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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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Obama Books Banned for Jailed Terrorist

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(Newser) – Prison officials refused to let an al-Qaeda terrorist serving 30 years in Supermax, a prison in Colorado, read Barack Obama's books, the Daily Telegraph reports. Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, an American citizen convicted of conspiring to, among other things, assassinate then–President George W. Bush, was told that the books contained information that could jeopardize national security if they were read by prisoners.

Officials singled out a page in the autobiographical Dreams from My Father and 22 in the policy-oriented The Audacity of Hope as containing sensitive information. Ali went on hunger strike over the rejections and the prison's policy on family visits. A prison review concluded that the books were okay for inmates to read after all. "Any inmate there that wanted these, has them," an official now says. 

Officials at Colorado's Supermax prison decided
Officials at Colorado's Supermax prison decided "Dreams From My Father" contained information too sensitive for an imprisoned terrorist to read.   (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
Supporters holds signs and a book as they cheer for Barack Obama during a campaign event last year.
Supporters holds signs and a book as they cheer for Barack Obama during a campaign event last year.   (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong,File)
Barack Obama signs copies of
Barack Obama signs copies of "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" at a bookstore in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood in this 2006 photo.   (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast )
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7 comments
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peacenique
Jul 11, 09 8:31 AM CDT
so, the moral to this story is: you want something you've been refused? go on a hunger strike, you'll get it... promise! seems to me that's the way some children are raised too Reply
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schmidtkoff
Jul 11, 09 8:57 AM CDT
i haven't read either but neither have i read war and peace. how harmful could it be in a super max? perhaps it could have a positive effect on the inmates. or not. who is to judge . no book banning please. Reply
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paul123
Jul 11, 09 9:36 AM CDT
I haven't read either, but the whole idea seems stupid. Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
kokuaguy
Jul 11, 09 12:11 PM CDT
They should be allowed to read. and what better book could one find? These prison bureaucrats are stupid.
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+2
TerrifiedCitizen
Jul 11, 09 12:06 PM CDT
Bureaucracy is often just what it is. Reply
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