[Peace-discuss] DANGEROUS BOOKS

[Alfred Kagan]

Wouldn't we be safer if most of the population was illiterate?


At 12:50 PM -0500 12/30/03, 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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-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu