The patRIOT Letters

If words are all we have...

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Location: Canaan, CT, United States

Living, working and traveling on waves of possibilities.

Monday, June 10, 2002

"Enemy Combatant"


U.S. Detains Alleged Dirty Bomb Terrorist Bomb Plot Disrupted in Early Planning Stages

By Dan Eggen

Washington Post Staff Writer

Monday, June 10, 2002; 5:52 PM

An American citizen, with alleged ties to the al Qaeda terror network, has been arrested on suspicion of plotting to build and detonate a radioactive "dirty" bomb in an attack in this country, Bush administration officials said this morning... [more]


As we empower "our government" to deny due process of law we feed the words and beliefs of those who we seek to protect our citizens from.


So I have to ask who is the most dangerous here to our way of life?


This "Enemy Combatant" U.S. citizen who is now guilty until proven innocent? (Wouldn't it be better to prove his guilt in U.S. court?) [e-mail list]




Or "our" Attorney General who swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States? (Wouldn't it be better to prove to the world that the U.S. court system is the way to handle this?) [e-mail list]




Monday, June 10, 2002 - "Attorney General John Ashcroft announces that the U.S. government has arrested an alleged al Qaida terrorist who plotted to build and detonate a radiological "dirty" bomb. "[see video]


and there's more bad news...


Bush Developing Military Policy Of Striking First New Doctrine Addresses Terrorism

By Thomas E. Ricks and Vernon Loeb

Washington Post Staff Writers

Monday, June 10, 2002; Page A01

The Bush administration is developing a new strategic doctrine that moves away from the Cold War pillars of containment and deterrence toward a policy that supports preemptive attacks against terrorists and hostile states with chemical, biological or nuclear weapons... [more] [e-mail list]

Sunday, June 09, 2002

1984 coming to your livingroom...

Source: ACLU Online

ASHCROFT USHERS IN NEW ERA OF DOMESTIC SPYING

In a disastrous move that could usher in a new era of illegal surveillance and
government persecution of dissidents, Attorney General John Ashcroft has
decided to rewrite longstanding restrictions on domestic spying by law
enforcement.

His decision threatens core civil liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and
Bill of Rights. It also demonstrates Ashcroft's seemingly unquenchable
appetite for new powers that will do little to make us safer but will
inevitably make us less free.

Take Action!
Help prevent a return to the bad old days of illegal government
surveillance and persecution. Click below to send a FREE fax to your Members
of Congress urging them to rescind Ashcroft's new guidelines:http://forms.aclu.org/L/www.aclu.org/action/spy107.cfm?MX=342&H=0

By rewriting the "Attorney General Guidelines," Ashcroft has dismantled a
central protection against unwarranted government surveillance. Under the new
guidelines, the FBI can freely infiltrate mosques, churches and synagogues and
other houses of worship, listen in on online chat rooms and read message
boards, even if it has no evidence that a crime might be committed.

Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU's Washington Office, said that the new
rules fail to recognize the central problems of the investigations before
September 11. "Federal law enforcement failed to analyze and act on relevant
information," Murphy said. "The Attorney General's solution to that failure
is to gather exponentially more information."

The guidelines were originally put in place after the FBI illegally spied on
and persecuted the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other political
dissenters in the 1950s and 1960s. In response to congressional investigations
into law enforcement abuse, the Justice Department adopted the guidelines to
limit the scope of acceptable surveillance and infiltration of religious and
political organizations.

"Dr. King's legacy is not just the gains made toward political and social
equality," said Marvin Johnson, an ACLU Legislative Counsel. "His persecution
by law enforcement is a necessary reminder of the potential abuse when a
government with too long a leash seeks to silence voices of dissent."

An ACLU special report on this aspect of the King legacy can be found online at
(in PDF format):http://forms.aclu.org/L/www.aclu.org/congress/mlkreport.cfm?MX=342&H=0

The ACLU's "Brief Analysis of Proposed Changes to Attorney General Guidelines"
can be found at:http://forms.aclu.org/L/www.aclu.org/congress/l053002a.cfm?MX=342&H=0