RIP C.I.A. World Factbook

I found the CIA World Factbook a useful tool the last few years when doing research involving the countries (and territories) of the world. Others have found it a helpful tool for much longer. 

For instance, the Puerto Rico page provides basic facts. Now that page is down. There is an archived page. See here for the whole thing. 

A resource in place for over sixty years is suddenly gone. Why? Well, it's par for course with these guys.

The announcement posted to the CIA’s website offered no reason for the decision to end the Factbook, but it follows a vow from Director John Ratcliffe to end programs that don’t advance the agency’s core missions.

Its website tells us:

At its core, our mission is to gather and share intelligence to protect our Nation from threats. Our highest principles guide our vision and all that we do: integrity, service, excellence, courage, teamwork, and stewardship.

The CIA does not only collect and distribute covert information. Some argue that with the Internet, the factbook is obsolete. It is tedious to keep up to date. Why keep it?

The Internet allows for easy research. It does not remove the value of reliable, easy to access and peruse materials. The Factbook is not Wikipedia. 

Paul Musgrave, a political science professor, argues:

Killing the CIA World Factbook might seem like small potatoes, but it was a touchstone of curated facts in a sea of disinformation.

An Atlantic commentary argues it is "part of a broad war on information being waged by the Trump administration." Not part of the core mission?

The World Factbook was a public service that helped Americans and others around the globe be informed, created a positive association with a shadowy agency, and spread U.S. soft power by providing a useful service free to all. 

The sudden takedown is also part of a wider war on information. For instance:

The executive branch has removed data from its websites, such as those of the CDC, the Census Bureau, and other departments, or removed the webpages that hosted them. Almost 3,400 data sets were removed from Data.gov in the first month of Trump’s term alone.

The war on good government continues.