Doing what the government should

“Isn’t there anything this fellow can be charged with, or is he completely free to aid the global jihad from North Carolina and give interviews to The New York Times?” Robert Spencer.

If I've said it once I'll say it a google of times. The individual will save the day. Badah bing baddah boom. The government ain't gonna do it. Whether through willful ignorance, fear, or political correctness, they cannot or will not make the tough choices. But Joseph Shahda will.

NOT WAITING FOR GOVERNMENT Joseph G. Shahda is waging a private war on militant Web sites. This in The New York Times (of all places.)

PIXELS OF WAR [title change  - Atlas]

ONE by one, starting a few weeks ago, 40 militant Islamist Web sites got knocked off the Internet. Gone were some of the world’s most active jihadi sites, with forums full of extremist chatter.

This disappearance mystified American counterterrorism officials. They hadn’t shut them down, they knew, so who had?

Happily claiming credit for the jihadi blackout is a Christian-Lebanese engineer named Joseph G. Shahda, who is waging a private, and passionate, war on terrorism from his home near Boston.

“These sites are very, very dangerous,” Mr. Shahda said. “And I think we should keep going after them. They are used as recruiting tools for terrorists, arousing emotions, teaching how to hate.”

Except it’s not quite that simple, when you talk to some terrorism experts. Mr. Shahda’s one-man operation highlights the tension over what to do about online jihadi militancy — a tension that has grown along with the material. Perhaps it’s better to shut it down, and try to prosecute those involved. Or maybe the material should be left up, as a way to learn something valuable in the larger battle against terrorists.

“There’s a lot to be gained by watching these sites,” said Brian Fishman, a senior associate at the Combating Terrorism Center at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

One thing not in dispute is the sheer volume of the material. Al Qaeda has begun issuing videotapes as often as twice a week, while insurgents in Iraq pump them out daily, and the blood-drenched images appear on several thousand militant Web sites that now include upward of 100 in English.

Public concern rose a notch last week when The New York Times reported that one of the most popular English-language sites was run by a 21-year-old Qaeda enthusiast named Samir Khan from his parents’ home in North Carolina. Mr. Khan has done so since late 2005, unchallenged by law enforcement authorities

Comments

[wxjames]

"Public concern rose a notch last week when The New York Times reported that one of the most popular English-language sites was run by a 21-year-old Qaeda enthusiast named Samir Khan from his parents’ home in North Carolina. Mr. Khan has done so since late 2005, unchallenged by law enforcement authorities"

It was a small notch 'cause nobody reads the Slimes anymore. And, we don't actually need law enforcement authorities to get involved here. Why don't they just stay home and unplug the 911 phone for a couple minutes.
Where in North Carolina ?

[HenryB]

I certainly hope that Mr. Shahda is not murdered by some Islamic wacko due to this NY Times article. I'm sure that he will be targeted.