Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

276 • INTERNETand intelligence collection and analysis with ad hoc bureaucratic reorganization.In particular, critics fear that depriving the CIA of some ofits analytical functions, transferred by the act to the Office of the DNI,would weaken the foremost existing U.S. foreign intelligence agencyand so might actually expose the United States to greater risk of terroristattacks in the short run. See also HOMELAND SECURITY.INTERNET. The global system of interconnected computer networksthat now facilitates massive and instantaneous transfers of data is atechnology that has become an important force multiplier for terroristand extremist groups. The Internet provides terrorists withincreased opportunities for dissemination of propaganda to presenttheir ideology and programs, recruitment of like-minded individuals,and fund-raising. For those who are already members of a terroristgroup or allied network of such groups, the Internet provides meansof intelligence gathering through data mining of open source publicdatabases and websites, covert communications, and coordination oftheir attacks and campaigns. According to the research of GabrielWeiman, professor of communications at Haifa University, the numbersof terrorist websites have expanded from just 12 in 1998 to morethan 4,800 today, which reveals the terrorists’ own perception of theusefulness of this medium.The Internet allows terrorists access to at least three different audiencesor publics: First, there is the targeted enemy, whether this isa government, private corporation, or political, ethnic, or religiousgroup. This allows terrorists not only to broadcast their demands orpublicize claims of responsibility for terrorist actions but also to carryout psychological warfare and disinformation operations to demoralizeand confuse the enemy. Second, there is the larger constituencyof the terrorists’ own political, ethnic, or religious community onwhose behalf they claim to be fighting and before whom they mustmaintain their legitimacy in order to draw on the moral and materialsupport of members of that larger community. Finally, there is themuch more specific population of other like-minded combatants withwhom they may be not only collaborating but also engaged in someforms of competition or conflict due to jealousies of rival leadershipsor over arcane disputes concerning ideology and correct tactics.For example, according to the observations of French sociologistXavier Raufer, much of the content of militant Islamic fundamen-