S. government (Huffington Post, 2009). Should terrorism be treated as a criminal act or an act of war?

There are good reasons for both approaches as well as equally good reasons for arguing against both approaches. To the extent that terrorism is perpetrated by state-actors, it is appropriately prosecuted as an act of war. However, it is highly impractical (and logically indefensible) to treat lone terrorists or autonomous extremist groups who commit acts of terror as enemy combatants under the Geneva Convention, which would be required if terrorism were prosecuted as a war (Larsen, 2007). Among other considerations, declaring war against terrorist groups would also authorize them, under international law, to use offensive attacks in that war. Perhaps the best approach would be to create a third category analogous to the old British concept of "outlaws" and to the way the international community treated pirates on the high seas throughout the 17th and 18th century. In both cases, certain types of unlawful...

(2002). Shouting Fire: Civil Liberties in a Turbulent Age New York:
Little Brown & Co.

Huffington Post. (2009). "NSA Whistleblower Reveals Bush Administration Snooping

on U.S. Citizens, Journalists." Retrieved March 29, 2011 from the HuffingtonPost.com website, at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-f-kennedy-jr-and-brendan-demelle/unearthed-the-news-withou_b_162659.html?view=print

Larsen, R. (2007). Our Own Worst Enemy: Asking the Right Questions About

Security to Protect You, Your Family, and America New York: Grand Central

Publishing.

Lichtblau, E. "Patriot Act Goes Beyond Terror" the New York Times, (September 28,