Not Your Father’s Taliban: Jihadi Group Embraces New Media

Posted Mar 14, 2011 by Howard Altman

Updated Mar 14, 2011 at 11:31 AM

When last we visited the Taliban, the concept of using the internet at all, let alone as a means of communications with the outside world and to get its point across, was considered حرم.

Well, not anymore.

This is not your father’s Taliban, as this recent interview with the Taliban’s web master Abdul Sattar Maiwandi -  posted on the Taliban’s al-Somood web site and translated by the NEFA Foundation – shows.

“Wars today cannot be won without media,” says Maiwandi. “(Media) is directed to the heart rather than the body. The weapon is directed to the body. If the heart is defeated the battle is won and the body is defeated. In the beginning, with the fall of the Islamic Emirate, the enemy thought that the field was completely open before them, and they spread their lies and falsehoods that they had destroyed the Islamic Emirate and its Mujahideen and that their victory in the land of Afghanistan was complete. All of their resources, especially their media were directed towards changing the ideas of Afghans and injecting defeatist thought into them and instilling in them a petrifying fear of the new occupiers. First through the grace of Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, then through the victories of the Mujahideen and their rightly guided leadership; and after defeats were inflicted on the enemy on the field of battle, a media committee was established to contest with the enemy in the (media) field.

“Therefore, the media ranks of the Islamic Emirate were re-formed under a special committee that reflects the tangible reality on the ground in Afghanistan. Among its most important accomplishments in the beginning period was the inauguration of the Islamic Emirate website under the name ‘Voice of Jihad’.”

These statements are particularly interesting in light of efforts right here in Tampa at Centcom to tackle the Jihadis in cyberspace, through the use of its Digital Engagement Team as well as its use of persona management software to create a small army of fake personalities on the internet to combat jihadi propaganda, says Centcom.

The Taliban likes to think it is winning the cyber/media war, but like all things coming out of the Taliban, take it with a few bags of salt.

“Yes, I say with full confidence that with our simple and limited means, we have, through the grace of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, defeated the enemy in the media field. The enemy has been unable to redress this defeat despite the existence of their advanced means and specialist cadre and their vast expenditure of funds in this field.”

“The progress of the Islamic Emirate and its media superiority over the Americans has become today’s news to the Western press, which has begun to write articles and commentary about it everywhere.“

Being that I helped create the Continuous News Desk here, which was designed to get the news out as quickly as possible, I found this passage interesting as well:

“He added, saying: ‘The Taliban are not only quick to publish news, rather they are also fortunate in the precision and organization in their media work. They translate news of all their military operations as soon as it comes in from Pashtu and Farsi to Arabic and English and it is immediately published on their websites and their online radio ‘Voice of Shari’ah’.’”

To read the full text of Maiwandi’s message, click here.