10 Years Later: ACLU Reports

Ten years have passed since the “9/11” attacks, and much has changed in that time.

The ACLU (Americal Civil Liberties Union) has published a report on the reactions that have come from the government of the US, and the effect that measures to both prevent and combat terrorists and terrorist acts have had on civil liberties, society’s security and safety, and what has been right and wrong about those measures.

There are, of course, widely differing opinions on the subject, but the ACLU does have some of the best and brightest minds out there on this topic, so they’re worth listening to.

The full report can be found here (pdf), and we’ll just give you a few highlights.

“In a much-cited lecture delivered near the end of the Cold War, the late Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., reflected on “the shabby treatment civil liberties have received in the United States during times of war and perceived threats to its national security.” Justice Brennan noted the cyclical nature of the nation’s response to traumatic events: after each crisis had abated, the country had “remorsefully realized that the abrogation of civil liberties was unnecessary.” While Justice Brennan hoped that the nation might develop a jurisprudence of civil liberties that would be able to withstand the “crucible of danger” and prevent the cycle from repeating itself, there was comfort at least in the recognition that our system of government was self-correcting over time.”

“On May 26, 2011, a majority of the U.S. House of Representatives voted to give President Obama—and all future presidents—more war authority than Congress gave to President Bush two days after the 9/11 attacks: under the House bill, a president would no longer have to show a connection to 9/11, or even any specific threat to America, before using military force anywhere in the world that a terrorism suspect may be found—including within the United States.”

“Since 9/11, there has been no more dramatic or consequential development than the contention by both the Bush and Obama administrations that the United States is engaged in a global armed conflict against loosely defined terrorist entities and undefined ‘associated forces.”