"US military behind Africa news websites" by Jason Straziuso | Associated Press, November 22, 2012
NAIROBI — The website’s headlines trumpet al-Shabab’s imminent demise and describe an American jihadist fretting over insurgent infighting. At first glance it appears to be a sleek, Horn of Africa news site. But the site — sabahionline.com — is run by the US military.
The site, and another one like it that centers on northwest Africa, is part of a propaganda effort by the US military’s Africa Command aimed at countering extremists in two of Africa’s most dangerous regions — Somalia and the Maghreb.
How much is this costing austerity-riddled American taxpayers?
Omar Faruk Osman, the secretary general of the National Union of Somali Journalists, said Sabahi is the first website he has seen devoted to countering the militants’ message.
Btw, who is "Al-CIA-Duh," and what do you mean they were made up, and created for the courtroom!?
Related:
Prop 101: Al-CIA-Duh and the OSI
Prop 101: Al-CIA-Duh's Greatest Hits
Prop 101: The "Terrorism" Business
New York Times Admits War on Terror is U.S. Creation
Oh, AmeriKa's MSM KNOWS ALL ABOUT and yet STILL PUSHES the CHARADE, and the US military is COUNTERING SOMETHING THEY CREATED, 'eh?
‘‘We have seen portal services by al-Shabab for hate and for propaganda, for spreading violence. We are used to seeing that. In contrast we have not seen such news sites before. So it is something completely unique,’’ Osman said.
But although he had noticed prominent articles on the site, which is advertising heavily on other websites, he had not realized it was bankrolled by the US military.
The US military and State Department, a partner on the project, say the goal of the sites is to counter propaganda from extremists ‘‘by offering accurate, balanced, and forward-looking coverage of developments in the region.’’
Counter the same propaganda they are making up. Un-f***ing-believable!
‘‘The Internet is a big place, and we are one of many websites out there. Our site aims to provide a moderate voice in contrast to the numerous violent extremist websites,’’ Africom, as the Stuttgart, Germany-based Africa Command is known, said in a written statement.
Al-Shabab and other militants have for years used websites to trade bomb-making skills, to show off gruesome attack videos, and to recruit fighters. The US-funded websites — which are available in languages like Swahili, Arabic, and Somali — rely on freelance writers in the region....
Web ads for the site appear on occasion on mainstream websites such as YouTube, and they show a clear antiterror slant....
The site, which launched in February, is slowly attracting readers. The military said that Sabahi averages about 4,000 unique visitors and up to 10,000 articles read per day. The site clearly says under the ‘‘About’’ section that it is run by the US military, but many readers may not go to that link.
Abdirashid Hashi, a Somalia analyst for the International Crisis Group, said he has read articles on Sabahi, mostly because of advertisements on other Somali websites, but he also didn’t realize it was funded by the United States. He said he has no issues with the US government running a news site.
He may not, but I do. We call it PROPAGANDA!
‘‘I don’t think they hide it. That’s up there. There’s an information war going on, so I don’t have any problem with that,’’ Hashi said.
Osman said the articles on Sabahi are accurate and professional. But he said he feared that militants could attack writers who work for the site.
Africom says the websites are part of a larger project that costs $3 million to pay for reporting, editing, translating, publishing, IT costs, and overhead. It believes the project is paying dividends.
How much health care could that pay for?
‘‘The fact that we have seen an increase in website traffic is good news alone. The website’s readers provide a significant number of comments on a regular basis, which often reflect their growing frustration and anger with extremist organizations in the region. Those comments are one indicator of a positive effect,’’ Africom said.
Are you $ick of the game yet?
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Also see:
Six Zionist Companies Own 96% of the World's Media
Declassified: Massive Israeli manipulation of US media exposed
Operation Mockingbird
Yeah, I could see why they wouldn't want to put it in print.
