Posted on 05/16/2006 4:13:19 AM PDT by ovrtaxt
MySpace.com hosts wannabe terrorists
Popular site provides fertile ground for recruitment, glorification of jihad
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
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While concerns about MySpace.com often focus on its use by sexual predators, the popular youth networking website may also pose a risk to the nation's security.
An investigation found the website to be fertile ground for inspiring and recruiting a new generation of Islamic terrorists, according to independent analyst Laura Mansfield.
A young man from Seattle, for example, who gives his name as Amin Al-Mujaahid As-Salafi – or "Salafi Jihaadi – has a blog that features images of al-Qaida leaders Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, British jihadist Abu Hamza, and the 19 hijackers who carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, referring to them as the "Magnificent 19."
An audio link on his site – titled "Du'a by Abdul Rahman – "sounds absolutely Hitleresque," Mansfield says.
She finds a "disturbing pattern" emerging in a closer examination of the 78 "friends" listed in As-Salafi's "social network."
 MySpace blogger Rashid Ali |
His friend Rashid Ali, who describes himself as a 31-year-old living in Seattle, has similar views.
Reading Quran & hadith, Training Hui (Chinese-Muslim) kung-fu, Makoto-Ryu aki-jujitsu, & muay-thai-kick-boxing, NiNjitsu, Penjat-Silat, escrima:Kali/JKD.Target shooting ect. And hanging out with. My Big Bro Imam Rahim
Like his "friend," Ali includes jihadi-tribute imagery and the black flag of jihad on his page.
"With over 173 people listed, Ali appears to be part of a wide network of people who share similar sentiments," Mansfield says.
A MySpace blog called "Soldiers of Allah" features the hard-edged tones of rap to call Muslims to faithfulness in titles such as "No Compromise" and "Bring Islam Back."
Soldiers of Allah says it's "not a jihad group" but declares, "Remember we are the next generation of Muslims and it's an obligation and responsibility of each and every Muslim to implement as Allah commanded."
Soldiers of Allah has 258 people in its "social network."
Among them is 19-year-old Salafi Mujahid of Chicago who boasts an image on his page that says "Support Our Troops" above Arabic writing and an assault rifle.
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The site also has images glorifying Zarqawi. Mujahid says he's an architecture major at College Of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Ill., who is active in the Muslim Students Association.
Some of these youth, such as 17-year old "Yaqub," seem to simply echo Islamist propaganda, Mansfield says.
Yaqub, from Plainfield, N.J., proclaims "Denmark Is messin with the wrong people!!"
Some, such as 17-year old Aaron Moore of West Haven, Conn., seem to have developed profound anti-American feelings:
white ppl (or americans) killed most of the native Americans they caused the trail of tears (deals with the native americans, mostly of the Cherokee nation) then they continue pushing them back on the western front …
americans say "all muslims are saveges, or animal beasts" (as they did to the native americans, [see a cycle?]) or the americans also say "ohh, arabs and muslims are almost humans".
Others, such as 19-year old "Islamakazi," are more explicit, posting a countdown until what he describes as "Iran war (world war 3)."
Along with the "countdown clock" are a variety of other images glorifying jihadi and terrorist leaders, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Jihadi imagery, video and audio easily are found on MySpace.com sites of young girls as well as of older male youth, Mansfield points out.
A young California woman, this one claiming to be 18 and posting under the screen name "Islam4Ever," is listed in "3rabiah's" circle of friends.
Recruiting
MySpace.com is fertile ground for terrorist recruitment, Mansfield says.
Nineteen-year-old Hemadah from Brooklyn is like many of the other teenagers on the site, describing himself as 190 pounds, 5'8" tall and a Gemeni of Middle Eastern descent. He doesn't drink, has no children and is a college student. He has cute photos of beautiful children, in this case his niece and nephew. He has a special love for everything bagels and wants to go "to college to become a cop, hopefully work my way up as a detective."
But a look at his MySpace blog suggests he's anything but ordinary.
How does he want to die?:
"AS A MARTYR, IF NOT THAT WAY, THEN WHILE IM PRAYING AND MY HEADS ON THE FLOOR"
Twenty-one year old Isa from Fort Worth, Texas, also says he wants to die as a martyr.
Twenty-three year old Kareemwazwaz, who posts a photo of Palestinian terrorist Izz el din Qassam on his webpage, includes this posting:
How do you want to Die: a martyr for palestine What do you want to be when you Grow Up: a martyr for Palestine
Mahmoud, a student from the University Of California at Santa Cruz, expresses similar sentiments. How does Mahmoud want to die?
"defending something ... either my family, my religion, or my country ... basically i wanna die a martyr"
He includes a photo from the UC Santa Cruz "Palestinian Die-In," dated May 9.
