War+On+Terror-+Surveillance

=War on Terror: Big Brother is Watching __. media type="youtube" key="YMiqEUBux3o" height="314" width="382" align="right"__= To what extent has the War on Terror impacted Americans' rights?

fter 9/11, the American government was determined to not only make sure that an event like this would never repeat itself, but also to "bring to justice" the terrorists responsible for this tragedy. Of course the search for these terrorists has not been easy, but the means to find them is less than justifiable.
 * The Current Issue:**

Probably most impacting act passed after 9/11 is the **USA PATRIOT Act**. The controversy surrounding this act, like any other search-related legislation, is privacy and liberty versus security.This issue affects all Americans equally, in any part of the country. (On the right, a speech by former president George W. Bush about the events of September 11, 2001)

= __**The PATRIOT ACT (a summary):**__ =
 * The** official name of the PATRIOT Act is the USA PATRIOT Act; which stands for **U**niting and **S**trengthening **A**merica by **P**roviding **A**ppropriate **T**ools **R**equired to **I**ntercept and **O**bstruct **T**errorism Act of 2001. (It was renewed in 2005 and on May 19th of this year.)

The Patriot Act establishes the following and more:
 * a fund for counter-terrorist activities and increased funds for the FBI's Technical Support Center
 * expands government surveillance power by allowing the government to use trap or trace devices and seize communications records and electronic communication devices.
 * Facilitates the prevention, detection and prosecution of international money laundering and the financing of terrorism by enforcing and expanding regulations and expanding the definition of financial crimes.
 * maximum number of border patrol triple
 * increased monitoring of technology
 * redefinition of cyber-terrorism
 * expansion of crimes categorized as terrorist; like those of mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping.
 * Secret Service jurisdiction extended so they can investigate computer fraud, access device frauds, false identification documents or devices.
 * entities and organizations are required to turn over various records and data about individuals.
 * Many governmental searches don't need probable cause or judicial oversight and may not need to inform owners of the searches after the fact
 * strengthening of foreign intelligence and translation system.
 * Gives the FBI the authority to search telephone, e-mail and financial records without a court order.

=**__The PATRIOT Act and the Constitution__:** = While those supporting the act claim it's necessary in the fight against terrorism, others claim the PATRIOT Act violates civil and individual rights. Among the amendments many claim the PATRIOT Act violates are: The First Amendment, which in short establishes the freedom of speech, religion, and press. The Fourth Amendment, which protects citizens against "unreasonable searches and seizures" and requires warrants and probable cause for searches. (To the right is a report from Russia Today about this issue) media type="youtube" key="4NSL4CAePWQ" height="349" width="425" align="right"

INTERESTING FACTS: 1) The USA PATRIOT Act also condemns the "discrimination against Arabs and Muslims." 2) Bob Barr, former member of the House of Representatives, publically stated that he regrets having voted in favor of the PATRIOT Act.

media type="custom" key="9499722" http://www.kean.edu/~eslprog/accents/2006/page2006_13.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_PATRIOT_Act **__[]__ ** **__[]__ **  http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/05/20/18680111.php http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://a4cgr.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/patriotact.jpg&imgrefurl=http://dancingczars.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/patriot-act-unconstitutional/&usg=__b6tR1s5OFuJbHiNGRykbwN7qKj0=&h=351&w=468&sz=36&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=jqeHUmEPiKPhWM:&tbnh=133&tbnw=175&ei=17bZTcONBYKqsAP82KiGDA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dthe%2Bpatriot%2Bact%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D590%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=313&vpy=260&dur=0&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=184&ty=74&sqi=2&page=1&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:0 http://www.reformthepatriotact.org/ <span style="display: block; height: 1px; left: -10000px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: 163px; width: 1px;">to broadly include mass destruction as well as assassination or kidnapping as a terrorist activity