Terrorism policy responses in 2007: Congress, firefighting, and international law enforcement

Terrorism

Who: The U.S. Congress

What: Congressional Vote

Where: Washington D.C.

When: 6 Aug 2007 as reported by the New York Times

How: Recently, there was a congressional vote that authorized eavesdropping without warrants on international communications, including communications conducted by Americans residing within the United States.

Brief Analysis: Despite the Bush Administration's lack of credibility regarding the war in Iraq, fears regarding terrorism remain high enough that the Democratic Congress authorized the Bush Administration's ability to eavesdrop on citizens, ignoring civil libertarians' objections.

Who: The NYC Fire Department

What: The Deutsche Bank Fire

Where: NYC

When: 21 Aug 2007. As reported by the New York Times

How: A Pakistani man accused of aiding Al Qaeda who was imprisoned in his home country for three years, has been released by the government.

Brief Analysis: The connections of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan to terrorism are debated, as the CIA alleges he has been involved in terrorist activity but Pakistani officials have said that information from Mr. Khan led them to a Tanzanian wanted in connection with the 1998 bombings of American embassies in East Africa, which killed more than 200 people. They say he is not a terrorist, but merely had knowledge of the event, and thus upon gaining this information, he was released. This highlights how the international nature of terrorist organizations and the conflicting policies of nations in dealing with terrorists make it even more difficult to combat this threat.