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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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 Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2005 9:53 am Post subject: Maoist-Al Qaeda alliance? |
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NEW BEDFORD -- A senior at UMass Dartmouth was visited by federal agents two months ago, after he requested a copy of Mao Tse-Tung's tome on Communism called "The Little Red Book."
Two history professors at UMass Dartmouth, Brian Glyn Williams and Robert Pontbriand, said the student told them he requested the book through the UMass Dartmouth library's interlibrary loan program.
The student, who was completing a research paper on Communism for Professor Pontbriand's class on fascism and totalitarianism, filled out a form for the request, leaving his name, address, phone number and Social Security number. He was later visited at his parents' home in New Bedford by two agents of the Department of Homeland Security, the professors said.
The professors said the student was told by the agents that the book is on a "watch list," and that his background, which included significant time abroad, triggered them to investigate the student further.
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Okay. I gotta wonder. What exactly is The Little Red Book doing on a Watch List in post-9/11 USA? Is this really a top draw on the Al Qaeda reading list? Have the guys at Homeland Security been listening to too much Hendrix while staring into a lava lamp and now they think it's 1971 again and the Weather Underground is about to start blowing themselves up in townhouses again?
I mean, I guess I could see that if you substitute the words "proletariat" with "Muslims", and "bourgeois lackeys" with "infidel crusaders", then yeah, maybe Al Qaeda could be getting some inspiration from that. But still, I'd reckon there are about a zillion other books, more specifically tailored to their needs, which they'd consult before The Little Red Book. And why would they bother signing up for a university class just to get access? I bought The Little Red Book at a used bookstore in Edmonton.
Plus, this is a little strange:
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The student told Professor Pontbriand and Dr. Williams that the Homeland Security agents told him the book was on a "watch list." They brought the book with them, but did not leave it with the student, the professors said.
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Okay. They already know who the guy is and where he lives, what's the point of withholding the book? If they wanna monitor him, they can do that whether he has the book or not. Do they think that somehow getting ahold of The Little Red Book actually makes a difference in someone's ability to carry out terrorist attacks? "Nope, can't detonate that suicide bomb until I've looked at The Little Red Book".
Something about this just screams: "Bureaucrats with way too much time on their hands". But maybe that's just me.
Last edited by On the other hand on Mon Dec 19, 2005 9:56 am; edited 1 time in total |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2005 11:47 am Post subject: Re: Maoist-Al Qaeda alliance? |
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| On the other hand wrote: |
| What exactly is The Little Red Book doing on a Watch List in post-9/11 USA? Is this really a top draw on the Al Qaeda reading list? Have the guys at Homeland Security been listening to too much Hendrix while staring into a lava lamp...? |
Yes. And they're just unimaginative bureaucrats. They vigorously lock and double-bar all barn doors years after the cows got away so that they can show their superiors and others that they are doing their jobs. There's not much more to it than that.
You should have seen some of the issues that came up in the so-called War on Drugs in the 1990s. DEA agents went after one Arizona bookstore for refusing to disclose its client list. What kinds of books are we talking about? Hydroponics agriculture. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2005 4:03 pm Post subject: |
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| What exactly is The Little Red Book doing on a Watch List in post-9/11 USA? Is this really a top draw on the Al Qaeda reading list? |
Just speculating here, but I would guess every book Mao ever wrote is on the list. He was a master of guerrilla warfare. Not a stretch to imagine other people might read him for some tips on how to do it. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2005 7:41 pm Post subject: |
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Quote:
What exactly is The Little Red Book doing on a Watch List in post-9/11 USA? Is this really a top draw on the Al Qaeda reading list?
Just speculating here, but I would guess every book Mao ever wrote is on the list. He was a master of guerrilla warfare. Not a stretch to imagine other people might read him for some tips on how to do it.
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Yeah, I thought about that. However, upon looking through TLRB itself, I can't really see that it qualifies as a manual on guerilla warfare. Most of the advice it gives is fairly general, along the lines of "the army must always endeavour to serve the needs of the people". I think the idea in compiling it was to provide ideological inspiration for young comrades, not teach tactical nuts and bolts.
And I would even question the relevance of Mao's more technical stuff for Al Qaeda, at least in the US. Mao was leading an actual guerilla army, seeking to win mass support from the peasanty. Al Qadea USA is most likely a bunch of tiny cells, planning individual bombings, plane crashes etc. Not sure what Mao had to say about that.
I guess I could see AQ operatives wanting to check out TLRB, to see what the master of revolution has to say. But, going by 9-11 itself, I'd say they're just as likely to get their inspiration from watching Hollywood action movies as from turgid communist prose. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2005 7:42 pm Post subject: |
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On the other hand wrote:
What exactly is The Little Red Book doing on a Watch List in post-9/11 USA? Is this really a top draw on the Al Qaeda reading list? Have the guys at Homeland Security been listening to too much Hendrix while staring into a lava lamp...?
