The unwitting end of the hunt comes at a time when al-Qaeda sympathizers like Irhabi 007 are making explosive new use of the Internet. Countless Web sites and password-protected forums — most of which have sprung up in the last several years — now cater to would-be jihadists like Irhabi 007. The terrorists who congregate in those cybercommunities are rapidly becoming skilled in hacking, programming, executing online attacks and mastering digital and media design — and Irhabi was a master of all those arts. But the manner of his arrest demonstrates how challenging it is to combat such online activities and to prevent others from following Irhabi's example: After pursuing an investigation into a European terrorism suspect, British investigators raided Tsouli's house, where they found stolen credit card information, according to an American source familiar with the probe. Looking further, they found that the cards were used to pay American Internet providers on whose servers he had posted jihadi propaganda. Only then did investigators come to believe that they had netted the infamous hacker. And that element of luck is a problem. The Internet has presented investigators with an extraordinary challenge. But our future security is going to depend increasingly on identifying and catching the shadowy figures who exist primarily in the elusive online world. 

The short career of Irhabi 007 offers a case study in the evolving nature of the threat that we at the SITE Institute track every day by monitoring and then joining the password-protected forums and communicating with the online jihadi community. Celebrated for his computer expertise, Irhabi 007 had propelled the jihadists into a 21st-century offensive through his ability to covertly and securely disseminate manuals of weaponry, videos of insurgent feats such as beheadings and other inflammatory material. It is by analyzing the trail of information left by such postings that we are able to distinguish the patterns of communication used by individual terrorists. Irhabi's success stemmed from a combination of skill and timing. In early 2004, he joined the password-protected message forum known as Muntada al-Ansar al-Islami (Islam Supporters Forum) and, soon after, al-Ekhlas (Sincerity) — two of the password-protected forums with thousands of members that al-Qaeda had been using for military instructions, propaganda and recruitment. (These two forums have since been taken down.) This was around the time that Zarqawi began using the Internet as his primary means of disseminating propaganda for his insurgency in
Iraq. Zarqawi needed computer-savvy associates, and Irhabi proved to be a standout among the volunteers, many of whom were based in Europe. 
Irhabi's central role became apparent to outsiders in April of that year, when Zarqawi's group, later renamed al-Qaeda in
Iraq, began releasing its communiqués through its official spokesman, Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, on the Ansar forum. In his first posting, al-Iraqi wrote in Arabic about "the good news" that "a group of proud and brave men" intended to "strike the economic interests of the countries of blasphemy and atheism, that came to raise the banner of the Cross in the country of the Muslims." 
At the time, some doubted that posting's authenticity, but Irhabi, who was the first to post a response, offered words of support. Before long, al-Iraqi answered in like fashion, establishing their relationship — and Irhabi's central role. 

Over the following year and a half, Irhabi established himself as the top jihadi expert on all things Internet-related. He became a very active member of many jihadi forums in Arabic and English. He worked on both defeating and enhancing online security, linking to multimedia and providing online seminars on the use of the Internet. He seemed to be online night and day, ready to answer questions about how to post a video, for example — and often willing to take over and do the posting himself. Irhabi focused on hacking into Web sites as well as educating Internet surfers in the secrets to anonymous browsing. In one instance, Irhabi posted a 20-page message titled "Seminar on Hacking Websites," to the Ekhlas forum. It provided detailed information on the art of hacking, listing dozens of vulnerable Web sites to which one could upload shared media. Irhabi used this strategy himself, uploading data to a Web site run by the state of Arkansas, and then to another run by
George Washington University. This stunt led many experts to believe — erroneously — that Irhabi was based in the United States. 
Irhabi used countless other Web sites as free hosts for material that the jihadists needed to upload and share. In addition to these sites, Irhabi provided techniques for discovering server vulnerabilities, in the event that his suggested sites became secure. In this way, jihadists could use third-party hosts to disseminate propaganda so that they did not have to risk using their own web space and, more importantly, their own money. 

As he provided seemingly limitless space captured from vulnerable servers throughout the Internet, Irhabi was celebrated by his online followers. A mark of that appreciation was the following memorandum of praise offered by a member of Ansar in August 2004: "To Our Brother Irhabi 007. Our brother Irhabi 007, you have shown very good efforts in serving this message board, as I can see, and in serving jihad for the sake of God. By God, we do not like to hear what hurts you, so we ask God to keep you in his care. 

