After 9/11: How the Patriot Act changed the US

The September 11, 2001 attacks also came as a shock to the United States because warnings had been overlooked. The Congress then massively strengthened the security authorities. Critics think: at the expense of civil liberties.

The “Patriot Act”, which President George W. Bush enacted immediately after September 11, 2001, was more than just the wish list of the security authorities. The legislative package, which was widely accepted across party lines, was supposed to provide the answer to one of the most agonizing questions that were asked after the terrorist attacks: Why weren’t the numerous warning signals that had been given, not passed on to the appropriate authorities? According to Bush, the “Patriot Act” is an important instrument with which one and one can be added together in the future.

For this arithmetic task, investigators could in future operate largely at their own discretion. When listening to phone calls, searching through apartments, tracking money flows – judicial decisions were hardly necessary anymore. America’s premier civil rights organization, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), immediately raised the alarm. Ashley Gorski, a lawyer at the ACLU, feels vindicated in retrospect:

The ‘Patriot’ Act symbolizes this original expansion of the surveillance state. But it is only one piece of the puzzle in a much larger structure. Over the following decade, the surveillance state has expanded dramatically, often in complete secrecy. Often the limits of the ‘Patriot Act’ were exceeded.

Snowden reveals the extent

This was facilitated by the fact that the technical revolution in the IT sector made surveillance possible on an unprecedented scale. The public got an idea of ​​the true dimensions twelve years later from Edward Snowden’s revelations about his former employer, the NSA, the National Security Agency. The NSA has the greatest surveillance capabilities of all time, according to Snowden, and can use them against innocent citizens even against their assertions.

This is exactly grist to the mill of ACLU lawyer Gorski, who wants to use the 20th anniversary of September 11th to raise the issue again.

“I think the anniversary underscores how powers that were actually only granted temporary in an emergency have become the new normal in the United States. On the anniversary, we should think about how the surveillance state has grown, how technology makes it possible to generate vast amounts of data and the government is aware of our every movement. Now one could push hard for reforms of these powers. “

Prevention remains a priority

For the incumbent Attorney General Merrick Garland, terror prevention remains high on the list of priorities. The corresponding initiative that Garland presented this summer continues to rely on sophisticated surveillance technology. “In the past, foreign terrorists had to board airplanes for their attacks,” Garland said. “Today they can activate sleeper cells in the USA with the help of the most modern technology.”

The ACLU warns that a cyber war on terror in the depths of the network would inevitably come at the expense of civil liberties. Therefore: “More transparency is absolutely essential. Congress must act. Both parties agree that the surveillance practice after 9/11 violates the privacy of innocent citizens. But the reforms so far are not sufficient to protect citizens. The executive in the USA is far too powerful to be able to collect intelligence like that. “

But it hardly looks like that when the incumbent Justice Minister declares vigilance to be the most effective protection against further terrorism.