By Andrew L. Jaffee

The jihadists, who supposedly scorn all Western influences, have turned to Internet-based video games to recruit, indoctrinate, and train future legions of Islamo-fascists. You can watch several enlightening interviews on the subject at Yahoo! and read all about it below:

It is certain that virtual reality is doing real damage with intelligence, recruiting, fund raising and the spread of Islamic extremism. This assault may start with bytes, not bullets, but American generals will tell you, it’s a hot war all the same on a battlefield called “jihad.com.”

“Without a doubt, the Internet is the single most important venue for the radicalization of Islamic youth,” says Army Brigadier General John Custer, who is the is head of intelligence at central command, responsible for Iraq and Afghanistan.

Custer says he knows where the enemy finds an inexhaustible supply of suicide warriors. “I see 16, 17-year-olds who have been indoctrinated on the Internet turn up on the battlefield. We capture ‘em, we kill ‘em every day in Iraq, in Afghanistan,” he says.

Asked if the Internet is training up new battalions of those young people, Custer tells Pelley, “It’s a self-fulfilling prophesy that’s exactly what the jihadist Internet is there to do.”

And this, Custer told 60 Minutes, is just how they do it. “You start off with a site that looks like current news in Iraq. With a single click, you’re at a active jihad attack site. The real meat of the jihad Web site, Jihad Internet. Beheadings, bombings, and blood. You can see humvees blown up. You can see American bodies drug through the street. You can see small arms attacks. Anything you might want in an attack video. Next link will take you to a motivational site, where mortar operatives, suicide bombers, are pictured in heaven. You can you see their farewell speeches. Another click and you’re at a site where you can download scripted talking points that validate you have religious justification for mass murder,” he explains.

“It’s ironic, isn’t it, this whole idea of martyrs living forever. Turns out to be true,” Pelley remarks.

“It is,” Custer remarks. “Every martyr craves immortality. And on the Internet, they can have it.”

The number of Internet sites has exploded since 9/11. It’s estimated there are 5,000 today. Custer says anyone watching them could actually believe the U.S. is on the run.

“It’s a war of perceptions. They understand the power of the Internet. They don’t have to win in the tactical battlefield. They never will. No platoon has ever been defeated in Afghanistan or Iraq. But, it doesn’t matter. It’s irrelevant,” Custer says. …