In an analysis of the challenges facing Alberto Gonzales, the
new attorney general, the London-based news weekly quoted his
statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee that the war on terror
would be his top priority. But the magazine then asked an important
question: how effective has the Justice Department's effort been
in fighting terrorism in the United States since 9/11/01? Yes
Congress had passed the USA Patriot Act, the magazine said. Yes
some plotters had been locked up. But then the article quoted
David Cole of Georgetown University Law School as saying the department's
claims had been pumped up. It also cited a TRAC data study that
found the typical sentence for international terrorism in the
two years after the attacks was only 14 days, "hardly what you
would expect for a terror crime."
The Economist --
Torturing Albert
January 20, PDF file
