Insurgent Recruiting

Here's a great blog addition from a 202er:

Hey Katy,

I didn't know exactly where to send a news clip I just watched, which I believe would be a good blog topic, so I thought e-mail would do. In the following link to a video clip, an interviewee discusses how insurgent groups use video to market themselves, gaining supporters and money. I thought the topic was fascinating although the movie itself was a little on the dull side. I found it on the online Washington Post web site.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2007/09/28/VI2007092800608.html?hpid=topnews

My questions: How powerful is video in attracting people to the insurgent cause? Why kind of tactics can be used to counter this kind of mass communication? Should everyone have the freedom to produce these kinds of materials or should governments try to choke them off? Should these "statement videos" or "hostage videos" be hosted on YouTube or should organizations like that ban them?