Balancing Civil Rights With Fighting the War on Terrorism

By Michael Tivana

When will the government security measures that are being taken to fight the war on terrorism go away? Will the executive orders that President Bush has exercised and the new ones he has created ever go away? If any of the new orders are everlasting they would be an abomination of all that we stand for and would make a mockery of all that we have lost our lives fighting for. My concern is that the war on terrorism is as vague as the war on drugs and appears to be everlasting. President Bush has declared an indefinite national state of emergency. Can America survive two perpetual wars? Only if the citizens, the police and the military allow it. Below is the short list of some of the attacks on our country thus far.

- The abolition of The 1978 Presidential Records Act

- The enactment of the military tribunal court system

- The exercising of some FEMA laws; limiting travel to anti-war protestors

- Creating New Crime of Domestic Terrorism to include political protest

- Detention of aliens and the piercing of the privacy between client and lawyer

- New banking laws limiting offshore banking rights

- Extended wire-tapping of American citizens

- The whole Patriot Act enables our country to have a secret police force

Some patriots are not buckling in to the new mandates and remain firm in their commitment to the people that they serve. The Portland and Eugene police forces are standing up for the values that Americans defend. Read below to get more of the story and how to support them.

Portland and Eugene police refuse to cooperate with U.S. questioning

Portland and Eugene police departments resisting federal mandate to round up civilians; role of joint terrorism task force unclear

November 21, 2001

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) -- Portland police have refused a U.S. Justice Department request for help in interviewing Middle Eastern immigrants as part of its sweeping terrorism investigation, saying it would violate state law.

Attorney General John Ashcroft (who swore he was opposed to racial profiling during his confirmation hearings) has ordered that 5000 non-citizen men of middle eastern descent, aged 18-33, be rounded up for questioning nationwide, even though none are alleged to have broken any laws. The FBI is attempting to accomplish this by asking local law enforcement agencies to do its dirty work.

Oregon State law requires people be suspects before being questioned

The law says, generally, we can interview people that we may suspect have committed a crime," Kirkland said. "But the law does not allow us to go out and arbitrarily interview people whose only offense is immigration or citizenship, and it doesn't give them authority to arbitrarily gather information on them."

Attorney General John Ashcroft and the FBI has requested the assistance of local police departments around the country in the task of rounding up alleged "terrorist" suspects. The FBI has asked the Portland Police Bureau to round up 200 such men for questioning. In a brave decision, Acting PPB Chief Andrew Kirkland has defied the FBI by refusing to participate in this systematic act of racial profiling.

Please call the acting chief at 503.823.0000 and let him know you support his decision. Please also call Portland Mayor Vera Katz at 503.823.4120 to tell her you support Acting Chief Kirkland's decision. The mayor's office will likely transfer you to an opinion line. It is vital that we support good decisions and the people who make them, if we want more good decisions. Portland Copwatch is one organization urging citizens to commend the police for this choice.

Look up Yahoo keyword Copwatch to learn more about our police state.