ABSTRACT
This chapter contends that it is in the nature of the war on terror (terrorist insurgency and counter-insurgency/counter-terrorism) that the belligerents use dirty, illicit, or dubious weapons, mainly defined by their unconventional nature—be it the armed drone or the Improvised Explosive Device (IED)—to ply their sanguinary trade. It equally characterizes the cyberspace as a dirty weapon platform because the internet is an arena the terrorists digitize their operations—circumventing the loss of territory to create digital spaces from where they recruit and radicalize their foot-solder jihadists. It is argued in this chapter that the IEDs and the unregulated social media platforms in the internet contribute to the nightmare that the war on terror has become because they enhance the destructive capabilities and the elusiveness of the terrorists. The internet has particularly made the dismantling of the Islamic State in physical territorial terms not quite a victory to be cheery about because ISIS can now conveniently talk about the Caliphate in a digital form. Radicalism and radicalization are also recognized as lethal weapons in the hands of terrorists because the terrorists continue to recruit and radicalize—using both physical and digital outlets—such that even long after they are defeated in battles, the radicalized continue to pose threats to societies.
