Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Islamist Website Design Contest: Winner Fires Missiles at U.S. Army Base in Iraq

Announcements posted on the Islamist Internet forums are usually connected to ongoing terrorist activities, such as claims of responsibility for attacks, recorded speeches by leaders, etc . Occasionally, there are also announcements of a propagandist nature that are difficult to attribute with any certainty to specific terrorist organizations, and whose authenticity is hard to establish, such as the "oath of loyalty to bin Laden" initiative [1], and announcements posted by the Global Islamic Media Front (which has acknowledged that it is not associated with Al-Qaeda). [2]
Contest for Designing a Website for a Terrorist Organization
This is another example of the online propaganda campaign on Islamist forums whose authenticity is difficult to establish.
The information bureau of Jaish Al-Taifa Al-Mansura("The Army of the Victorious Group"), a Sunni terrorist organization operating in Iraq, announced a contest for designing the organization's website, and stated that the prize would be, in addition to reward from Allah, an opportunity to fire missiles via computer at a U.S. army base in Iraq.
The announcement was posted on a number of Islamic websites, primarily on the Al-Hesbah forum www.alhesbah.org [3] [hosted in Texas] [4], and can also be viewed as a Flash document at http://heretic.maid.to/cgi-bin/stored/serio0835.swf
The following are excerpts from the announcement:

"To the brothers who seek reward [from Allah] and to the honorable people [who visit] the forums of the blessed Al-Hesbah network and of the Global Islamic Media Front:
"The information bureau of the Army of the Victorious Group has announced a contest for designing and constructing a special website for the Army. The site must include:
"1. The motto of the Army of the Victorious Group.
"2. The Army's ideology, as posted on the Al-Hesbah network, and the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad about the victorious group. [5]
"3. Communiqués issued by the Army that have been posted on the Al-Hesbah network.
"4. Videos of the Army's operations that have been posted on the Al-Hesbah network.
"In addition, the site must include all materials connected to the Army that have appeared on Al-Hesbah, in newspapers or elsewhere. [The site] must match the good reputation of the Army, of jihad and of the jihad fighters, and [it must] defeat the Crusader information [channels].
"After selecting the best design, the Army's information bureau will notify the winner.
"The contest will continue for a month, and there will be two prizes for the best design:
"1. Reward from Allah for blessed work in the service of jihad and the jihad fighters.
"2. The winner will fire three long-range missiles from any location in the world at an American army base in Iraq, by pressing a button [on his computer] with his own blessed hand, using technology developed by the jihad fighters, Allah willing. The information bureau will announce the winner after coordinating with the military bureau of the Army...
"Dear brothers in Allah, this blessed move aims to develop the skills and abilities of the brothers who take part in the competition [by inviting them] to design a website which befits the Army's good reputation, its jihad operations and its fighting [activities].
"The most important thing is the glad tidings that the jihad fighters of the Army of the Victorious Group bring to our Muslim brothers, and to the [entire] Islamic nation, regarding the development of accurate and effective missiles, and also, as we promised you, regarding the use of computer technology and [the ability] to fire [missiles] by remote control from any location in the world, by the grace of Allah.
"This is also an opportunity for our brothers outside Iraq to join their brothers on the front line in Iraq, the land of the frontier and of jihad, and to [participate in] destroying the strongholds of polytheism and heresy.
"The winner will be allowed to document his [firing] experience after it is implemented and publicized.
"[Signed:] The Information Bureau of the Army of the Victorious Group; Saturday, November 5, 2005."
Contest Postponed
"On November 18, 2005, the information bureau issued another announcement postponing the contest deadline. [6] This announcement said: 'The information bureau of the Army of the Victorious Group announces a one-month extension of the special contest for designing and constructing the website for the Army of the Victorious Group.'
"The [extension] comes in response to a request from the honorable competitors, and aims to allow the maximum number of brothers to participate in the contest. It also reflects the desire of the Army's top leadership that [individuals] from outside Iraq will participate in jihad operations against the occupier, and that, for the first time, they will do this from the international jihad arena by firing long-range missiles by remote control."


[1] On this private initiative urging Muslims to swear an oath of loyalty to bin Laden, see MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 1027: http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=subjects&Area=jihad&ID=SP102705.
[2] GIMF public relations bureau director Saif Al-Din Al-Kinani said on the GIMF Internet newscast Sout Al-Khilafa that his organization was not affiliated with Al-Qaeda.
[3] http://www.alhesbah.org/v/showthread.php?t=38119
http://www.alfirdaws.org/forums/showthread.php?t=7600 (Link no longer active).
[4] According to http://www.betterwhois.com/bwhois.cgi?domain=alhesbah.org : Domains by Proxy, Inc., 15511 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353, Scottsdale, AZ 85260, Phone:+1.4806242599
http://www.whois.sc/alhesbah.org traces IP Address 209.120.238.197 to http://www.speedhost.com/ in Texas.
[5] Various hadiths mention the "victorious group," such as the hadith that appears in Ibn Majah's collection of hadiths, in which the Prophet Muhammad says: "A group from my ummah [Islamic nation] is still victorious. Those who separated from them will not harm them until the Day of Resurrection."
[6] http://www.alhesbah.org/v/showthread.php?t=39815

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