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Did the 9/11 attacks irrevocably shatter American civil liberties?
In the moments just after the United States suffered its greatest trauma in 60 years, George W. Bush uttered some of the most profound words of his presidency. They were meant to rally and unite Americans and remind the world that U.S. values were unshakable.
“Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America,” he said. “These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.”
Now 10 years on, a growing group of civil libertarians says that the “foundation of America” is on its way to irreparable damage.
“We are becoming a national surveillance society,” said Hina Shamsi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project in New York. “We have developed an entrenched emergency mentality that has had an incredibly negative impact on the rule of law.” (Photo: Luke MacGregor/Reuters)
