A “mountain of evidence.” That’s what Attorney General John Ashcroft offered Congress on Tuesday, a “mountain of evidence” that the PATRIOT ACT has been instrumental in disrupting al Qaeda cells’ activities in the United States.
“The Patriot Act is al-Qaida’s worst nightmare when it comes to disrupting and disabling their operations here in America,” he said.
Makes you kind of reassess your opinion on the PATRIOT ACT doesn’t it? I mean, a whole mountain of evidence must represent a lot, right? I’d assume a lot more than some flimsy 29-page report of evidence with barely 2 dozen examples, none of which address the strongest criticisms of the PATRIOT ACT, right? A mountain of evidence would be indisputably convincing that congress should not let it expire in 2005, right?
The report did not mention some more controversial powers, such as the FBI’s ability to obtain library and bookstore records in terrorism cases or the so-called “sneak and peek” search warrants in which agents need not immediately tell suspects their home or business had been searched.
Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, accused the department of selectively releasing information and refusing to address civil liberties concerns.
“Coupled with the department’s consistent record of exaggerating their record about terrorism, this entire report is suspect,” Conyers said.
OK, so Conyers is a Democrat, so his opinion is automatically suspect. Besides, clearly within a mountain of evidence, the need to continue the controversial Section 215 of the law could be demonstrated, right?
The report did not say whether the FBI had used its authority under Section 215 of the law to obtain library or bookstore records. That information is classified, but Ashcroft issued a declassified statement last September saying the power had not yet been used.
Ashcroft did offer plenty of reassuring war analogies in his presentation though:
We are a nation at war. That is a fact. Al Qaeda wants to hit us and hit us hard. We have to use every legal weapon available to protect the American people from terrorist attacks.
Like the smart bombs, laser-guided missiles and predator drones employed by our armed forces to hunt and kill al Qaeda in Afghanistan, the Patriot Act is just as vital to targeting the terrorists who would kill our people and destroy our freedom here at home.
Reassuring, that is, so long as you don’t think through the comparison too carefully. If the PATRIOT ACT is as successful in stopping al Qaeda within the US as the smart bombs, laser-guided missiles and predator drones are in Afghanistan, and we judge that by these statements from senior intelligence officials:
A plot to carry out a large-scale terror attack against the United States in the near future is being directed by Osama bin Laden and other top al Qaeda members, senior intelligence officials said Thursday.
Bin Laden and his top lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are overseeing the attack plans from their remote hideouts somewhere along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, according to senior intelligence officials.
well, we’re left wondering how effective the PATRIOT ACT is really, now aren’t we?
Personally, I think part of the discrepancy lies in the fact that the PATRIOT ACT (at least in how it’s used by this AG) has less to do with terrorism and more to do with Ashcroft’s favorite obsession: sexual deviancy. Notice how he combines the two:
I am pleased today to have met with these distinguished members of Congress and to have presented to them a report on how the Patriot Act has been our laser-guided weapon to prevent terrorist attacks. I have also been pleased to discuss how we have used the Patriot Act to save lives from violent criminals who prey on the vulnerable.
OK, so he has two things to discuss with Congress, but compare how much time he devoted in his presentation to detailed examples of how the PATRIOT ACT has been used to stop terrorism:
The information-sharing and coordination made possible by section 218 assisted the prosecution in San Diego of several persons involved in an al Qaeda drugs-for-weapons plot, which culminated in several guilty pleas. They admitted that they conspired to receive, as partial payment for heroin and hashish, four “Stinger” anti-aircraft missiles that they then intended to sell to the Taliban, an organization they knew at the time to be affiliated with al Qaeda.
with how much time he devoted to discussing sexual deviants:
The Patriot Act has also allowed us to go after violent criminals who would harm the innocent.
In Kentucky, law enforcement used section 210 of the Patriot Act to investigate an individual linked to several sexual assaults of children at public libraries and local parks. Just before the individual in question became the primary suspect in the case, he attempted to rape and abduct a six-year-old girl at a playground in Boone County, Kentucky.
Investigators used section 210 to obtain key information from an Internet service provider. Within 20 minutes of receipt of the subpoena, the investigators obtained the information that allowed them to get a search warrant of the suspect’s residence. Without that information, it is unlikely that investigators could have obtained a search warrant for the house.
Evidence located in the house proved essential in the arrest of the suspect and his wife within 24 hours. The couple was charged and prosecuted for 100-counts of receipt and possession of child pornography.
The prosecution also led to information tying the couple to multiple sexual assaults in Kentucky and Virginia. The defendants were convicted and sentenced to prison terms of approximately 30 years and 90 years.
In another example, Section 212 was instrumental in quickly rescuing a 13-year-old girl from Western Pennsylvania who had been lured from her home and was being held captive in Virginia by a 38-year-old man she had met online.
An anonymous caller contacted the FBI and stated that he had chatted online recently with an individual claiming to have taken a girl from Pittsburgh.
Based on information provided by that caller, FBI agents in Pittsburgh quickly requested information from an Internet service provider pursuant to section 212.
With the information provided in response to that request, agents were able to locate the kidnapper. They immediately went to his residence in Herndon, Virginia, and rescued the child victim. The suspect subsequently was arrested, pleaded guilty to charges of travel with intent to engage in sexual activity with a minor and sexual exploitation of a minor, and was sentenced to over 19 years in prison.
His focus is clear. Either that or the PATRIOT ACT doesn’t do anywhere near enough to protect us from terrorism to justify the anti-American measures it relies on.
His focus is clear.
If you oppose the ACT, the political commercials used against you will certainly draw blood.
Thank god the AG can’t do documentaries.
These two cases are pathetically weak.
Sections 210 212 are simple extension of existing law to cover ISP’s. Since they already cover telephone companies, the basic idea is non-controversial. They are only small changes to existing laws (and are written as such.)
210: extends disclosure of telephone account information to ISP account information.
Here’s the meat of 212:
(C) [ISP may voluntarily provide account information to govermment] if the provider reasonably believes that an emergency involving immediate danger of death or serious physical injury to any person requires disclosure of the information without delay.’
These two cases are pathetically weak.
Which two cases?
If you oppose the ACT, the political commercials used against you will certainly draw blood.
Amen to that.