April 12, 2004
By Laura Mansfield
FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
Telephone: 814-836-0426
Email: director@homelandsecurityyus.com Web: www.HomelandSecurityUS.com
Copyright © 2004 Laura Mansfield, Northeast Intelligence Network. All Rights Reserved.

The image was jolting: within the posting from the jihadi message was a photograph of a charred American corpse hanging upside down from a bridge over the Euphrates. But as disturbing as the image was, it was the sponsor of the page displaying the image that caused me the greatest concern. Right there on the screen beside the desecrated body of the American was an advertisement for the J.C. Penney Customer Appreciation Sale!

Although I don’t know the person who was killed, and have no knowledge of his personal habits, I would not be surprised at all to discover that this poor, dead American had been one of J.C. Penney’s customers. In fact, I’d be surprised if he wasn’t. Most of us have at one time or other shopped at one of their stores. So, to see a company that is “as American as apple pie” sponsoring the enemies of our country is more than a little disconcerting. This article is not an indictment against J.C. Penney. In fact, I am quite doubtful that J.C. Penney even knows they are sponsoring terrorist communications. (Their first indication will probably be the calls that this article generates.) In fact, refreshing the page will bring you any number of ads from companies that you probably do business with including Equifax, Purina, and Verizon. (One particularly gruesome screen refresh brought the photo described above beside an ad for Purina dog food.) All of these companies almost certainly would be astonished to learn that they are supporting terrorism. But they are in fact helping provide Al Qaeda with the ability to communicate and plan attacks over the internet. They are virtually providing Al Qaeda with the Internet infrastructure to maintain their command and control over the various terror cells.

And they have no clue that they are doing so. They appear to be buying “run-of-the-site” ads on Yahoo groups, and the ads are being randomly placed into these messages. It is important to understand that these companies are not intentionally supporting terrorism – but it is happening all the same.

The Madrid bombing of March 11, 2004, is a key example of a terrorist action that was discussed in depth on the internet prior to the actual event, on an American server, and sponsored by American companies.

The “official” means of communication for Al Qaeda, and the location of one key discussion on the Madrid plans in December 2003, is a group on Yahoogroups.com titled Global Islamic Media (GIM). GIM had over 7,400 members at the time this article was written, and the Al Qaeda echelon appears to use this group to communicate with members throughout the world.

Postings are made on a regular basis from an IP address in Ottawa, Canada. Most days there are anywhere from one to five postings, although occasionally two or three days will go by with no posts on GIM.

Al Qaeda online publications such as Voice of Jihad and the infamous al Qaeda training manual Al Battar are announced via GIM on Yahoogroups.com, as are regular updates on the progress of the jihad on the various war fronts. After attacks occur, messages taking credit for the attack are commonly posted here as well.

Whenever a new statement of importance to the jihadis is released, such as one from Osama Bin Laden, Ayman Zawahiri, or Abu Musad al Zarqawi, an announcement usually occurs on this forum. Statements by lesser clerics and morale boosting messages, as well as press releases, are posted here on a regular basis as well. The group is so well established that Al Qaeda has informed its followers to disregard any information released on the internet that is not confirmed through Global Islamic Media on Yahoogroups.com.

Global Islamic Media is just one of many Yahoogroups that are used to promote and support terrorism by Islamic groups. The Ezzedine Qassem Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, has it’s own Yahoo group called “Qassem” which is used to promote the goals of that organization. Other groups include Call19 (named after the 19 hijackers of September 11), and the group run by Daleel Mojahid called Daleel_Almojahid_1.

But the terrorists don’t just use the groups and free websites at Yahoo. They also make extensive use of the free web-based email services available through Yahoo and competitor Hotmail.com (owned by Microsoft). Analysts at the Northeast Intelligence Network have uncovered a surprising array of email addresses on American servers, belonging to known terrorists, ranging from low level operatives of dubious authenticity such as “Daleel” and “Terrorist 007,” to those who are known to be well placed in the Al Qaeda hierarchy such as Abu Osama Al Otaibi and the Jihad Falcon.

Within the past few days, one of our analysts received an email from Abu Mus’ad al Zarqawi, who used his Hotmail account to communicate. A quick check of the IP address showed that Zarqawi was dialing in to the internet through an IP address assigned to the Telephone Company of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Most of the terrorists have email addresses on either Hotmail.com or Yahoo.com, and are quite open about posting these email addresses publicly. They even answer these emails, apparently without any concern over being intercepted. A quick check of the IP addresses shows that these terrorists log in from all over the world. Many log in directly from the Middle East, most often Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Palestinian territories, Iran, and Egypt. A surprising number log in from Germany, the U.K., the Netherlands, Canada, and even the United States. While some of these may be proxy servers, many of them in fact reflect dial-up accounts and internet cafes in the various countries.

These freemail providers, selected because of the anonymity that a throwaway email account provides, are advertiser supported – by AMERICAN advertisers.

It is not unusual to see an ad for a major US retailer sponsoring an email that calls for violence against the US. Sometimes it is cause for amusement; an email with a picture of an Iraqi teenaged insurgent and a Rocket Propelled Grenade Launcher prominently featured an advertisement for an internet pharmacy selling Cialis, a competitor to Viagra. An email arrived earlier today through Yahoo mail promoting violence to Americans that was prominently sponsored by Equifax.

The use of these services by Al Qaeda and its followers appears to be the worst kept secret in the world these days. The fact that the email addresses, and the Yahoogroups used by Al Qaeda operatives continue to function despite the fact that they are in clear violation not only of the Terms of Service, but also of federal law, is something that is called into question on a regular basis.

Various theories abound. “The FBI/CIA/Interpol/ (insert your anti terror agency here) is watching and monitoring these groups and people” seems to be the most popular. Yet in the meantime, the groups continue to function, and provide communications essential for Al Qaeda leaders to maintain command and control of the various terror cells.

Al Qaeda’s online training manual, Al Battar, is quite clear about this. It explicitly instructs its readers on how to obtain throwaway email addresses, and how to maintain operational and personal security while communicating on the internet. There is no question after reading these publications that the internet plays a key role in the planning and execution of terror attacks throughout the world.

In the meantime, stockholders of major corporations, and consumers who use the products of these corporations, may wish to consider asking some tough questions, such as: “Are you with us or against us? Why are your advertising dollars used to facilitate terrorism?”

Laura Mansfield is the Associate Director and Senior Investigative Analyst of the Northeast Intelligence Network.