Re: <nettime> the architecture of survival

["Jon Ippolito" <JIppolito@guggenheim.org>]

Andreas,

Thank you for pointing out that we shouldn't put all "terrorists" in the same camp, as the media is wont to do. And of course you're right that Serbia's technological infrastructure--not to mention its cultural mores--are millennia more advanced than the situation in Afghanistan today. But if the reports are correct that bin Laden had a Bosnian passport as early as 1993, then maybe these two repressive parts of the world are not as disconnected as we might think.

Even if encryption won't help a burka'd Hazara in Kabul, in more developed neighboring countries it could help turn the tide of public sentiment against harboring fundamentalist terrorists--yes, perhaps even those sponsored by the United States. Desperate people tend to look to extremists to help them out, and information is one of the only tools available to discredit those extremists. Maybe bin Laden did use encryption--but if PGP or Peekabooty helps a Bosnian or Lebanese or Saudi view a RAWA video clip, then I think the tradeoff is well worth it.

jon

www.rawa.org

>>> Andreas Broeckmann <abroeck@transmediale.de> 10/4/01 10:17:15 AM >>>

<...>to equate the situation in serbia pre-5oct00 with that in afghanistan is
nonsense <...>

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