Lazarus, the newpaper cited below--owned by a foundation and not a corporation--paid $3,000 and purchased satellite data that showed no amassing of Iraqi troops on Saudi Arabia's boarder. Bush the elder had previously informed the Saudi government that this was the case, and this is how he convinced the Saudi monarchy to let US troops gain entry into Saudi territory, just prior to the first Gulf War. The sad irony to Bush the elder's act of deception, was the presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia enabled OBL's ability to recruit more Saudis into his network of terror.
Below is the same paper offering opinion on an issue that hasn't yet taken hold in America. But it will!
A Times Editorial
Liberty crisis
The proposal for a Patriot Act II shows how far the attorney general seems willing to go to expand his power.
©St. Petersburg Times
published February 18, 2003
When the USA Patriot Act was passed only six weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, with little debate and few objections, Congress demonstrated it had little stomach for standing up for constitutional freedoms in the face of terrorism. Attorney General John Ashcroft pushed hard for the measure that substantially expanded his department's surveillance power. Now comes word the Justice Department is working on a second Patriot Act. The secrecy surrounding the 120-page draft, stamped "CONFIDENTIAL -- NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION" suggests Ashcroft was waiting for the right time to unveil it -- perhaps when the nation is once again in crisis mode.
The document was leaked to the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity by someone within the Justice Department who must have been deeply concerned over its provisions. Since then, the department has stated that the Domestic Security Enhancement Act, as it is officially named, is just a working draft and not anything final. But records indicate the draft was far enough along to have been sent to House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Vice President Dick Cheney.
The Patriot Act II would severely diminish the procedural protections that keep innocent people from being investigated and unfairly treated by government. It creates two systems of justice, one for citizens and one for noncitizens, and it moves us further toward having a national security exception to the Constitution. The provisions would:
Authorize secret arrests for terrorism suspects. This would negate a federal appellate court ruling that ordered the government to disclose the names of Sept. 11 detainees.
Give the attorney general the power to unilaterally order wiretapping and surveillance of suspects without a warrant if there is an attack on the United States or if Congress authorizes the use of force.
Create a DNA database of terrorist suspects. The computer file would include American citizens who are merely suspected of providing support to a terrorist group.
Give law enforcement access to credit reports without a court order.
Set aside court orders that limited local police agencies from spying based on someone's political or religious affiliation.
Strip Americans of citizenship if they are found to have associated with an organization the executive branch designates as "terrorist."
Give the attorney general the sole authority to deport noncitizens, even people here legally, if he believes their presence is inconsistent with national security.
Although there are some reasonable provisions, such as requiring that an attorney represent the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court when its rulings are appealed by the government (currently, only the government gets to have its say before the appeals court), the bulk of the draft bill is designed to give more unilateral authority to the executive branch. It dangerously undermines our system of checks and balances.
Since passing the USA Patriot Act in 2001, Congress has struggled with an intransigent Justice Department that has refused to answer questions on precisely how it is using the powers granted by the act. That experience shows Ashcroft wants power without accountability. He should not be granted more.
Our liberties are too valuable to be discarded in moments of national crisis. They may be hardest to defend when terrorists threaten our security, but that is when they are needed most.
sptimes.com |
