holland who somehow made her feel special"
Colleen went from being angry at the U.S. as a sociopath blaming them for all her problems in life to actually contacting real terrorist plotting terroristic threats against the U.S. Although Youtube Smackdown was responsible for removing most of her terrorist accounts, she remained determined to create more accounts on youtube promoting terrorism against the U.S. and grew more of a following of real terrorist as time went on, joining online terrorist websites and promoting them on her youtube channels.
When she finally made an account which she actively solicited funds for the Pakistan Mujaheddin, which at this point I knew she had acquired the contacts for, I knew she had become a real threat for our safety and had officially violated U.S. Federal Law. It was time to report her. This being in July 2009 I formally called the FBI in Philadelphia to report her.
"Colleen went from being angry at the U.S. as a sociopath blaming them for all her problems in life to actually contacting real terrorist plotting terroristic threats against the U.S."
Without the combined effort of Youtube Smackdown and members of that group which I did not know on a personal basis until our combined efforts of exposing Colleen, none of this would of taken place. Most of us still remain anonymous to each other except for a few group contacts that collaborated this effort and exchanged much information in tracking Colleen on the web. This was a group effort that deserves more pats on the back than just my story with many more plain citizens with their own stories watching out for the U.S. and our safety and security who phase into my story on how we all came together to bring down a terrorist and watched her metamorphosis a terrorist on youtube.
Thanks to so many anonymous that we all came together to bring a terrorist down and the real life story of how it evolved. We are plain citizens of the U.S. Without us, the FBI may of never been onto her.
Wish to remain Anonymous and special thanks to the Youtube Smackdown Group. We did a good job here.
*Media: Please cite "The Jawa Report" when referencing this article or information.
Damn, this bitch was so incompetent at jihad, she couldn't even martyr herself.
(CNN) -- Colleen LaRose, the Pennsylvania woman indicted for allegedly conspiring to support terrorists and kill a person in a foreign country, attempted to commit suicide in 2005, according to a police report filed at the time.
Somewhere in an Irish holding cell, seven jihadi wannabes are cursing the day they came into contact with this Islamotard.
I know this may seem like navel gazing to a lot of you -- and to be honest at some level it is -- but besides quoting me extensively the article does point out the problem of internet jihad. I know the kind of MSM media coverage of the phenomenon is hit or miss and tied to breaking stories about eHadis being arrested, but as long as it is hit we need to remind people that these internet jihadis are threats. 
