Almanacs May Be Tool For Terrorists, FBI Says (washingtonpost.com): Amid heightened indications that al Qaeda operatives may be planning catastrophic attacks in the United States, the FBI is warning police about a new potential tool for terrorism: almanacs. An FBI intelligence bulletin sent to law enforcement agencies last week warned that "terrorist operatives may rely on almanacs to assist with target selection and pre-operational planning" because they include detailed information on bridges, tunnels and other U.S. landmarks, officials said. Although noting that "the use of almanacs or maps may be the product of legitimate recreational or commercial activities," the bulletin urged police to watch for suspects carrying almanacs, especially if they include suspicious notations or marks, because "the practice of researching potential targets is consistent with known methods of al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations."
And now, across the land, police departments are looking at this announcement and thinking: so what the hell are we supposed to do with THAT?
Apart from the fact that the vast majority of users will be perfectly legitimate students and others, how exactly are police to enforce this? People rarely walk down the street reading almanacs. They can't search every bookbag and knapsack or paper bag under the suspicion that it might contain an almanac. They can't even legally search any and all almanacs however they may find them for "suspicious" notations. And what, precisely, would "suspects carrying almanacs" be? Simply carrying an almanac should not perforce mean that you're a suspect; conversely, most suspects will likely be bright enough not to walk down the street carrying the World Almanac in full daylight.
For that matter, the information almanacs contain about landmarks is very general. their utility in determining targets of opportunity would seem to be somewhat limited, although one supposes that it could perhaps be used as a source for inspiration. Either way, it's hard to see how this particular announcement to police can be even slightly useful.
Posted by iain at December 31, 2003 06:48 PM
