Pentagon opens website in propaganda war

[cratehorus]

The Pentagon and State Department, a partner on the project, say the goal of the two sites is to counter propaganda from extremists “by offering accurate, balanced and forward-looking coverage of developments in the region.”

“The Internet is a big place, and we are one of many websites out there. Our site aims to provide a moderate voice in contrast to the numerous violent extremist websites,” said a written statement from Africom, based in Stuttgart, Germany.

The military said nine writers work for sabahionline.com in Kenya, Tanzania, Djibouti and Somalia. The other site – magharebia.com – concentrates on Libya, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania.

Africom says the websites are part of a larger project that costs $3 million to pay for reporting, editing, translating, publishing, technology costs and overhead.

Al-Shabab and other terrorists have used websites for years to trade bomb-making skills, to show off gruesome attack videos and to recruit fighters. The U.S.-funded websites – which are available in languages such as Swahili, Arabic and Somali – rely on freelance writers in the region.

Recent headlines on sabahionline.com show a breadth of seemingly evenhanded news: “Death toll in ambush on Kenyan police rises to 31” and “Ugandan commander visits troops in Somalia” are examples.

Web ads for the site appear on occasion on mainstream websites such as YouTube, and they show a clear anti-terrorist slant. Ads showing men on the ground blindfolded or Somalia’s best-known American jihadist, Omar Hammami, entice Web users to click.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012...with-terr/