[IP] more on Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts >:o >:o
Begin forwarded message:
From: TClaburn@xxxxxxx
Date: December 16, 2005 4:20:40 PM EST
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Cc: NMunro@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [IP] more on Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without
Courts >:o >:o
But the chief problem, which the NYT article does not highlight, is
that
AL-Q has chosen to blur the lines between civilian and military,
law and
war, criminal and innocuous. They buy tickets on our airplanes, use
our
phone lines, hide behind our laws, hire our lawyers, locate themselves
to shelter under the protection of our legal regime, and cite our
prisoner-protection rules, etc.
That sounds a lot like organized crime. We've managed to deal with that
reasonably well over the years without contravening the Constitution.
Some have suggested that the least-painful solution to this dilemma
would be to drain the terrorist swamp in the Middle East, rather than
writing more and more intrusive and uncertain rules to regulate an
high-stakes hunt around the world for terrorists.
Are we draining the swamp or, apologies to David Bowie, putting out
the fire
with gasoline?
Argument by metaphor obscures the complexity of the situation in Iraq.
If laws like the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act need to be
changed to
deal with terrorism, change them lawfully rather than skirting them
in secret.
Thomas Claburn, Editor-at-Large
InformationWeek, CMP Media, Inc.
600 Harrison St., 6th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94107
tclaburn@xxxxxxx
415.947.6820
http://www.informationweek.com
http://www.lot49.com
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