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insurgency, but equally as deadly, since it recruits new fighters for the ranks. In
the past this simply wasn’t possible unless a media outlet sympathized with the
insurgents. Now, after an insurgent action is recorded and played on the
Internet, local media more often than not pick up on the event and replay it
several times for the population in an affected region. Then, the broadcast is
repeated hundreds of times by media outlets in other countries as well. Osama
bin Laden uses the Internet or al Jazeera to broadcast his short- and long-term
goals and ideological messages, as do the leaders of the Chechen extremist
movement. Then the Western media picks them up and replays them for
Western consumption creating a cyberecho. Other websites replay the Western
broadcasts. These replays add legitimacy and strength to the insurgent’s cause
within impoverished areas—in particular as the media attempts to explain real
or perceived grievances that touch the souls of the virtual community. Further,
if the logic of the insurgent has a religious base it can tempt like-minded
believers all over the world to support the cause.
America has shown how its population uses the Internet to gain support
for a cause on many occasions. Internet polls are conducted daily on issues as
mundane as who would be the favorite to win an Emmy award or who should
be the most valuable player in a baseball season. In the 2004 Democratic
primary elections in the US, candidate John Dean used the Internet to marshal
the support of young people all across the country. Insurgents do the same with
the young people in their parts of the world except that these young people are
following the Internet out of ideological zeal, not for something as mundane as
the Emmys. Insurgents share with the young their common objectives and ideas
for the development of political power or a desired end-state. This tactic is
particularly effective in poverty-stricken areas where promises of a better
lifestyle and imposed justice can undo the perceived injustices of countries and
past leaders covering decades of rule.
Mobilizing the Masses
The insurgent’s achievement of mass mobilization through the Internet
is not as dramatic as the life and death struggles of armed conflict for media
outlets. Thus it receives far less coverage and understanding. But the Internet is
a forum for achieving mass mobilization since it is accessible and controllable.
This is most apparent in the Arab world where long-held grievances
against countries (Israel) and kingdoms (Saudi Arabia) manifest themselves on
the net in the form of mass condemnations and demands for action. The
presence of coalition forces in Iraq exacerbates these feelings. These are the
sites accessed by the disenfranchised so that they can hear the words of people
of like minds. Websites such as CNN do not offer the same type of mental
refuge or understanding.
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