[Peace-discuss] Bad craziness in DC

[Ricky Baldwin]

So it's okay to dump our civil rights as long as they do it in the open?  
This article is just one more example of how our real enemies (in DC) have 
become emboldened by Sept. 11 : the spooks see it as an opportunity to come 
out of the closet.  All the nastiness that was finally driven underground in 
the 1960s and 70s (the stuff Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr and Clinton 
Administrations had to do secretly) can now come out in the open again.  O 
frabjous day!  Calloo!  Callay!  Once again it's okay to be a fascist.  
Springtime in Germany. - RB

[snip]

>THE WESTERN FRONT
>
>Truth and Justice
>Government agents who mislead federal judges are the real threat to civil
>liberties.
>
[snip]

>Attorney General John Ashcroft is in Democratic crosshairs again. This time
>Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Maxine Waters were accusing him of undermining
>American civil liberties. And this was news!
>
>Ostensibly, the reason for the attack was a ruling by a secret court saying
>the Justice Department was going too far in investigating and prosecuting
>potential terrorists. But the real news here is that America is finally
>getting an open airing of heretofore secret federal proceedings that are
>supposed to draw the line between run-of-the-mill criminal investigations 
>and
>those investigations aimed at uncovering terrorists and spies.
>
>So far it looks like the government is doing a better job of protecting 
>civil
>liberties than it did before Sept. 11.

[snip]

The reason we, and
>the court, know of these problems is the Justice Department came clean.

[snip]

--the
>Justice Department pegged the number of cases with misleading or false
>information at 75--as it turns out all of those cases were "related to 
>major
>terrorist attacks directed at the United States" such as the planned
>millennium attacks and the bombings of American embassies in Africa.
>In March 2001--barely two months after George W. Bush took office--the
>Justice Department came forward with more examples. The problem highlighted
>this time was that in some instances there wasn't a "wall" separating
>criminal from intelligence investigations.

[snip]

Instead of trying to circumvent the rules,
>the feds are trying to openly stake out new rules that provide them with
>reasonable procedures to thwart terrorists.
>
>After coming clean, the next step was to correct the abuse of power. So new
>safeguards were developed in April 2001 that are still in place. And Judge
>Lamberth praised John Ashcroft earlier this year for his vigilance and
>thoroughness in certifying facts presented to the court.
>
>Then came an open back-and-forth in designing new rules to conduct dual
>investigations. Judge Lamberth notes "The government makes no secret . . .
>[of] its interpretation of the [USA Patriot] Act's new amendments which
>'allows FISA to be used primarily for a law enforcement purpose.' " And 
>this
>ruling is the first ever to be published by the court, and the judges 
>promise
>it won't be the last--although it only found its way into the public sphere
>because of prodding by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Justice 
>Department
>is appealing the ruling.
>
>
>
>
>
>Whatever the outcome, John Ashcroft, by openly raising this issue with the
>court, is on course to stake out a reasonable approach to combating 
>terrorism
>while also giving the court the ability to spot and put an end to any 
>abuses
>of power. It's much easier to limit power granted to an agent officially,
>than to wade through false and misleading information.
>Letting a street crime go unpunished is one thing. But on Sept. 11 
>Americans
>realized there can be a steeper price to pay for building an impenetrable
>wall between two concurrent investigations. A jailed terrorist--even one
>serving time for a minor crime--can't commit mass acts of violence. That's
>why, federal prosecutors say, Zacarias Moussaoui wasn't one of the Sept. 11
>hijackers. Of course, the feds still stumbled over the Moussaoui
>investigation, refusing to search his computer until after the attacks. But
>future investigations could provide agents with clues to upcoming attacks
>while a potential terrorist cools his heels in the slammer. Ideally, even 
>his
>cohorts would remain unaware that their plans have been compromised until
>they're rounded up by federal agents.
>
>That's the kind of muscular approach the Justice Department says the 
>Patriot
>Act empowers it to do--and that combating terrorism will ultimately 
>require.
[snip]

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