Village Voice

[There] may be instances arising in the future where persons are wrongfully detained in places unknown to those who would apply for habeas corpus in their behalf [so a U.S. court can determine if they're legally held]. . . . These dangers may seem unreal in the United States. But the experience of less fortunate countries should serve as a warning . . . — Ahrens v. Clark, U.S. Supreme Court, 1948, Justice Wiley Blount Rutledge dissenting [more]

"Clusters of scientists shut the laboratory door on the military half a century ago in reaction to the horrors of atomic bombs, and again decades later in disgust with the Vietnam War. But today such refuseniks are rare and scattered—in large part, they say, because so many of their colleagues doing basic research are addicted to military money." [more]

"Congress passed harsh laws in 1996 that mandated detention for virtually all "criminal aliens"—noncitizens convicted of committing crimes—and also expanded the list of crimes deemed deportable offenses. That created a sudden surge in the numbers of detainees, who were crowded into jails that weren't always properly equipped to handle them. Post–9-11 crackdowns since then have made it even harder for detainees to win release." [more]

"Why the 'dirty bomber' case threatens everyone's rights." [more]

"These resolutions are directed at the Bush-Ashcroft war on the Bill of Rights. [Yet] the undeterred Attorney General is planning to introduce in Congress USA Patriot Act II, which would much more radically reduce individual liberties in the holy name of national security." [more]

"According to recent unpublicized U.S. Army War College studies being read with increasing interest by some Pentagon planners, 'The possibility of the United States winning the war and losing the peace in Iraq is real and serious.' " [more]

"The police department insists it needs broader authority to hunt terrorists, who may masquerade as regular law-abiding folks until the moment they strike. But if police win this bid, the followers of 'extremist Muslim fundamentalism' they have mentioned won't be the only ones in their sights. Everyone becomes fair game." [more]

" 'Liberty is the most precious gift we offer our citizens.' Could Tom Ridge have said anything scarier or more telling as he accepted the post of homeland security czar? Trying to strike the bell of liberty, he sounds its death knell, depicting government not as the agent of the people's will, but as an imperious power with the authority to give us our democratic freedoms. Which means, of course, that it can also take them away." [more]

"They thought they were making routine purchasesóthe innocent, everyday pickups of charcoal and hummus, bleach and sandwich bags, that keep the modern household running. Regulars at a national grocery chain, these thousands and thousands of shoppers used the store's preferred-customer cards, in the process putting years of their lives on file. Perhaps they expected their records would be used by marketers trying to better target consumers. Instead, says the company's privacy consultant, the data was used by government agents hunting for potential terrorists." [more]

"One scenario involves ambushing cops. An apparently disabled vehicle is parked just before a freeway ramp, with shooters hidden inside. When the police officer pulls up, someone inside blows the horn and the shooters burst out firing. Then there's the residential assassination, where someone knocks on the door of a home, then empties his gun into whoever answers. There's also the golf-course assassination, where an RPG-type rocket is lobbed onto a golf green, taking out the security vehicle and leaving the golfers to be mowed down by rifle fire." [more]

"According to press reports, the White House thinks Ashcroft made too much of Padilla, who has not been charged with a crime. The government attorneys apparently could not get an indictment out of a New York grand jury and, rather than let him go, handed Padilla off to the military. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, speaking from Quatar, says he might never be tried." [more]

"Whenever I square off against some righteous hawk, male callers describe me as a bad Jew, and an egregiously pushy one, at that. 'Don't go on television anymore,' one guy commanded after a dustup with Alan Keyes last week. 'And don't say anything bad about Israel.' He made no threat, but it struck me as a stage-one warning and reminded me of how fraught speaking out against Israeli policies can be if you're a Jew." [more]

"[Bush] admits to having known in general what was going to happen. Terrorists were slipping into the country. They were studying at American flight schools. They intended to hijack planes. They were financed by Osama bin Laden. Knowing all of this, Bush still left us totally undefended." [more]

"A long-term resident of the United States who President Bush believes may have aided a terrorist can now be tried in secret by a military commission and be sentenced to death on the basis of hearsay and rumor with no appeal to any civilian court, even the Supreme Court." [more]

"According to both Pentagon and intelligence sources, in mid September the Project for the New American Century — a hawkish private policy group whose membership overlaps with the official Defense Policy Board — sent President Bush a letter after a two-day conference, declaring that failure to promptly remove Saddam would constitute a 'decisive surrender in the war against terrorism.' Ominously, it also held that if Syria and Iran refused to drop all support for Hezbollah, 'the administration should consider appropriate measures of retaliation against these known state sponsors of terrorism.' " [more]