S.C. mom scoops al-Qaida with its videos

AP via Yahoo ^ | Sep 20, 2007 | SAGAR MEGHANI

[stainlessbanner]

WASHINGTON - Once her son is off to school, Laura Mansfield settles in at her dining room table with her laptop and begins trolling Arabic-language message boards and chat rooms popular with jihadists.

Fluent in Arabic, the self-employed terror analyst often hacks into the sites, translates the material, puts it together and sends her analysis via a subscription service to intelligence agencies, law enforcement and academics.

Occasionally she comes across a gem, such as when she found a recent Osama bin Laden video — before al-Qaida had announced it.

"I realized, oh my gosh, I'm sitting here, I'm a fat 50-year-old mom and I've managed to scoop al-Qaida," said Mansfield, who uses that name as a pseudonym because she receives death threats.

She sometimes spends 100 hours a week online, and she often finds items after word has begun spreading on the Arabic forums of an imminent release.

"It's really important to understand what the jihadists think and how they're planning on doing things," she said. "They're very vocal. They tell us what they're going to do and then they go out and do it."

Mansfield tips off her intelligence sources when she does find something new, part of an informal working relationship with the government.

"When I send them something, it's welcome," she said. "They thank me."

There have been times when an impending video release has kept her from a planned shopping trip with her daughter.

"It gets really challenging when you're trying to do that and cook spaghetti at the same time," she said.

[txhurl]

Summertime........

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

LOL...yep, get yer self stuck in some gumbo mud, and then come tell me your story (lolol)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back to my point : Red Chute Bayou is full of big alligators,,,no foolin’,,,that’s the east side of the area of the “Stink Tank”,,,that will feed the CWC on base,,,
No better place in the country to put this,,,IMHO...;0)

[jedward]

“Back to my point”

I’ve been subtly trying to avoid your point ;) Noted :))

[jedward]

I agree.

[jedward]

What is the LBC?

[txhurl]

Long Beach, California.

[jedward]

Had me head scratchin’ on that one (lol). I presume those are some type of lyrics to a song...summertime maybe?

[txhurl]

Gotta get up early in the morning to get one past you, man.

[jedward]

Ain’t never been accused of being fast :)

[Cindy]

How’s things tonight, 1 Counter-Morter-68?

I was checking my comments to see if I missed some pings and saw this thread expanded. A little off topic here, or just having fun?

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

Hi Cindy,,,Just pushin’ Laura Mansfield and all that can
help in the WOT toward the “Stink~Tank”,as I call it,to get
the best there is into the fight,,,

IMHO : This place will be the B-1,B-2,B-52 of Cyber-War...

[Cindy]

Ok, well you have a good morning 1-COUNTER-MORTER-68.

[x_plus_one]

Or at least give her a nice fast computer and a T1 line.

agreed

Working in an office for the cia is the pits. If no one else in the cia can do what she does then let the desk jockeys grow their own internet warriors...

[Gvl_M3]

I understand that the article didn’t use her real name. But, we have identified her Freeper Name and there may be an inadvertent post giving more details about her.

Now, we have tied her book and speeches to her as well.

I just didn’t want to make it any easier for the people who want to kill her to track her down.

Thanks for your replies though.

[SauronOfMordor]

I beg to differ. As long as “Laura” is not employed by the fools in the CIA/NSA/FBI, then they have no way to tell her what to do and (more alarmingly) what to *not* do. She’s going to go where her common sense and language skills take her, untrammeled by the political correctness that pervades our security agencies now.

Having worked for places where "not rocking the boat" is more important than getting anything done, I heartily agree with you

[Scotswife]

It’s your use of the word pathetic that is insulting.
As if they are stooping to some low level to use this talented woman’s skills.

I suppose you have a better way for the gov. to obtain translation services from non-arabic sources?

[GregB]

I did no more money to the Rockefeller republicans.

[GregB]

trying to get her fired!!!

[Kay]

Sorry. Yes, I was generalizing and I thank you for your strong work on behalf of our govt.

I see the same lethargic service in big private companies — like the clerks at WalMart, the ER staff/doctors at Kaiser, the union check-out clerks at the big grocery stores, etc.. No incentive to get it done quickly and with a smile.

[Col Freeper]

I see the same lethargic service in big private companies — like the clerks at WalMart, the ER staff/doctors at Kaiser, the union check-out clerks at the big grocery stores, etc.. No incentive to get it done quickly and with a smile.

LOL, I understand your frustration completely.

My intent was a gentle reminder not to paint with too broad a brush (I do it myself sometimes).

I did not always make my Gov't employees happy when I would remind them that the person on the other end of the line was their customer, regardless of what they were requesting.

And if the person on the line was John/Jane Q. Public, they paid our salaries, and deserved a courteous, prompt response, as we wore the titles "civil servant".

As I told them, both words counted in describing our jobs.

Thanks for your gracious response.