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Mukasey: Now's No Time to Weaken Patriot Act

Terror arrests show that national security needs trump privacy worries

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 2, 2009 5:53 AM CDT
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(Newser) – The arrests last week of Najibullah Zazi and other terror suspects should make lawmakers think twice about making intelligence-gathering more difficult for those trying to keep America safe from terrorist attacks, writes Michael Mukasey. Congressional Democrats are considering imposing new requirements on Patriot Act provisions when they come up for renewal later this year, Mukasey writes, but doing so has the potential to thwart terror investigations.

Tools like roving wiretaps are vital to terror investigations, the former attorney general writes in the Wall Street Journal, and requiring authorities to show proof of terror links before they can be obtained turns the whole concept of an investigation upside down. Those "who would roll back current authorities in the name of protecting civil liberties, should consider what legislation will be proposed and passed if the next Najibullah Zazi is not detected," Mukasey concludes.

Najibullah Zazi, center, is escorted off an NYPD helicopter by U.S Marshals after being extradited from Denver, Colo., last week.
Najibullah Zazi, center, is escorted off an NYPD helicopter by U.S Marshals after being extradited from Denver, Colo., last week.   (AP Photo/New York City Police Department)
Michael Mukasey addresses the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law and National Security, at the University Club in Washington.
Michael Mukasey addresses the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law and National Security, at the University Club in Washington.   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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There is no sense in giving investigators in national security cases less authority than investigators in criminal cases, and in criticizing them for failing to connect the dots while denying them the authority to discover the dots. - Michael Mukasey

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 9 comments
SilenceDogood
Oct 2, 2009 12:07 PM CDT
Where are all of the neo-Liberals screaming that GW Bush wire tapped America and shredded the Constitution? This may not be what we want, but it may be what we need. Law enforcement against a covert, imbedded, intelligent terrorist within these United States requires new methods. Traditional police work is catching a felon AFTER the crime is committed; in this case we need to stop the terrorists BEFORE people are killed by the murdering cowards.
riffran
Oct 2, 2009 11:35 AM CDT
slippery slope..at what point does it go from protection to invasion of privacy...They caught this one, but what if they didn't ....BOOM...
SilenceDogood
Oct 2, 2009 11:34 AM CDT
agreed

 
national security • terror plots • surveillance • terrorist • wiretap • Patriot Act • Michael Mukasey • electronic surveillance laws • Najibullah Zazi

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