Hellfire Missiles: The One Surefire Way To Get A Man Off Social Media
Adam Goldman and Eric Schmitt write for The New York Times that the US is picking off ISIS's social media experts, one by one:
WASHINGTON -- In the summer of 2015, armed American drones over eastern Syria stalked Junaid Hussain, an influential hacker and recruiter for the Islamic State.For weeks, Mr. Hussain was careful to keep his young stepson by his side, and the drones held their fire. But late one night, Mr. Hussain left an internet cafe alone, and minutes later a Hellfire missile killed him as he walked between two buildings in Raqqa, Syria, the Islamic State's de facto capital.
Mr. Hussain, a 21-year-old from Birmingham, England, was a leader of a band of English-speaking computer specialists who had given a far-reaching megaphone to Islamic State propaganda and exhorted online followers to carry out attacks in the West. One by one, American and allied forces have killed the most important of roughly a dozen members of the cell, which the F.B.I. calls "the Legion," as part of a secretive campaign that has largely silenced a powerful voice that led to a surge of counterterrorism activity across the United States in 2015 as young men and women came under the influence of its propaganda.
...Mr. Hussain wore a number of hats, including that of a hacker. He was linked to the release of personal information on more than 1,300 American military and government employees. In March 2015, his group posted the names and addresses of service members with instructions: "Kill them in their own lands, behead them in their own homes, stab them to death as they walk their streets thinking they are safe."
More important were Mr. Hussain's efforts as an online recruiter.
According to court records, Mr. Hussain communicated with at least four men in four states, imploring them to initiate attacks or help spread the Islamic State's message. Mr. Hussain was behind a plot to behead Pamela Geller, the author of a conservative blog. In early 2015, Mr. Hussain began communicating with Usaamah Abdullah Rahim, 26, and gave him instructions to kill Ms. Geller.
Mr. Rahim abruptly abandoned the plan and decided instead to kill a police officer in the Boston area. The bureau was monitoring him, and Mr. Rahim was shot and killed in June 2015 after he confronted an F.B.I. surveillance team with a knife. The F.B.I. also arrested two of Mr. Rahim's associates, whom prosecutors say were involved in the plot.
The Global Village has become the Global Terrorism Village.
People whose ideology is best suited to the dark ages are using Enlightenment-driven technology to try to advance the dark ages edicts of their religion (to convert or kill infidels, gays specifically, apostates, and women who show more than a bit of their eyes through a fabric peephole). Lovely.
As a measure of the differences between the edicts of Islam and our society, note the wait to get the guy without the kid present.
They're only useful is you have them in the inventory. The Obama administration forced the Navy ( and Marines) to stop purchasing them by budget cuts, reduced the Army''s purchases to below what the Army believes are bare minimums, and froze sales to Israel.
Wfjag at December 3, 2016 10:49 PM
> Lovely.
Crid at December 3, 2016 11:05 PM
I'm calling bullshit. That's not how drone/hellfire strikes happen. Reads like the NYT running cover for Obama as a kind, caring Commander in Chief. It's Legacy Time.
Lastango at December 3, 2016 11:22 PM
Some Hellfire missile details...
I'm pretty sure this is a case where tech has passed the ability of the public to understand it, in that a nerd sitting at a controller in Nevada has a better view of the battlefield than anyone actually on it; I am not sure that the operators of this equipment can resist using the immense power a Predator represents: Click, zoom, bang, dead.
Here's one at work.
Hard to imagine it doesn't break a few windows in town.
Radwaste at December 4, 2016 1:48 AM
Click, zoom, bang, dead.
I like that.
And our capacity to do it. It's so appropriate in the case of people using the Internet to gin up killers for Allah.
Amy Alkon at December 4, 2016 6:38 AM
The only objection I have is via Lord Acton's warning - and I am aware that not all "civilians" are innocent as they stand by.
Radwaste at December 4, 2016 6:49 AM
I never understood how having a prison at Gitmo was a "recruitment tool" for the jihadists, but a predator drone strike that killed your neighbor/brother/friend was not a "recruitment tool".
Nick at December 4, 2016 9:28 AM
" never understood how having a prison at Gitmo was a "recruitment tool" for the jihadists, but a predator drone strike that killed your neighbor/brother/friend was not a "recruitment tool". "
Easy, Gitmo was because a Republican was doing it while the drones were by a Democrat.
Joe J at December 4, 2016 1:11 PM
Obama kills more by drones and deports more but that's not to be discussed.
Trumps SAYS something and OMG it's crying time.
Joe J nailed it.
Bob in Texas at December 4, 2016 4:17 PM
Amy still hasn't taken a stand on Trump's proposals... Exclusions, lists, etc.
Kinda makes me wonder if she's for real.
> Lovely.
Crid at December 4, 2016 5:38 PM
Hey, Crid, you want a "stand"?
I'm still trying to figure out what the guy does vs. what is being said about him. Yeah, your link, I 'member. Still a low signal/noise ratio today.
Radwaste at December 5, 2016 5:16 PM
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