[Peace-discuss] DANGEROUS BOOKS

[Ricky Baldwin]

I'd think road maps would be useful to terrorists,
too.  Maybe they should set up road blocks to check
for them.  Geez!

Ricky
--- Dlind49 at aol.com wrote:
> The hype and hysteria is out of control. When stupid
> alerts like this happen 
> it is just too much and something  needs to be done
> to put common sense back 
> in place. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> FBI Issues Alert Against Almanac Carriers
> By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
>  
> Filed at 3:58 p.m. ET
> 
> WASHINGTON (AP) -- The FBI is warning police
> nationwide to be alert for 
> people carrying almanacs, cautioning that the
> popular reference books covering 
> everything from abbreviations to weather trends
> could be used for terrorist 
> planning.
> 
> In a bulletin sent Christmas Eve to about 18,000
> police organizations, the 
> FBI said terrorists may use almanacs ``to assist
> with target selection and 
> pre-operational planning.''
> 
> It urged officers to watch during searches, traffic
> stops and other 
> investigations for anyone carrying almanacs,
> especially if the books are annotated in 
> suspicious ways.
> 
> ``The practice of researching potential targets is
> consistent with known 
> methods of al-Qaida and other terrorist
> organizations that seek to maximize the 
> likelihood of operational success through careful
> planning,'' the FBI wrote.
> 
> The Associated Press obtained a copy of the bulletin
> this week and verified 
> its authenticity.
> 
> ``For local law enforcement, it's just to help give
> them one more piece of 
> information to raise their suspicions,'' said David
> Heyman, a terrorism expert 
> for the Washington-based Center for Strategic and
> International Studies. ``It 
> helps make sure one more bad guy doesn't get away
> from a traffic stop, maybe 
> gives police a little bit more reason to follow up
> on this.''
> 
> The FBI noted that use of almanacs or maps may be
> innocent, ``the product of 
> legitimate recreational or commercial activities.''
> But it warned that when 
> combined with suspicious behavior -- such as
> apparent surveillance -- a person 
> with an almanac ``may point to possible terrorist
> planning.''
> 
> The publisher for The Old Farmers Almanac said
> Monday terrorists would 
> probably find statistical reference books more
> useful than the collections of 
> Americana in his famous publication of weather
> predictions and witticisms.
> 
> ``While we doubt that our editorial content would be
> of particular interest 
> to people who would wish to do us harm, we will
> certainly cooperate to the 
> fullest with national authorities at any level they
> deem appropriate,'' publisher 
> John Pierce said.
> 
> The FBI said information typically found in almanacs
> that could be useful for 
> terrorists includes profiles of cities and states
> and information about 
> waterways, bridges, dams, reservoirs, tunnels,
> buildings and landmarks. It said 
> this information is often accompanied by photographs
> and maps.
> 
> The FBI urged police to report such discoveries to
> the local U.S. Joint 
> Terrorism Task Force.
> 
> 
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>
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> 


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