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This article is from NYTimes.com

The War on Civil Liberties

September 10, 2002

It would be easy to dismiss the harm that has been done to our civil liberties in the past year. Most of us do not know anyone whose rights have been seriously curtailed. The 1,200 detainees rounded up after Sept. 11 and held in secret were mainly Muslim men with immigration problems. So were the people the government tried to deport in closed hearings. The two Americans who were labeled "enemy combatants," hustled off to military brigs and denied the  right even to meet with a lawyer, are a Saudi-American man captured in Afghanistan and a onetime Chicago gang member.

There is also no denying that the need for effective law enforcement is greater than ever. The Constitution, Justice Arthur Goldberg once noted, is not a suicide pact. And yet to curtail individual rights, as the Bush administration has done, is to draw exactly the wrong lessons from history. Every time the country has felt threatened and tightened the screws on civil liberties, it later wished it had not done so. In each case - whether the barring of government criticism under the Sedition Act of 1798 and the Espionage Act of 1918, the internment of Japanese-Americans in World War II or the McCarthyite witch hunts of the cold war - profound regrets set in later. When we are afraid, as we have all been this year, civil liberties can seem abstract. But they are at the core of what separates this country from nearly all others; they are what we are defending when we go to war. To slash away at liberty in order to defend it is not only illogical, it has proved to be a failure. Yet that is what has been happening.

Since last September, the Bush administration has held people in prison indefinitely and refused to tell the public who is being held or even how many detainees there are. No less odious than the administration's secret arrests are its secret trials. The government has barred the public and the press from deportation hearings for immigrants suspected of ties to terrorism. The administration has also shown contempt for basic rights in its enthusiasm for military tribunals. In November, when President Bush first issued the order setting these up, it seemed the administration wanted to try anyone alleged to have ties to terrorism, even American citizens arrested in the United States, in military courts. Faced with an uproar, the administration backed down, announcing that the tribunals would accord defendants some rights. It then decided to try several prominent terrorism suspects in civilian courts.

This summer the administration unveiled, with great fanfare, the TIPS program (for Terrorism Information and Prevention System), to recruit Americans to spy on their fellow Americans. As originally conceived, TIPS was to include mail carriers, utility workers and others with access to people's homes. Again, after a popular outcry the administration scaled TIPS back. In times of conflict, the president seeks to increase his power.

Congress, sensitive to public fears over safety, cannot always be counted on to stand up to him. That leaves the judiciary and members of the public to worry about the trampling of rights. This year a number of judges have stood out for their courage. Gladys Kessler, of Federal District Court in Washington, D.C., declared that secret arrests were "odious to a democratic society," and ordered the government to release the names of all detainees. It has not done so. And Judge Robert Doumar of Federal District Court in Norfolk, Va., who is presiding over one of the "enemy combatant" cases, recently told prosecutors to submit documents for his review so he could determine if the defendant was in fact an enemy combatant. The Justice Department, disgracefully, defied his order.

As the Bush administration continues down its path, the American people need to make clear that they have learned from history and will not allow their rights to be  rolled back. The world has changed since Sept. 11, but the values this country was founded on have not. Fear is no guide to the Constitution. We must fight the enemies of freedom abroad without yielding to those at home.

Do you agree with this article? What Part?

Do you disagree with this article? What Part?

IMMIGRANTS, NOT AMERICANS, MUST ADAPT. I am tired of this nation worrying
about whether we are offending some individual or his culture. Since the
terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, we have experienced a surge in  patriotism by
the majority of Americans. However, the dust from the attacks had barely
settled when the "politically correct" crowd began complaining about the
possibility that our patriotism was offending others. I am not against
immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better
life by coming to America. Our population is almost entirely  comprised of
descendants of immigrants. However, there are a few things that those who
have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to
understand. This idea of America being a multicultural community has served
only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Americans, we
have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own
lifestyle.

This culture has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and
victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom. We speak
ENGLISH, not Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other
language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the
language! "In God We Trust" is our national motto. This is not some
Christian, right-wing, political slogan. We adopted this motto because
Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, a
fact which is abundantly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display
it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you
consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is  part of
our culture.

If the Stars and Stripes offend you, or you don't like Uncle Sam, then you
should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are
happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't
care how you did things where you came from. This is OUR COUNTRY, our land,
and our lifestyle. Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to
express his opinion, and we will allow you every opportunity to do so. But
once you're done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our
pledge, our national motto, or our way of life, I highly encourage you to
take advantage of one other great American freedom: THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.