Title: The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks on the U.S. - dummies
Headings: The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.
The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.
Reacting to the 9/11 attacks
Identifying the attackers – al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden
Fighting terrorism on the U.S. home front
Imprisoning “non-POWs” at Guantanamo Bay
Defending controversial tactics
About the Book Author

Content: Fighting terrorism on the U.S. home front
The Bush administration never formally declared war on Afghanistan (which allowed it to claim it didn’t have to treat those captured as prisoners of war). But it did declare war on terrorism, and Bush proclaimed the war would continue and be fought on every front “until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped, and defeated.” A month after the 9/11 attacks, as they came to be known, Bush proposed something called the “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act” — or the USA Patriot Act. The far-reaching “temporary” act (most of which was made permanent by Congress in 2006) greatly expanded the authority of the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to conduct searches, look at medical and other personal records (such as what materials an individual took out from public libraries), and spy without court approval on those suspected of potential terrorist acts. It also allowed foreigners to be held for up to seven days without charges or deportation proceedings. The act was approved 357–66 in the House of Representatives. In the Senate, the vote was 98–1, with only Sen. Russell Feingold, D-WI, opposed. In July 2002, Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to listen in on phone calls American citizens made to other countries and to monitor e-mails. ( See Chapter 25 for more on the NSA and electronic surveillance.) The order wasn’t made public until 2005, and Congress didn’t sanction the actions until 2008.