The FBI’s controversial racist Muslim manual

http://freedetainees.org/12760 A discontinued FBI training manual about Islam and Arab culture is generating controversy online. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has obtained a 62-page PowerPoint training presentation used by the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to teach new recruits ways to deal with “individuals from the M.E. [Middle East] during interviews and interrogations. The briefing provides facts about Muslims and their religion, many of which the ACLU claims are “biased and demeaning” and reveal an over-simplified understanding of Islamic and Arabic culture. The ACLU notes that though the briefing encourages a respectful tone in places, it offers many ideas about Islam that are “inaccurate, biased, and unfair”. On a slide entitled “Language”, one bullet point reads: “It is the characteristic of the Arabic mind to be swayed more by words than ideas and more by ideas than facts.” On a slide entitled “Islam 101″, four bullet points are listed: “No separation between church and state. / Hard for Westerners to understand. / Transforms country’s culture into 7th century Arabian ways. / Regulates most aspects of life.” In the ACLU’s statement the organisation expresses concern that this represents an overreach in what the FBI should be looking at: “The briefing presents much information that has nothing to do with crime prevention and everything to do with constitutionally-protected religious practice and social behavior…” Wired’s Danger Room blog reported on the presentation and received this statement from representatives at the FBI: “The FBI new agent population at Quantico is exposed to a diverse curriculum in many specific areas, including Islam and Muslim culture. The presentation in question was a rudimentary version used for a limited time that has since been replaced.” While the training document is no longer in use, the latest revision date listed on its first page is January 15, 2009. These are some of the social media elements featured in this episode of The Stream. Below are several pages from the FBI training manual obtained by the ACLU. full piece > http://freedetainees.org/12760

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