Counter-Terrorism: August 10, 2005

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One effective method for catching your modern, elusive al Qaeda terrorist is to go trolling. This is done either with undercover agents and informers, or on the Internet. Arab nations prefer the agent/informer approach, because they have plenty of cops who can pass for terrorists. For other nations, especially those in Europe and North America, the Internet approach is preferred. In these countries, the Islamic terrorists have increasingly found each other, checked each other out, and organized terrorist cells and attack plans, using the Internet. This has provided an excellent opportunity for the police and intelligence agencies to get online, and hook up with some real terrorist wannabes, and put the kids away before they hurt anyone (including themselves.) Some Arab counties, like Jordan, have been very successful with the agent/informer approach. Meanwhile, in Europe and North America, hundreds of terrorist suspects have been rounded up because of Internet trolling.