HACKER DECRIES U.S., ISRAEL ON VIETNAM MEMORIAL SITE
By Josh White, Washington Post Staff Writer
Washington Post
Thursday, September 20, 2007; Page A03
United States
A computer hacker promoting Turkish nationalism posted a video and
message on a U.S. Vietnam memorial Web site in recent days, blocking
one of the site’s search functions while defacing the site with a
statement against the United States and Israel.
Users of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial site — at
who searched for U.S. casualties by
date were sent to an all-red Web page adorned with a symbol from the
Turkish flag, a short video, and messages in Turkish and English. The
English messages attacked Kurds, the United States, Israel and Armenia.
According to translations, the Turkish message read: "Is there any
equal or likeness to our martyrs at Gallipoli?" It is an apparent
reference to the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915 during World War I,
during which soldiers from the Ottoman Empire repelled an Allied
operation to capture Istanbul, suffering heavy casualties of more
than 250,000. The video called it a "story written in blood."
A "Turk Defacer" took credit for the hack, which users reported
yesterday to the FBI, the National Park Service and the 4/9 Infantry
Manchu (Vietnam) Association, which maintains the site. The message
was removed and the search function restored by last night.
Jim Olberding of Ames, Iowa, said he found the message yesterday
while researching Vietnam casualties.
Olberding — a Vietnam War veteran whose son is an Army captain
with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan — said the message offended
him. "They’re attacking American veterans," he said.
The site — a memorial to veterans and a historical repository
that gets heavy traffic around Memorial Day and Veterans Day —
was attacked days after the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington
was defaced with an oily substance. Officials with the 4/9 Infantry
Association said they received 200 e-mails from users alerting them
to the hack. The group’s leaders were in Memphis over the weekend to
celebrate the association’s 10th anniversary and did not know when
the hack took place. The nonprofit bought the Web site about eight
years ago to ensure that it would endure.
"These kinds of groups are opportunistic and are going to do whatever
they think they have to do to get their message out," said Cheryl
Criteser, the association’s secretary-treasurer. "I’ve gotten
death threats, I’ve gotten all kinds of negative stuff from other
countries. I just figure they’re wackos."
A spokesman for the Turkish Embassy in Washington said yesterday that
the hack did not seem to be part of an organized group.
Staff writer Jill F. Bartscht and staff researcher Julie Tate
contributed to this report.