USA Patriot Act vs. American Civil Liberties

The United States of America is one of the countries that have been faced with a lot of terrorism threats, challenges and attacks in the last one decade. The most memorable attack in the United States that posed a lot of threat and danger in the country was the bombing of the twin towers in September 11th 2001, by Al Qaeda network. Because of the attack, President George W. Bush came up with an idea on how to prevent further attacks and how to curb terrorists, through enhancement of intelligence department.

The Patriotic Act
According to Etzioni (2004), Patriotic act is an act that was passed by the congress and signed by the former President to help in fighting terrorism, to help in investigations and to expand surveillance within the borders of the United States and the surrounding to enhance security and to curb terrorism in America. It was also meant to strengthen American intelligence system and to provide viable methods of fighting terrorism in America and the surrounding. The act had a lot to do with the communication systems, financial issues such as money laundering, movements within and out of America or restrictions and defines how money was to be circulated or exchanged within America.

As a result of increasing cases of terrorism through illegal migrants and personalities that were suspected of causing danger in the country, the act clearly defined the modalities of deportation of persons who are suspected of terrorism act or illegal migrants whose intentions and purpose are not well defined in the passport. The act therefore responded to the demands of the citizens of America who feared for their lives especially after the 911 attack and the rising tension between the American government and the terrorists, who are always determined to attack at any given time.

Passing of the Act
Even though the act was passed with a majority votes in the House most people were not pleased with the kind of investigation techniques that were used by the intelligence groups like the FBI who continued to carry out their investigation to peoples communication lines, e-mails and even private properties without the information of the owner (Etzioni,2004).

In most cases, the intelligent group could even investigate on the origin of capital to do business that raised a lot of fear for the investors especially the foreign investors who feared that their wealth could be taken away, if there could be a link between the business and the Arab groups, which are considered to be terrorists. Legal complications have been noted in the act, as the privacy of individuals are exposed to the members of the public due to the kind of investigations that are being carried out by the security agents (Etzioni,2004).

The Act and the Civil Liberty
Liberty is one of the fundamental human rights to do any thing within the laws and regulations of the land and without violating the rights and freedom of another person. Even though the Patriotic Act came up with positive modalities of fighting terrorism and reducing risk in relation to financial transactions, many people have argued that the act has violated the rights and freedom of the citizens in line with the bill of rights in the constitution.

Comparison between the Civil Liberty and the Act
Liberty is one of the major area that has been violated by the act and most critics believes that the act defines the modalities of fighting terrorism but some sections of the act need to be corrected or amended, to ensure that the rights and freedom of the individuals are not violated by the act. Despite the fact that most people in America wanted the Act to be permanent in the constitution most of the people are for the view that, by enacting the Act, civil liberties of the individuals may be violated by the Act and therefore seeks for amendments of the Act by reviewing some sections in it.

Even though towards the end the year 2005, the urge to make the amendments came up in the conference, the Act was to remain in its original language according to the views of the majority especially the senates. The United States senate had a serious task in July 2005, when they came up with a new version of reauthorization bill that was more concerned with the revision of several sections of the Act but the language was not changed, as opposed to the critics of the Act who were for the opinion of changing most of the major sections dealing with the civil liberties of the citizens.

It therefore called for harmonization of the two bills to cater for the interests of both parties. One of the major challenges that emerged during the conference was that the two major political parties Democrats and Republican Party, had an opinion that civil liberty had to be avoided in the discussion and both parties ignored the call for revision of civil liberty rights in the Act, as demanded by the critics. The version that was revised by the Senate had an upper hand in the final draft of the bill as most of the recommendations were implemented in the bill that was signed by the former President, George Bush on March 2, 2006 and after one week the bill became a law.

Pros and Cons of the Act
The act can be said to have positive interest of the public safety and security since it helps in detection of danger and clearly defines the modalities for fighting crime in America. The dangers and threats that are received from the terrorists can easily be detected by the intelligence group and alert system has been technologically advanced to deal with the rising cases of insecurity in America. However, the major challenge lies upon the rights and freedom of the civilian, most of the people live in fear, as the Act supports private investigations that may lead to arrest of an individual without notice. Since the FBI have expanded their investigation methods to peoples private properties such as houses and even extended to personal messages via e-mail and on line, most people fear receiving or sending mails to unknown personalities since they may be tracked by the FBI for further investigations. Lastly, it has reduced financial transactions within America hence most Investors are discouraged to do business within America, as a result of thorough investigations by the FBI and other intelligence groups (Etzioni,2004).

The major challenge for the current President Barrack Obama, is to deal with the latest threats that have been emerging from the terrorists, such as Al Qaeda by ensuring that the rights and liberties of the citizens are not violated as it was during the reign of President Bush and to ensure that the intelligence committee are well updated on the dangers relating to terrorism activities within America and the Diaspora. This is as it was before when President George Bush fought tirelessly with the Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and the rest of the continent.

Conclusion
For the last short duration of Obamas reign diplomacy and protection of human rights has taken a center stage in his leadership. The Act therefore serves the right of the citizens by laying down modalities for fighting terrorism though the process of investigation has raised problems with the liberty rights of the citizens.

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