In the aftermath of the terrorist murders in Paris last week in which journalists died at their desks, police officers died protecting Parisians and innocent shoppers died at a grocery store, the jihadis responsible have a new enemy. The Belgian branch of the computer activist group Anonymous has issued a declaration of war against the Islamists. While this journal is lukewarm toward Anonymous, anyone attacking the jihadis is an ally here. Welcome to the war.
Anonymous has the same structural problem that Al Qaeda has these days. Anyone can join simply by claiming membership. As a result, one is never completely certain that the actions claimed by Anonymous really are actions by Anonymous. Nevertheless, this seems to be a case where the evidence points to the core members of the entity: the release of a video in French and English by a man in a Guy Fawkes mask (taken from the film “V for Vendetta” as a hallmark of Anonymous action), the response coming in defense of free speech (even if irresponsible), and the successful take down of at least one jihadist website.
Here is the declaration of war in full:
This is a press release by anonymous.
In the case of the terror attack against Charlie Hebdo, as we had previously told you, we plan on shedding light on all these events and give homage to those innocent killed.
The anonymous of all the planet have decided to declare war on you terrorists. We will track you down to the last one and will destroy you. You allowed yourselves to kill innocent people. We will therefor avenge their deaths.
We will track all of your activities online. We will close your accounts on social networks. You will not impose your Sharia in our democracies. We will not let your stupidity kill our liberties, and our freedom of expression.
We have warned you. Expect your destruction. We will track you everywhere on the planet. Nowhere will you be safe.
We are anonymous.
We are legion.
We do not forget.
We do not forgive.
Be afraid of us, Islamic Sate and Al Quaida [sic]. You will get our vengeance.
Being knocked offline may sound like a minor defeat, but in the case of the jihadis, the Internet is their main method of communication and recruitment. Losing contact with others by losing access to websites, chatrooms, etc. is significant. The fact that ansar-alhaqq.net , a site the French have labeled as a terrorist site, went down for a few hours suggests that the threat is more of a promise.
Anonymous has created a Twitter account #OpCharlieHebdo and has made this request by means of that account, “Do you want to help us ? Find terrorists twitter profiles, report them. #No2IS #JeSuisCharlie #OpCharlieHebdo #CharlieHebdo #StopDonkyLovers.”
One would prefer an ally who is accountable and responsible, but this is a case of any port in a storm