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Posted on 09/16/2001 9:56:18 PM PDT by Republican Party Reptile

Why Are Islamic Fundamentalists Visiting Porn Sites? The CIA Explains... By Pramit Pal Chaudhuri The Hindustan Times (from: February 18, 2001) 9-15-1

NEW DELHI - Now we know how jehadis get their kicks. CIA chief George Tenet let it out of the brown paper bag during a session with US Senators. Osama bin Laden and other Islamicists, it seems, use cyberporn to send messages secure from Western intelligence's peeping Toms.

It's known that terrorists are handy with encryption, e-mail and the Internet. Here's how they talk dirty, electronically. Terrorist in Kandahar uses software to code a message. He then hides this digital strand inside a more innocuous digital packet and posts it at a pre-determined website. Terrorist in New York City downloads the packet and uses similar software to unscramble the message.

Here's the fun bit: the favoured digital packet to hide such messages is a picture of an undraped female form. Of course, when the picture is posted on a porn site it'll be downloaded thousands of times. But others won't know there's a message here that's more than skin-deep and they'll lack the decrypting keys.

One Indian cyber expert, Ravi V. Prasad, says, "Such groups use porn sites because it would be the last place someone would expect Islamic fundamentalists." The second favourite are sports sites. Again, this runs against the Taliban grain and the large volumes of site visitors provide good cover.

Spy thriller fans will understand. The porn website has become the 'drop' -- the dustbin or station locker where Cold War spooks used to leave messages.

Islamic terrorists have also discovered e-commerce. A Los Angeles Times article called the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba "the most accomplished Internet fund-raiser" among terrorist groups. Their website provides a bank account in Pakistan for donations. Lashkar has done so well it plans to open a bank. It's big bucks.

One jihadi website, azzam.com, raises money for the Taliban to puncture UN sanctions and asks for a minimum donation of $20,000. Business is good: it's advertising for a web designer.

Militants embrace the e-advantage. Bin Laden began using encrypted e-mail six years ago, when he learnt US intelligence was tapping his satellite phone. Later, Bin Laden declared mastering hi-tech "a religious duty." Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, founder of Hamas, said last year, "We will use whatever tools we can - e-mail, the Internet -- to facilitate jihad." So much porn no doubts helps stoke the fires of jihad among militant ranks, mostly young males.

So, when next you download the file, Britney in Birthday Suit, you may get a bomb manual with the blonde, digitally inserted with a spamimic.com programme and scrambled with pgpi.com software. And a CIA background check may follow to find if you are dangerous or just depraved.

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