Civil Liberties since 9/11 |
| Written by Julie Gallagher • September 2011 |
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On the morning of September 11, 2001, a series of tragic incidents happened in America. On this day, four planes were hijacked by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists. Two of the planes were deliberately steered toward the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Hijackers crashed the third plane into the western side of The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. On the fourth plane, passengers overtook the hijackers and stopped it from reaching its intended target in Washington, D.C. The plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000 people died due to these attacks. Over the past decade, many events have taken place in response to the 9/11 attacks. Since the attacks, the United States has been involved in two major wars. They are: the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War. Operation Enduring Freedom was the official title used by the Bush Administration for the War in Afghanistan as well as three smaller military operations. The three smaller military campaigns took place in the Philippines, the Horn of Africa, and the Trans Sahara. The Bush administration sticks by their claim that the Iraq War is part of their War on Terror. However, this assertion has become a point of contention for many people. These wars and the USA PATRIOT Act have brought the freedom of our civil liberties into question. USA PATRIOT is an acronym for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. Critics of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and the Patriot Act say that they encroach on Americans most basic privacy rights and civil liberties. In 2002, the United States created the Guantanamo Bay detention camp to hold detainees from the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. Controversy surrounding the interrogation practices of detainees at Guantanamo Bay has surfaced over the past few years. After being released, many prisoners said that they were subjected to beatings, sleep deprivation, extended periods in unpleasant positions, drawn out hooding, sexual and cultural embarrassment, enforced injections, and other bodily and mental abuse during their detainment at Camp Delta. On July 29, 2004, an FBI agent said that “On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food, or water. Most times they had urinated or defecated on themselves and had been left there for 18, 24 hours or more.” In October 2001, Congress quickly passed the USA PATRIOT Act. The bill was signed into law by President Bush on October 26. Among other things, the Patriot Act allows government agents to search a person’s property without his or her permission; the agents are also allowed to take things without informing the person. The Patriot Act also allows credit card information, bank account numbers, and certain computer information including network addresses and accounts of session times and durations to be acquired without a court order. The government can now use diagnostic tools such as Carnivore to discover possible “terrorists” based on profiles of user communications. Even though the Patriot Act is a major threat to privacy rights, it also allows the government to jail people and refuse them basic rights that are guaranteed in the Constitution. After 9/11, more than 1,200 people were jailed for months for disobeying immigration laws or as material witnesses without access to an attorney. Today, fewer than 200 of these detainees are in prison; most have been extradited or freed. Under the Patriot Act, U.S. citizens can be identified as “enemy combatants” and jailed without being charged for a specific crime. Yes, the treatment of Guantanamo Bay detainees and the USA PATRIOT Act does encroach on civil liberties and privacy rights. However, look at it this way: they both help the government to learn about possible future terrorist attacks so that they can be more prepared. Maybe if the United States had known about the 9/11 attacks, they could have been prevented and so many lives would not have been lost. Still not convinced? Just think of the following adage: It is better to be safe than sorry. Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Terror http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/jrichardson/dis473/USAPATRIOTACT.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp http://www.peacecouncil.net/pnl/02/712/712CivilLiberties.htm  Julie Gallagher has served as a speechwriter and analyst for numerous political personalities, Members of Congress, and policy centers. She has studied international relations at University of Chicago and had been involved in the Teach for America program. Comments (0)
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