Daniel Drezner talks about IT weakening terrorism. The cell phone and radio transmitter are the local heroes here. Cell phone SMS messaging is apparently bagging an awful lot of Iraqi terrorists. The problem seems to be on the back end. Since it's going from one cell phone to another, there's no way of identifying good informants who provide meaningful tips on a repeat basis and ones who are cluttering up the system with noise, possibly on purpose as a low risk way of hindering the forces of order.
Convergence will eventually merge the whole thing into one system, with Internet enabled 3G/4G phones providing lots of killer apps like democracy education, the ability to find a job, the ability to make social and political connections in a profoundly disconnected society, but the cell phone has one major advantage. Having one is just wanting to make a call. It doesn't mark you as a stooge for the occupation. You don't have to distribute them. You just have to keep the towers up.