The article by David Kimmage gave a detailed inside look to the intricate network of Al-Qaeda media. What is interesting is that the author mentions a 23-page paper titled Media Exuberance, which is a detailed critique of the Jihadist movement written by the the Jihadist Media Development Unit in 2005.
This policy paper in interesting in that it criticizes the "media exhuberance" of the Jihadist movement, referring to the distribution of audio and video products without official sanction or permission from a producer. The paper recognizes the importance of credibility, citing CNN and ABC as maintining their credibility because "information leaks to such outlets, rather than from them." This seems to be a weakness that the U.S. government can work to exploit when combating Al-Qaeda.
The organization of the media nexus is interesting as well, with a logo identifying the organization or source involved. Further, it was found in this study that the terms "production" and "distribution" may not be concrete, with one organization actually doing the work but crediting another. This itself makes the Jihadist movement difficult to track and know who is doing what. While Kimmage notes that it is not known why this intricate web exists, it seems plausible that it if for that very reason, to create confusion, making it difficult to nail down a source. If this network is thought of as connecting "nodes" or "hubs" and one node or hub is threatened, the network would continue to function. In this case, a plausible argument would be self defense.
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