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and a beard... like terrorists can be stereotyped like that. This is more than just propaganda, this is the mentality of the type of people who put these presentations together. That fact that whoever wrote this presentation has profiled people like this. I would wager that 99% of online "terrorists" are sitting around in jeans and t-shirts, on safe soil, have probably never handled a gun, let alone an AK-47 (or whatever that is on his back), probably don't have a beard. The ones financing them probably spend their life wearing a suit and tie and are either driving a top of the line vehicle or are driven everywhere in a top of the line vehicle.

If you look at the world around us and review the history of terrorism, most of it's been funded behind the scenes by one of the major superpowers, and you can't overlook the fact that a large portion of this has been by backed by the US. It's funny how when the US wants a government toppled, the terrorists are "friendly" and funded and armed by the US government, but when they're counter to US interests, they're suddenly part of the axis of evil and must be destroyed...

Perhaps if they stopped funding this ignorant behaviour and stopped supplying munitions to these terrorist interests, the problem would eventually go away... spend more on education and tolerance towards all points of view, enlightenment, the world would become a more peaceful place.

When will "democratic" governments eventually realize that money and greed is not the best approach to the furthering the human experience on this planet.

Sorry, didn't mean to get off on a rant there, but that one picture triggered a bit of annoyance.




And banks don't actually keep money in big cloth bags with dollar signs on them. It's just clip art, and to say that it speaks to the mindset of a type of people you probably don't really know much about. I would hasten to say that your stereotypes are probably no more grounded in reality than those of the straw men your attacking.

>"If you look at the world around us and review the history of terrorism, most of it's been funded behind the scenes by one of the major superpowers, and you can't overlook the fact that a large portion of this has been by backed by the US."

While this assertion is not completely baseless, it's simply not correct, but is the kind of empty-headed moral equivalence that gets tossed around to unanimous approval among a certain class who consider a shibboleth of sophistication.

To wit, in the history of terrorism, we see the Irish Republican Army, The Tamil Tigers, the Red Brigade, the Weather Underground, FALN, Baader Meinhof group, the Symbionese Liberation Army, the current Chechen groups, the Hindu and Muslim groups prior to the formation of Pakistan, and frankly many more -- all without super power support. While some national actors have stepped up to support terror groups, superpower, or even great power support has been the exception rather than the rule.

During the cold war, the USSR, the US and China fought a number of proxy wars, and supported opposition groups in various national civil wars, mostly in Asia, Africa and Central America. Additionally, the CIA engaged in specific assassinations of political leaders largely in Latin America but not really what anyone would consider terrorism by the current definition. You're statement that a large portion of terrorism has been backed by the United States would require expansive definitions of 'large portion', 'terrorism' or 'backed' to be true.


No, it requires the United States' own definition of terrorism to be applied to the US.

Drone strikes in Pakistan alone have killed thousands of civilians.

Many of the opposition groups you mentioned were backed by the US knowing that they committed and intended to commit terrorism and other war crimes.



++ this. this ppt isn't an analysis of terrorist personas, it's about tor.

it's expected to use steriotypical shoe-ins for concepts outside the scope of the presentation.


You shouldn't be divulging information like this ... now all the terrorists will shave and we'll be toast!


It's clearly intended as a joke. It's a slideshow shown to people with technological backgrounds. Most people in computer-based work have seen poorly selected stock photos like these to depict hackers/terrorists/whatever.




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