You are one of the top people who care about serving your brothers. May God add all of that on the side of your good work, and may you go careful and successful. We say carry on with God's blessing. 

Carry on, may God protect you. Carry on serving jihad and its supporters. 

And I ask the mighty, gracious and merciful God to keep for us everyone who wants to support his faith. Amen." 

Irhabi's hacking ability was useful not only in the exchange of media, but also in the distribution of large-scale al-Qaeda productions. In one instance, a film produced by Zarqawi's al-Qaeda, titled "All Is for Allah's Religion," was distributed from a page at www.alaflam.net/wdkl . The links, uploaded in June 2005, provided numerous outlets where visitors could find the video. In the event that one of the sites was disabled, many other sources were available as backups. Several were based on domains such as www.irhabi007.ca or www.irhabi007.tv , indicating a strong involvement by Irhabi himself. The film, a major release by al-Qaeda in
Iraq, showed many of the insurgents' recent exploits compiled with footage of Osama bin Laden, commentary on the Abu Ghraib prison, and political statements about the rule of then-Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. 
Tsouli has been charged with eight offenses including conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to cause an explosion, conspiracy to cause a public nuisance, conspiracy to obtain money by deception and offences relating to the possession of articles for terrorist purposes and fundraising. So far there are no charges directly related to his alleged activities as Irhabi on the Internet, but given the charges already mounted against him, it will probably be a long time before the 22-year-old is able to go online again. 

But Irhabi's absence from the Internet may not be as noticeable as many hope. Indeed, the hacker had anticipated his own disappearance. In the months beforehand, Irhabi released his will on the Internet. In it, he provided links to help visitors with their own Internet security and hacking skills in the event of his absence — a rubric for jihadists seeking the means to continue to serve their nefarious ends. Irhabi may have been caught, but his online legacy may be the creation of many thousands of 007s. feedback@siteinstitute.org 

Rita Katz is the author of "Terrorist Hunter" (HarperCollins) and the director of the SITE Institute, which is dedicated to the "search for international terrorist entities." Michael Kern is a senior analyst with the institute.  

2006 National Cherry Blossom Festival®, March 25 – April 9! 

The 2006 festival marks the 94th celebration of the original gift of the 3,000 cherry trees from the city of Tokyo to the people of Washington, DC in 1912. Come and enjoy the spirit of the season. source:http://www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/cms/index.php?id=390

The blooming of the cherry trees around the
Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. has come to symbolize the natural beauty of our nation's capital city. Hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the nation and around the world come to the Nations Capital to witness the spectacle, hoping that the trees will be at the peak of bloom for the Cherry Blossom Festival, Washington, D.C.'s rite of spring.  
The famous trees, a gift from Japan in 1912, signal the coming of Spring with an explosion of life and color surrounding the Jefferson Memorial on the
Tidal Basin in a sea of pale pink and white. Exactly when the buds will open is not an easy question to answer, but the National Park Service Regional Horticulturalist Robert DeFeo has been fairly accurate in his forecasts over the past several years. 
Once the buds begin to expand in late February or early March, they can be monitored and the days counted before they can be expected to bloom. The forecast is based upon the weather forecast, and close inspection of the trees themselves to determine the stage of bud development. 

The history of the cherry trees dates to 1912 when the original trees were planted by First Lady Mrs. William Howard Taft and the Vicountess Chinda of
Japan. 
Today more than 3,700 cherry trees of several varieties grow around the
Tidal Basin, at East Potomac Park, and on the Washington Monument Grounds. Most trees are the Yoshino variety, Japan's favorite cultivated cherry tree that was developed about 1870 and presented as a gift in 1912. They encircle the Tidal Basin and can also be seen in abundance on the Monument grounds. 
Since the National Park Service has been keeping records of the blooming dates, the earliest blooming date as been March 15, 1990, and the latest date was marked on April 18, 1958. The average blooming date–that time when the blooms are considered to reach their peak–is April 5 for the Yoshino and April 22 for the double flowering Kwansan trees, mostly seen in
East Potomac Park.  
 The 2006 National Cherry Blossom Festival is scheduled for March 25-April 9. The festival's National Cherry Blossom Parade will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 8, on

between 7th and 17th Streets NW. For questions on volunteering with the National Park Service contact the National Mall & Memorial Parks Volunteer Coordinator.  

 source:http://www.nps.gov/nacc/cherry/

below is what you can read on the National Gallery of Art's website:
" Cézanne in Provence will be the principal international exhibition marking 2006 as the centenary of the death of Paul Cézanne (1839–1906). A key figure in the impressionist and post impressionist movements, he is often seen as the father of modern art. This exhibition, by focusing on
the works Cézanne painted in and around his native Aix-en-Provence, will celebrate the landscape and the rich associations it had for him."