 'Palestinian Die In' at University of California, Santa Cruz |
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Eighteen year old Fayyad of Oviedo, Fla., has even bolder aspirations.
The University of Central Florida student wants to die "as a martyr for God or in a huge nuclear explosion."
Mansfield says such beliefs are not rare among MySpace.com users, identifying blogs belonging to more than 70 young people who want to die as a martyr.
"Is one of these 70young people, who openly aspire to be a martyr in the name of Allah, one of the next wave of terrorists who will attack America?" Mansfield asks.
Mansfield said the FBI, when contacted regarding the websites, said all of the material is "protected free speech."
The pro-Islam groups on Myspace are definitely for real. Ther are quite a few of them.
ping!
"...more than 70 young people who want to die as a martyr."
I'm sure that *wish* could be accomodated.
Well it is nice of them to put all thier pictures and locations in one spot for the good guys then.
Does MySpace not have admins who could kick these types off? Or do they simply not care?
> The pro-Islam groups on Myspace are definitely for real.
Maybe so--I've never visited the site. But I am sure our guys are keeping a watchful eye.
Yes it's a good idea to let them post as much as they want so the authorities know what their up to and where to find them.
This has been going on online for a lot longer than MySpace has been around. MySpace is just another mechanism for them to organize and communicate. There are hundreds of others on the Internet.
Of course if I said "faggots suck" or ever dare mention the dreaded "N" word - It would be considered "Hate Speech" and not "Free Speech"
Someone care to explain to me why?
time to start flexing our 2nd amendment rights.
I'm a parent and I have lots of gripes with MySpace.
The main complaint I have are the many "layers" of MySpace...especially the browse section.
I think they've cleaned it up some (I don't think you can browse "swingers" anymore.)
But a kid can easily stumble into pornography on the site.
Parents need to be aware it's not just a "teen" fad, and there are dangers there for their underage kids.
I'm an Internet security professional and the only gripe I have is parents who don't monitor their childrens' activity. Any parent who lets their kid use the Internet without (first and most important) the parent looking over the shoulder and/or content filtering software is not parenting, in my opinion.
just happen to have about 71 rounds handy
one extra for the person you know will mouth off something stupid
I have a myspace page- from what I've seen, the only reason they'll kick you is for posting porn. And usually they'll just delete the individual images.
Sometimes someone will put up a page to promote their porn site, and unless there's blatant porn, they'll leave it up.
No, you can browse for swingers. I just tried it. Gross.
I'm simply amazed at the lack of concern by parents.
With Myspace, I just heard, "Oh it's just a teen hangout."
My kid wanted to sign on (we closely monitor what he does...my husband's a Network Admin, and is concerned about security issues and morality issues on the internet.)
Anyhoo, I signed up for Myspace and started checking out things, and found it to be a virtual cesspool (if you knew where to look.)
I gave several parents (friends of ours) my login, because I knew their kids were on the site. I told them how to search the site and I figured they'd go in, take a look, and keep their kids off the site. Unfortunately that didn't happen, and their 14 and 15 year olds are still active on the site.
I haven't been on for awhile, but when we were deciding if our teenager could use the site, I signed up and was amazed they had the "swinger" category.
They've gotten better about pulling the porn off, but it used to be that if you searched new posters, you'd be confronted with porn and graphic photos of certain "body parts" that were not what you wanted your kid to see.
I am a bunch of my friends have used myspace. I am amazed at the people who we have found. People I had not seen since high school. I like the site, but if i was a parent #1 I would be in my child’s top 8.
#2 check what they are posting.
#3 have a keylogger and monitoring software on the pc to find out what they are typing.
There are many sites out there that server real purposes but also contain some kind of porn or other pictures or comments. You just have to be vigilant
Our kids do not have a page- they're to young. But our friends who have kids have a page, and they keep tabs. So does our youth pastor at the church.
Best to keep them where we can *see* them...
These groups are everywhere on the net, not just MySpace.
Indeed, thats what needs to be done. I have run many squads and groups in online video games, these kids needs leadership from many not just thier parents but the parent is the root of it all. When i had kids join (under 18) i asked them to bring thier parents on and had a little meeting to explain what we did and such but also to warn them about the dangers of the net. Stay secure and clean :-)
I think the difference with these social networks is the ease of communication, and the ability to influence others and openly present ideas to impressionable people.
Frankly, that's why I'm on there, to reach kids for the Lord. It works!
has anyone reported this to the FBI?
Yes, it's been reported to the FBI.
I have a more detailed article on this at my website at www.lauramansfield.com
MySpace isn't the only place where this is going - Yahoogroups, Orkut, MSN Communities, Facebook... I could list dozens of similar sites. Basically anywhere they can find free space, with the ability to connect with others you're going to find this stuff, unless site admins police carefully. But once a site gets a reputation as a place where this type of material is condoned - well, it's open season for them to post.
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