S.C. Mom Scoops al-Qaida With Its Videos

by merrie | September 20, 2007 at 09:07 pm

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South Carolina mom who trolls the jihad websites using a pseudonym often finds items after word begins to spread over the Arabic
forums of an imminent release. Being fluent in Arabic, the self-employed
terror-analyst often hacks into the sites, translates the material,
puts it together and sends her analysis via a subscription service to intelligence agencies, law enforcement and academics. Recently, she found the
Osama bin Laden video_ before al-Qaeda had announced it.

"I realized, oh my gosh, I'm sitting here, I'm a fat 50-year-old mom and I've managed to scoop al-Qaida," said Mansfield, who uses that name as a pseudonym because she receives death threats.

She sometimes spends 100 hours a week online, and she often finds items after word has begun spreading on the Arabic forums of an imminent release.

"It's really important to understand what the jihadists think and how they're planning on doing things," she said. "They're very vocal. They tell us what they're going to do and then they go out and do it."

Mansfield tips off her intelligence sources when she does find something new, part of an informal working relationship with the government.