MSNBC’s story about the capture of an Al Qaeda web site operator is very careful not to make value judgments about terrorists and their snuff films.

A top propaganda agent for al-Qaida in Iraq, known as Abu Dijana, was captured shortly before the vote, according to the U.S. military. Abu Dijana was responsible for much of what has appeared on the Web site called “al-Qaida in Iraq,” including provocative videos of suicide bombings and crucial communications to al-Qaida fighters.

Here is how the al-Qaida Web site works: On any given day in Baghdad, Baquba, or any of a dozen cities, a suicide car bomb explodes. The target is an American convoy, local Iraqi police or perhaps civilians exiting a mosque. Within minutes, a report is sent out by news services like The Associated Press and MSNBC.com. But, the news also circulates on a fascinating and, some would say, disturbing Web site operated by al-Qaida.

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Several other Web sites operated by local Iraqi insurgents are open to the public. They are primarily propaganda tools in the battle for the hearts and minds of the Iraqi population.

Unlike al-Qaida, which justifies its war as a defense of the religion of Islam against western infidels, most local insurgents use Web sites to appeal to political and nationalist sentiments, arguing the new Iraqi government is allowing outsiders to dictate the future of the nation.

The “Albasrah” Web site, for example, is sympathetic to insurgents who are former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime. They praised as “patriotic” the March 2005 assassination of Azzad Ahmed, one of the judges on the tribunal that will try Saddam for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, beginning this week.

Depending on a Web surfer’s point of view, these Web sites could be called the tools of “freedom fighters” or “terrorists.” But, it is safe to say that most Iraqis who log on to the publicly available sites support the insurgency. And some are likely active in the fight.