2007年VOA标准英语-Washington Media Monitor Exposes Terrorist Webs

By Jim Fry
Washington, D.C.
20 July 2007
 

A non-profit organization in Washington, DC is exposing more than 100 websites run by jihadist organizations but hosted by Internet service providers in the U.S.  The Middle East Media Research Institute is publishing the websites on its own Internet site, in the hope that the U.S. companies will voluntarily eliminate the sites -- some of which teach violent activities and urge terrorists to attack. And VOA's Jim Fry reports some sites began disappearing within hours.

Al Qaida terrorists have shown executions. They have videotaped and posted attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq. And communicated to the world their intentions -- all on the Internet.

Yigal Carmon

Yigal Carmon runs the Middle East Media Research Institute in Washington, DC.  He says everything on the Internet eventually ends up in the servers of U.S. Internet service providers, or I.S.P.s. "Internet is America.  All internet is America," he says.

And so, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad website, he says, is hosted in Texas. An Afghan mujahideen jihadist site is on a Pennsylvania company's server.

"Supporters of Jihad in Iraq--hosted in Washington State.   The caption¹ at the top of the page says:  Kill the Americans everywhere," Carmon tells us.

Rodney Loges, who runs a digital marketing² firm and worked at two Internet service providers, says I.S.P.'s pledge not to monitor content under U.S. freedom of speech regulations. "And with that, they are not allowed to monitor content. Otherwise, they become responsible for that content."

An al Qaida website

But Internet providers can take down websites run by known terrorist organizations. And Carmon says the Internet companies did just that three years ago when his organization exposed what he calls Islamist websites. "No one contacted them.  It just happened.  We went to check what happened a week later.  They were not on anymore."

Within hours of Carmon's Capitol Hill briefing Thursday, an Iraqi organization's website had been suspended by its host -- a company in Texas. Carmon claims Internet providers that learn they host terrorists or websites that incite³ violence can be prosecuted⁴.

Two members of Congress lent their support to the institute.

New York Democrat⁵ Gary Ackerman, chairman of a subcommittee on the Middle East, says it is possible to act on national security grounds despite the U.S. guarantee of free speech. "One has to delve⁶ into the details, for sure,” said Ackerman, “but there is more than legal space to distinguish between argument and incitement⁷, between conspiracy⁸ theory and conspiracy fact."

The images of terrorist training before September 11th often came from Al Qaida camps in places like Afghanistan.  Now, Carmon says, the Internet is the jihadist training ground.

"This is the non-conventional weapon of the enemy.  This is where they recruit people.   This is where they train people.  This is where they encourage them to act. The Internet is the whole world for those organizations.  And without it, it is, like, without limbs."

The institute plans to continue exposing terrorists' on-line activities in the hopes of denying them a powerful weapon.

1 caption   

n.说明，字幕，标题；v.加上标题，加上说明

参考例句：

• I didn't understand the drawing until I read the caption.直到我看到这幅画的说明才弄懂其意思。
• There is a caption under the picture.图片下边附有说明。

2 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

3 incite   

v.引起，激动，煽动

参考例句：

• I wanted to point out he was a very good speaker, and could incite a crowd.我想说明他曾是一个非常出色的演讲家，非常会调动群众的情绪。
• Just a few words will incite him into action.他只需几句话一将，就会干。

4 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

5 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

6 delve   

v.深入探究，钻研

参考例句：

• We should not delve too deeply into this painful matter.我们不应该过分深究这件痛苦的事。
• We need to delve more deeply into these questions.这些是我们想进一步了解的。

7 incitement   

激励； 刺激； 煽动； 激励物

参考例句：

• incitement to racial hatred 种族仇恨的挑起
• Interest is an incitement to study. 兴趣刺激学习。

8 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。