Terrorists Use YouTube and MySpace to Train and Recruit

First Coast News in Jacksonville, Florida, did a fabulous piece Tuesday on how terrorists are using websites like YouTube and MySpace to recruit, train, and send messages to their cadre (hat tip to our friend Joe Myers). Some of the transcript was posted at FirstCoastNews.com, and the absolutely must-see video is here:

It's a video showing a room full of children sharing their dreams. They are not excited about being doctors, lawyers or teachers. Instead, the children shout, "We are the nation of Hezbollah. I shall sacrifice my life for Allah."

A group of children in training to be a mujahideen, or holy warrior.

Online there are videos of those warriors. One suicide bomber announces he is readying himself to blow up a group of American soldiers.

The article continued:

The video goes on for eight minutes and even shows the explosion. In the background are cheers from those taking the pictures.

The video is just some of the many the First Coast News I-team found on the internet from sites like Youtube and Myspace.

"I think right now we are a ticking time bomb,"
says Tom Hayden, a retired Lt. Col Marine, who is also a counter terrorism expert.

Hayden says some of the videos, while disturbing, are online for a reason.

"Something like myspace, probably the most well known, popular website right now, it's even being used to transmit messages," says Hayden.

He says there are messages left on the internet for those recruited to carry out another 9/11 type attack. Hayden says those Jihad soldiers are getting messages in chat rooms and on message boards.

"There is a specific time that a message is coming. Then it's on there and then it is taken off," says Hayden.

He says hidden messages are also being sent in pictures and videos and the solider is already equipped with the code to unlock the secret. "It's being used quite frequently."

In fact, some of the videos we found and recorded were gone in a matter of days, removed by the user.

There was no trace of what was there or who the page belonged to. The experts will tell you that's a problem, because there is a new breed of terrorist out there.

"You won't see anymore like we have Mohammad Atta and that group that came," says Hayden.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation agrees, saying the Internet has created a series of new problems.

Shocking.