The American Spectator

Washington Prowler

(Page 2 of 3)

APPEASING AL QAEDA br> Word out of the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency is that the State Department has put the kibosh on attempts by both departments to ramp up their use of disinformation on al Qaeda, Hamas and other radical Islamic websites around the world. /p>

"The official line is that the State Department believes that a number of American citizens visit those sites, and we would essentially be perpetrating propaganda on them," says a CIA source. "We thinks it's a bunch of b.s."

Over that past year, radical terrorist groups have dramatically increased their use of Internet sites to foment anti-American feelings and acts. Al Qaeda alone, according to a National Security Council source, has issued more than 70 videos thus far this year, and operates multiple websites from various parts of the world.

"We see a number of opportunities to capitalize on their presence on the Web," says the CIA source. "We really think we could do some damage and create confusion, but we're being blocked. It's unbelievable that we can't get cleared to do this kind of work."

p> UNTAXING THE INTERNET br> Senate majority leader Harry Reid has not been having a good month. First, he gets outflanked by the White House on Iraq deployment and policy. Now Sens. John McCain and John Sununu have outflanked the Democrats on the Internet Tax Moratorium.

topics:
Taxes, Harry Reid, Islam, Law, Iraq