ATTORNEY General John Ashcroft's public alert of a possible terrorist attack within the next few days or a week was understandably vague, but his advice on what Americans should do about it could have been more helpful. Instead, the dire warning may have put many people, already uneasy, into a state of paralysis, with aggravating consequences for the travel industry, still reeling from the Sept. 11 attack. Public shouldn’t be
thrown into panicThe issue: Americans have been
put on alert because of intelligence
pointing to an imminent act of terrorism.Ashcroft was joined by FBI Director Robert Mueller in announcing Monday that credible intelligence sources led them to believe that more attacks were imminent. The Canadian government said the warning was based at least partly on intelligence it had provided. No specifics on the nature, geography or targets of the attacks, were given because they were not known.
Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, compared the announcement to a doctor diagnosing a disease but offering no treatment. "At a minimum when an increased threat announcement is made," he said, "there should be some solution offered of what a family can do to protect themselves."
Most families are taking such measures. They are following President Bush's advice to get on with their lives and at the same time be wary of the unusual. Law-enforcement agencies have been on alert and working overtime since Sept. 11. "You can only ratchet us up so much and so often before the heightened awareness loses its effectiveness," said Daniel J. Oakes, a 21-year veteran of the New York Police Department and now chief of police in Ann Arbor, Mich. "It's hard to maintain a constant state of vigilance."
Top officials in the Bush administration said the intelligence justified alerting law-enforcement agencies and apparently decided it was better for Ashcroft to make public the information instead of having it leak to the media. Justice Department spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said the announcement could have dissuaded terrorists from carrying out their plans. Mueller said a similar warning on Oct. 11 about truck bombs, crop-dusters and other potential terrorism might have averted an attack.
Those were perfectly good reasons for informing the public about the intelligence. However, the lack of any guidance on how Americans should respond could cause them to rush to their pharmacies to stock up on antibiotics or to cancel various plans, from Halloween trick-or-treating to vacation trips. Without such advice, families should be urged to continue what has become a less complacent state of normalcy.
Federal authorities have detained 1,017 people thus far in connection with the September 11 attacks and, in most cases, have refused to disclose the names of those arrested, what crimes they are charged with and where they are being held. Continued secrecy about
detainees is unsettlingThe issue: The Justice Department
won't reveal information about people
arrested after September 11 attacks.The government may have legitimate reasons for this secrecy, but even in this period of heightened security concerns, the concealment raises questions about possible violations of civil liberties. It erodes public confidence in the belief that the United States is not a country in which people can go "missing" as they did in Chile under dictator Augustus Pinochet.
Although the Justice Department has provided a running tally of the arrests, it declines to give names or details, saying that in some cases it is prohibited from doing so and shuttling aside the fact that the prohibition comes as a result of its prosecutors' requests to the courts that records be sealed. In other cases, the department has said it isn't required to disclose such information.
At most, the department has supplied general information: that a small number of those arrested are considered material witnesses, that about 180 are charged with immigration violations, that the rest are being held on charges unrelated to the attacks and that most remain in custody. Some are believed to have some connection to terrorist activities, but not directly related to those on September 11.
While federal authorities must do their best to prosecute those who may have taken part in the attacks, they must operate within constitutional boundaries. Despite repeated assurances from Attorney General John Ashcroft that the government is doing nothing improper, it is impossible to gauge the veracity of that contention.
Democracy demands transparency. If the government's investigation has been consistent with the law and protections of the Constitution, there should be no reason why it cannot answer basic questions about people it has detained.
After being rebuffed by the Justice Department and by FBI director Robert Mueller, a coalition of civil liberties organizations has decided to file a lawsuit demanding disclosure. It is disturbing to American sensibilities of fairness and liberty that they should be forced to take such action.
Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, Publisher
Frank Bridgewater, managing editor 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
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