If you are in the DC area, come and check out the beauty of painting. It's captivating, emotional, gorgeous, deep and it speaks by itself. It's worth the visit. I went to see Cezanne's work and I came back very inspired. Vive l' Art !

Depuis Mai 2005, je vis ici a Washington, DC, une tres belle ville. Washington, DC c’est la capitale des Etats-Unis. C’est aussi une ville cosmopolite, historique, joviale, bien animee. Washington, DC, c’est l’encroit ou se joue les grandes decisions politiques qui gouvernent la vie aux Etats-Unis et dans le reste du monde. C’est la ou se trouve la Maison Blanche, le Pentagone, le Capitol,…Washington offre une panoplie de de musees, de monuments historiques, d’ambassades, de restaurants, de parcs, de bars, clubs,… Et la population ici est tres diversifiee. Chaque jour, vous croisez facilement des gens du monde entier dans cette ville. Il suffit d’emprunter les lignes du metro ou les bus pour vous en rendre compte. C’est comme New York ou L.A ou Chicago ou encore Boston de part la grande diversite qui y existe. C’est une vraie richesse pour les Etats-Unis. Vous rencontres des blancs, des noirs, des asiatiques, des latinos, des Amerindiens,…Bref c’est le monde en miniature en terme de populations. Dans le metro que j’emprunte tous les jours, il est facile d’entendre les gens parler dans plusieurs langue: Anglais bien sur mais aussi de plus en plus l’Espagnol, une langue en plein boom dans ce pays du fait de la forte communaute hispanophone, resultante de l’immigration des populations des pays latino-americain, en quete du American Dream dont reve beaucoup de jeunes dans le monde entier. Il ya une tres forte communaute Guatemalteque, Mexicaine, Salvadorienne, Porto-Ricaine, Equatorienne ici a DC. A cote de l’Espagnol, il est aussi frequent d’ecouter les gens parler en Francais. Il y a une communaute francophone composee essentiellement de ressortissants de l’Afrique francophone. Senegalais, Maliens, Tchadiens, Camerounais, Guinees, …se croisent ici. Ils eux aussi a la recherche du reve Americain. Pourquoi pas?

La communaute Ethiopienne semble etre la plus grande et la mieux organisee. Les Ethiopiens sont uniques en ce sens qu’ils parlent soit le Oromo ou le Amarhique. Mon ami Lou me dit que les Ethiopiennes sont les plus belles Africaines ici. Je suis tente de le croire. Je suis cependant navrer de remarquer qu’il est rare de voir par exemple une Ethiopienne sortir avec un autre Africain ici. Il y a un grand conservationnisme qui prevaut dans cette communaute. Je suis desole mais il faut le souligner. Ca ne me surprend pas parce que beaucoup de communautes Asiatiques font de meme. Mon meilleur ami a New York, un chinois de Nanjin me disait qu’il ne sortira jamais avec une femme noire. Ca m’a tres choque. Je lui ai demande s’il etait raciste. Il l’a nie mais on peut facilement comprendre un certain complexe a ce niveau niveau la. Je lui avait retorque que je sortirai avec toute femme, noire blanche, jaune, rouge, vert, pourvue qu’elle soit belle et reponde a mes criteres de selection. Je ne fais pas de discrimination a ce stade la. Mais bon, beaucoup ne voient pas les choses de la meme facon que moi. Il y aussi, des blancs, noirs, jaunes,…qui ne voudraient pas du tout entendre parler des relations interaciales. Il faut souligner c’est assez difficiles vu les differences culturelles et tout ce qui vient avec. Mais je suis de ceux la qui aiment affronter les defis. Je suis de ceux-la qui adorent essayer de connaitre l’inconnu…. Anyway, …(a suivre…)

Ce blog sera mon mon journal quotidien et confidientiel qui relatera excluivement tout ce qui a trait a la vie dans la capitale Americaine. Sentez-vous libres de poster vos commentaires si vous le voulez bien.

Armellement-

Armel R. Doumnande, “Un Tchadien en Amerique: le journal de Armel, Janvier 2006 ”