Many argue that The PATRIOT ACT goes against the basic innate rights promised to us through The United States Constitution. However many parts of the Constitution are ignored today. It needs to be taken into consideration that the Constitution was written over 200 years ago and that as society changes, the way our government affects our lives also needs to be changed. For example: The Second Amendment, the right to bear arm, is infringed upon with laws prohibiting or restricting our ability to buy and keep things such as certain weapon types, magazine capacities, barrel lengths and registrations. This is accepted because in today's times not everyone is in need of a gun, nor would it be safe if everyone owned and carried a weapon. However, 200 years ago it was common and preferred that everyone have a weapon for their own personal safety.
The Act allows for a dramatic increase in the ease of access for the government to view personal records, files, and other information. The only probable cause needed for this is to fit within the United State's definition of a terrorist. This definition is of course very vague.
Terrorism needs to be stopped before it can get out of hand. Many think all terroristic people live in Middle Eastern countries and forget about the home grown terrorists. Many followers of Al Qaeda were born and raised in The States and decide that is what they want to do with there life. Or The Oklahoma City Bombings. Timothy McVeigh had parked a moving van loaded with a large bomb outside a federal building in Oklahoma City, and within seconds it was like a war zone within the city. In order to find all of those connected with the attack, illegal wire taps and records needed to be pulled. At the time this was illegal, but today with the USA PATRIOT Act, justice is able to be served properly. Had this act been written previously, this may have been avoided with certain laws restricting the sale of potentially dangerous products.
The purpose of the USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism)
is to deter terrorism within the United States. There are ten titles
within the act that cover different topics of homeland security. It was
enacted on October 26th 2001, in response to the September 11th terrorist
attacks. The Act allows for the government to view things that were once
considered personal information including medical documents, internet
history, financial records and education history. While some ignorant
Americans find this to be an invasion of privacy, most are able to
appreciate the fact that our nation is taking steps toward increasing
homeland security as the type of warfare is changing with the modern
age.
Two years after 9/11 America took out
the ruthless dictator of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. This was the first major
milestone in the War on Terror. Saddam was captured like a rat while
hiding in a two room spider hole beneath a mud shack on a sheep farm.
Approximately two years later Saddam was hanged in Baghdad.
In early 2011, another milestone in the War on Terror was reached when
military forces entered Pakistan without their knowledge and found Osama
bin Laden within his compound. The SEAL team entered the room where
bin Laden was found. Bin Laden was armed and using one of his multiple
wives as a human shield. She was taken in the line of fire along with
bin Laden and one of his adult sons.
