Cartoon Riots - Internet as modern Weapon of War from Planck's Constant

The Internet is now a modern weapon of War: Al-Qaeda spreads videos throughout the Internet on how to join the Jihad (1); newswebsites help fuel anger against the US as more Abu Ghraib photos are leaked (2); and Iraqi Insurgents are increasingly using the Internet as a propaganda vehicle ³.

Nothing demonstrates the power of this weapon as much as the affair of the Danish Mohammed Cartoons, see my previous post cartoons heating up europe and find Mohammed cartoons here.

The riots are getting worse:

Newsmax, 15 Feb 2006, Pakistani Cartoon Protests Largest Yet
PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Gunfire and rioting erupted Wednesday as more than 70,000 people joined Pakistan's biggest protest yet against Prophet Muhammad cartoons, burning movie theaters, a KFC restaurant and a South Korean-run bus station. Three people died and dozens were injured in two cities, police and witnesses said.

The massive crowd went on a rampage in the northwestern city of Peshawar, torching businesses and fighting police, who struck back with tear gas and batons. It was the third straight day of violent demonstrations in the Islamic nation.

70,000 demonstrators! Hard to swallow the line that the protests are only a small minority.

And look at this: Torching Ronald McDonald - don't these people have any shame?!

ENDNOTES

(1):

Planck's Constant, Al-Qaeda sympathisers battle `infidels` with rap
Al-Qaeda's newest weapon against the West is a violent English-language rap tune urging young Muslims to wage holy war.
The song is being broadcast on the internet in an attempt to lure music-loving youth into the terror network, which is blamed for the September 11 attacks on US cities and other bombings around the world.

Titled Dirty Kuffar or Dirty Infidels, the song is performed by a London-based group which Islamists said was deeply sympathetic to Osama bin Laden's network.

(2):

ABC News, More Abu Ghraib Prison Abuse Photos Leaked
More photographs of Iraqi prisoners apparently being tortured by U.S. soldiers at the American-run Abu Ghraib prison have been leaked.
The pictures first broadcast on Australian TV show more of the abuse that took place at the notorious prison on the outskirts of Baghdad in 2003. The photos caused public outrage around the world.

The U.S. government has been fighting to keep these unpublished photographs a secret and has been duking it out in a court case with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Although a U.S. judge granted the ACLU access to the photographs last year, following a freedom-of-information request filed by news organizations including ABC News, the Bush administration appealed, saying the release would fuel anti-American sentiment.

(3):

ABC News, Iraqi Insurgents Increasingly Using Internet as Propaganda Machine
The U.S. military is aggressively capturing and killing Iraqi insurgents and seizing their territory, yet the insurgency continues to wreak untold havoc. According to one analysis, attacks on U.S. soldiers and Iraqi government forces last year increased 29 percent, and recruitment of new insurgents does not appear to be a problem.
Officials at the International Crisis Group, an independent conflict-resolution organization, think they know why. They say it is the power of the insurgents' message -- and the skill with which they're delivering their propaganda on the Internet.

...

"What the insurgency is about is not a mystery," said Malley. "It's not a puzzle. They're not hiding it. They're broadcasting it. Let's try to understand it politically, rather than simply have [our] own preconceptions and dismiss it as propaganda."

Propaganda or not, the communications by insurgent groups have advanced far beyond distributing leaflets at mosques.

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