Showing posts with label afghanistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label afghanistan. Show all posts

Before Kyrgyz Uprising, Dose of Russian Soft Power


BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — Shortly before the uprising in Kyrgyzstan two weeks ago, online news sites posted a series of hard-hitting exposés accusing the family of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev of skimming money from the public coffers, an allegation that touched a nerve in this poor country and galvanized opposition to his government.
When the authorities responded by blocking the Web sites on local servers, complaints came in from the usual places — the Committee to Protect Journalists and Freedom House — but also from an unlikely advocate for free media in the wired world: the Russian Foreign Ministry.

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The Search for White Jihadists


CAIRO — Al Qaeda and its ideological allies are using English-language Web sites and forums to encourage non-Arabic speakers to make war on the West as terrorists seek the next Fort Hood shooters and “Jihad Janes.”

Their goal to widen the pool of prospective terrorists beyond traditional Middle Eastern and Asian sources is part of a search for “white Al Qaeda” activists who could foil racial profiling and initiate attacks, according to Evan Kohlmann, a consultant with FlashPoint Partners, a security research company based in New York. The effort is consistent with the gradual decentralization of Islamic-inspired holy war, he said in a telephone interview.


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