DAY 197 - OCTOBER 4, 2011
A pro-Assad hacktivist group calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army has broken into Harvard University's website and defaced its homepage causing concern over cybersecurity for the international community. While conducting cyber investigations, US reporters have discovered that the Syrian army is using "deep packet sniffing" software to hunt down anti-government protesters. Meanwhile, the Turkish government has completely severed its ties with Syria as Russia and China successfully veto a UN movement to increase sanctions against Assad's government. After the fall of Tripoli, the Libyan Civil War seems to be drawing to a close as rebel forces move to capture the last remaining regime city, Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte.
The Salafist group tells you that they are forming a militia called the "Free Ones of the Levant Brigades," which they want you to be involved with. Part of you missed the structure and regimen of your family's religious tendencies. You've found that, despite your involvement in the opposition's plight, there is still something missing in your life and perhaps reconnecting with Islam will fill that void. You have tried to contact your family several times in the last six months but there have been no leads. You know that Ibrahim, your father, would be proud of you if you joined the Salafist movement and somehow you seem to know that this is the next obvious step in the course of the rebellion. So you tell the brigade that you will help however you are able. You use an Islamist program called Asrar Al Mujahideen to encrypt all of your communications and it dawns on you just what you are getting yourself into. You tell yourself you have been at the forefront of the opposition for the entire stretch of the revolution, and now you are again at the cusp. You just seem to know that it will be a bloodier front than Syria has ever seen before.