Yes. And they're just unimaginative bureaucrats. They vigorously lock and double-bar all barn doors years after the cows got away so that they can show their superiors and others that they are doing their jobs. There's not much more to it than that.
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My thoughts exactly. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2005 8:00 pm Post subject: |
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| I think the idea in compiling it was to provide ideological inspiration for young comrades, not teach tactical nuts and bolts. |
And ideological inspiration is not a relevant concern of people trying to convince other people to blow themselves up for 'the cause'?
I can see why the FBI might be interested in who is reading the wit and wisdom of Chairman Mao. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 12:10 am Post subject: |
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Quote:
I think the idea in compiling it was to provide ideological inspiration for young comrades, not teach tactical nuts and bolts.
And ideological inspiration is not a relevant concern of people trying to convince other people to blow themselves up for 'the cause'?
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Sure, but I'm not sure what kind of ideological inspiration Al Qaeda would hope to find in The Little Red Book.
And if it's actual Maoists they're worried about, I have to wonder if this policy was in place prior to 9/11, when there were probably just as many Maoists as there are now. Probably not.
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| I can see why the FBI might be interested in who is reading the wit and wisdom of Chairman Mao. |
Perhaps, but then if they're really concerned about public safety, they should extend their investigations to anyone who's ever owned the book, not just undergrads who ordered it through library loan. Targetting the latter is a little like the drunk who loses his car keys in the bushes, but looks for them on the sidewalk because the light is better. |
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desultude
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Dangling my toes in the Persian Gulf
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| Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 12:23 am Post subject: |
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Guess it is a bad time to list my first edition Anarchist's Cookbook on Ebay.  |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 3:45 am Post subject: |
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| I'm not sure what kind of ideological inspiration Al Qaeda would hope to find in The Little Red Book. |
Then you are not trying very hard. How difficult would it be for Osama to copy "Power flows from the end of a rifle" into his next speech? After all, the enemy of both Mao and bin Laden was/is the same. And I don't think Osama is worried about copy right infringement. |
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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 9:55 am Post subject: |
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| Ya-ta Boy wrote: |
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| What exactly is The Little Red Book doing on a Watch List in post-9/11 USA? Is this really a top draw on the Al Qaeda reading list? |
Just speculating here, but I would guess every book Mao ever wrote is on the list. He was a master of guerrilla warfare. Not a stretch to imagine other people might read him for some tips on how to do it. |
Che Guevara is required reading, though, in many college courses. Why aren't all who read him flagged? He, after all, more than Mao, urged people to bring down the U.S. by starting "100 Vietnams."
Red-flagging books that have been in the public domain for decades strikes me as ridiculous.
Moreover, guerrilla warfare has been around at least as long as Sun Tzu. And we're not talking about rocket science, either.
Feds are just plain dumb. They couldn't anticipate and plan for a specific terrorist attack using airplanes against high-profile targets in 2001 even if Tom Clancy had already spelled it out in detail in a ten-year-old novel... |
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Leslie Cheswyck
Joined: 31 May 2003
Location: University of Western Chile
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| Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 5:57 pm Post subject: |
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| Gopher wrote: |
Red-flagging books that have been in the public domain for decades strikes me as ridiculous. |
Mao was appearantly an admirer of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. See where this kind of thing can lead? These are dangerous people!
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| And we're not talking about rocket science, either. |
The Chinese most certainly were. 
Hi, Gophe. Good to have you back. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:54 pm Post subject: |
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LC wrote:
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Gopher wrote:
Red-flagging books that have been in the public domain for decades strikes me as ridiculous.
Mao was appearantly an admirer of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. See where this kind of thing can lead? These are dangerous people!
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Thomas Jefferson wrote:
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| "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." |
Substitute the word "liberty" with "Islam" and you've got a barn-burner of an Osama bin laden speech.
I could see Yata boy's point if a) most Muslim extremists were reading The Little Red Book, and b)Mulsim extremists constituted the vsat majority of the readership. In that event, it would be a case of "find yourself an LRB reader and you've found yourself a Muslim extremist". But as Gopher points out, the book is public domain, and any AQ members wishing to read it probably wouldn't go through the trouble of filling out an interlibrary loan form at a university.
Oh, and I second Leslie's "welcome back", Gopher. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 9:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Leslie Cheswyck wrote: |
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| And we're not talking about rocket science, either. |
The Chinese most certainly were. |
Sure, the first rocket was invented in China in the 13th century, but it was crafted by Arab subcontractors under the employ of the imperialist Mongol ruler of China, Kublai Khan.
Ah, how I long again for a simple, pre-globalist world without WMDs and rampant superpowers.  |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:16 pm Post subject: |
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| I never realized the impact those crazy Mongols had on the world until I read a biography of Iban Battuta (moroccan traveler in the 14th century) last month. Pretty amazing what they accomplished- and destroyed. |
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