Terrorists May Target U.S. Schools

This report is disturbing:

A man arrested by U.S. authorities in Iraq had a computer disk in his possession containing a public report downloaded from a U.S. Department of Education Web site on crisis planning in school districts, including San Diego Unified.

The man was described as an Iraqi national with connections to terrorism and the insurgency that is fighting U.S. forces in Iraq. Officials in San Diego said the man's intentions were unknown.

San Diego law enforcement officials said there was no indication of any terrorist plot against schools in San Diego or elsewhere in the country. They did not publicly release the information because there appeared to be no threat. The information was relayed to the San Diego FBI office last week and then to the school district Friday.

To have a man in Iraq connected to terrorists carrying around the emergency plans for a school system in the U.S. is not a coincidence. The authorities, however, are downplaying the significance of the occurrence, possibly fearing that people would overreact.

With the recent atrocities in Beslan, it should be clear that terrorists have no qualms about murdering children in schools. It is irresponsible for the authorities in San Diego to ignore the obvious indication that terrorists are looking closely at American schools.

(via Instapundit)

[Update 10/08/04] The Department of Education has issued an advisory to U.S. school systems with regard to potential terrorist threats. Dr. Rusty Shackleford is following the story.