9/11 and Counter Terrorism Laws

9/11 and Counter Terrorism Laws

Question “The United States' response to 9/11, more specifically its understanding of its rights and duties under international law, has led to changes in the law regulating counter-terrorism.”

Introduction

On Sept. 11, 2001 the U. S. suffered a devastating series of terrorist attacks, as three commercial airliners were hijacked and used as suicide bombers against the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C. A fourth hijacked airliner crashed in western Pennsylvania, apparently before it could reach its intended target. Since then, the prevention of future attacks has become a top national priority.

In the wake of the attacks, most Americans agree on the need to strengthen the nation's defenses against terrorism. However, specific antiterrorism proposals have provoked heated debate. At the center of that debate is the question of how to best increase security while preserving civil liberties. In particular, the discussion focuses on the limits of appropriate government surveillance, especially in the still developing area of Internet communication, and the manner in which the government treats immigrant groups in the investigation of terrorist activities. This paper presents an analysis of how does United States' response to 9/11, more specifically its understanding of its rights and duties under international law, have led to changes in the law regulating counter-terrorism.

9/ 11 Terrorist Attack - Brief Overview

The U.S. has long battled against international terrorism. In recent years those efforts have focused on bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi Arabian exile, and Al Qaeda. Among the attacks attributed to bin Laden are an attack on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and an attack on the U.S.S Cole in a Yemeni port in October 2000.

The 9/11 attack exceeded the devastation of earlier attacks against U.S. targets. On the morning of Sept. 11, hijackers took over four commercial U.S. aircraft. Two planes crashed into the World Trade Center's "Twin Towers," eventually causing the 110-story buildings to collapse. A third plane, which officials say may have been headed for the White House, crashed into the side of the Pentagon. A fourth plane crashed in a rural section of western Pennsylvania but may have been headed for a fourth landmark. Although the immediate death toll of the attacks is unknown, authorities estimate that nearly 5,000 people died when the towers collapsed. In addition, hundreds more died at the Pentagon and aboard the hijacked planes. Nine days later, Bush delivered a speech in which he announced the creation of a new government agency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), charged with protecting the U.S. from further terrorist attacks.

Some proponents of rendering terrorism suspects for interrogation by foreign authorities argue that the benefit of the practice does not involve torture at all, but the familiarity that those interrogators have with suspects who are from similar backgrounds. For instance, they say that Arab interrogators who can easily speak the language of, and have cultural connections to, suspects from their countries are more effective at obtaining information from ...