Syrian hacker army hits Marines website

A website for the U.S. Marine Corps was hacked yesterday with a posting attributed to the "Syrian Electronic Army" that criticized President Barack Obama and called American soldiers brothers of the Syrian army.

The posting said Marines should ally with forces fighting for Syria and showed five people in army fatigues holding signs that said they wouldn't fight for al-Qaida.

"Obama is a traitor who wants to put your lives in danger to rescue al-Qaeda insurgents," said the posting on marines.com. "Marines, please take a look at what your comrades think about Obama's alliance with al-Qaeda against Syria."

The message was removed and the website returned to normal. The hack follows those on The New York Times and the Twitter accounts of The Financial Times and ITV Plc by a group using the Syrian Electronic Army name.

Syrian rebels urged President Bashar Assad's officers to defect Monday, seeking to swing momentum during a lull created by Obama's decision to consult Congress on military strikes.

The website is sponsored by the U.S. Marine Corps and provides basic information about recruitment to prospective soldiers and their families, spokesman Captain Eric Flanagan said.

The site is separate from the .mil URL that's the official Marine Corps website for information, he said. The .mil site wasn't affected, according to Flanagan, who said he's still collecting details about the hacking incident.