I personally learned a lot reading the Unabomber’s primer. I would assign it as reading material in a course on anti-globalization, were I to teach such a course. And who said learning alone will solve anything? My point is that we can better fight the bad guys if we know where they are coming from. Case in point is OBL’s September 1996 Declaration of War, in my opinion still the most important document one can read to understand al Qaeda’s strategy. And while we can’t talk them out of what they are doing, but we might convince others not to join up. If we cede that ground we admit our ideological impotence. Furthermore, if we make OBL’s writings off limits, that will only make them more attractive to the curious.