17 June 2009

Peaceful protest viewed as "low-level terrorism"

Antiterrorism training materials used by the Department of Defense teach that public protests should be regarded as "low-level terrorism," according to a letter of complaint sent to the department by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California...

Among the multiple-choice questions included in its Level 1 Antiterrorism Awareness training course — an annual training requirement for all DOD personnel that is fulfilled through Web-based instruction — the department asks the following: "Which of the following is an example of low-level terrorist activity?"

2 comments:

  1. How is "low-level terrorism" defined in this context? How is it distinguished from "medium" and "high"? What are some other examples of "low"?

    If I really work at it, I can imagine definitions that might be fairly benign, depending on the range. I'm probably dreaming, but it would be interesting to know.

    And even if it were benign, they ought to change it because of the potential for misunderstanding.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anything defined as terrorism (at whatever level) can then be dealt with under the special measures anti-terrorism laws.

    ReplyDelete

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