conspiracy theory as a weapon

[plazul]

Conspiracy theories are very popular in the Arab (as they are in ours) world and often make their way into mainstream Arab media. Israel's Mossad is allegedly exploiting the Arab propensity to put stock in rumor by planting conpiracy theories on the street and inside terrorist circles, the idea being that that if terrorist's trust in their associates is eroded by paranoia they might start killing each other instead of cooperating in their evil schemes.

Much has been written about "sleeper cells" but Mossad is said to have sleeper operatives in many terrorist cells around the world. They bide their time until an opportunity arises for a carefully timed betrayal resulting in a wave of paranoia and suspicion across terrorist networks. America has had it's own problems with double agents in recent years so it's not hard to believe that the terrorists are vulnerable too.

This scenario must make terrorist recruitment a very trying process. Vetting of operatives probably involve rigorous background checks and constant loyalty tests, but the promise of a huge fortune, a new identity, and a very safe harbor could probably corrupt most garden variety terrorists.

The recent discovery of al-Queda plans on an operative's computer in Pakistan raises suspicions that it could have been a deliberate betrayal. What kind of an idiot would keep such senistive data on a hard drive? Not to mention that there was a twenty-five million dollar reward involved. I wouldn't be surprised if the suspect in this case quietly disappears after he is convicted and sentenced to prison.

[Tombstone]

Originally Posted by plazul

Conspiracy theories are very popular in the Arab (as they are in ours) world and often make their way into mainstream Arab media. Israel's Mossad is allegedly exploiting the Arab propensity to put stock in rumor by planting conpiracy theories on the street and inside terrorist circles, the idea being that that if terrorist's trust in their associates is eroded by paranoia they might start killing each other instead of cooperating in their evil schemes.

Great post. Aren't conspiracy theories great?

Much has been written about "sleeper cells" but Mossad is said to have sleeper operatives in many terrorist cells around the world. They bide their time until an opportunity arises for a carefully timed betrayal resulting in a wave of paranoia and suspicion across terrorist networks. America has had it's own problems with double agents in recent years so it's not hard to believe that the terrorists are vulnerable too.

This scenario must make terrorist recruitment a very trying process. Vetting of operatives probably involve rigorous background checks and constant loyalty tests, but the promise of a huge fortune, a new identity, and a very safe harbor could probably corrupt most garden variety terrorists.

The recent discovery of al-Queda plans on an operative's computer in Pakistan raises suspicions that it could have been a deliberate betrayal. What kind of an idiot would keep such senistive data on a hard drive? Not to mention that there was a twenty-five million dollar reward involved. I wouldn't be surprised if the suspect in this case quietly disappears after he is convicted and sentenced to prison.

I believe they do keep super-sensitive items on their laptops. Everyone has the illusion that their data is "safe." Look at the problems we have at Lawrence Livermore Labs, the FBI, the CIA, and countless other agencies - all of which have lost laptops and hard drives containing state secrets.

I agree that the laptop mentioned above was probably "given up" on purpose. I guess my attitude about the "bad guys" is that they are usually not that bright and tend to make mistakes.

[plazul]

Common criminals make mistakes but al-Queda is run by disciplined professionals with a lot of skill in deception and evading capture.

I think other terrorist elements are trying to piggy back on al-Queda's reputation. The real al-Queda looks at operations scientifically and ideologically and wont strike indiscriminately just for the sake of killing.

We are in a psychological chess game with al-Queda and it will take our best minds as well as our best soldiers to put them in check.

P.S. (There's never been a major security lapse at LLL and I doubt if there ever will be.)