Cole Assails 'Preventive Detention' Policy for Damaging U.S. Security

Over 100 people packed the City Council chambers in the Falls Church City Hall to the rafters last Thursday to hear author David Cole speak at the another Falls Church News-Press Spring Public Issues Forum. Cole's topic, "Enemy Aliens and American Freedoms: How the War on Terrorism Has Undermined Freedom and Security," was based on the title of his new book. It addressed the U.S. administration's controversial policy of detaining foreign nationals for indefinite periods without access to legal rights in the name of the "war on terrorism."

Cole had hard criticism for the administration policy of "preventive detention." "What evidence is there that (Attorney General) John Ashcroft has done anything to win the war on terrorism," he asked. He said that of 5,000 foreign nationals detained under Ashcroft's policy since 9/11, not a since one has been charged with involvement in 9/11 and only three out of 5,000 have been charged with any crime related to terrorism. Of those three, two have been acquitted and the third's conviction is "under a cloud."

On the other hand, he said, the administration policy has had a deeply chilling effect on the ability of U.S. investigators to gain critical intelligence on genuine terrorist threats from prospective informants the foreign national community. Under this policy, "people are afraid to come forward with information for fear they, too, will be detained," he said.

Moreover, he added, the policy has turned the world against the U.S. "The biggest threat to our security is the anti-Americanism we have created around the world," he said.

The day after 9/11, he noted, the headline in the French newspaper, Le Monde, was "We Are All Americans." But that support for America's plight has vanished to the point that a survey by the Pew Trust now shows that anti-American sentiment worldwide is now at an all time high.

"The world hates us because of our unilateral approach to Iraq and other foreign policy matters and because of the double standard we apply at home, detaining foreign national without legal recourse in a way that we would never do with U.S. citizens," he said.

"This means that we are that much less likely to get cooperation, internationally, in the war on terrorism, while al Qaeda and other terrorist groups are that much more likely to gain recruits in their fight against us," he added.

The fact that the policy is not helping, but is counterproductive to U.S. interests in the war on terrorism is coupled with the idea that denying basic rights to persons simply because they're not U.S. citizens is just plain wrong, Cole said. "It says nowhere that the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution is restricted to U.S. citizens only. The founding fathers had a very solid notion that these rights should be applied to everyone."

Furthermore, he noted, there is historical precedence to the notion that denying rights to non-citizens is only a precursor to extending such policies to U.S. citizens, as well. He pointed to the infamous Palmer raids after World War I. In reaction to a wave of terrorist bombings in eight cities in one hour in 1919, authorities used immigration laws to charge technical violations and "guilt by association" against thousands of foreign nationals.

By advancing a double standard – one for foreign nationals against another for U.S. citizens – authorities sought and won popular support for the notion that "their liberty (i.e. that of foreigners) is being sacrificed for your (i.e. U.S. citizens') security."

However, Cole pointed out that a key operative in the Palmer raids was none other than future FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover, who became notorious for utilizing similar methods in selective harassment of U.S. citizens throughout his career.

"These policies can come back to haunt us," Cole noted.

Cole noted that rising opposition to the U.S.A. Patriot Act sweeping the nation in the form of resolutions passed by local and regional jurisdictions have already had a major impact on postponing passage of the Patriot Act 2, which extends government controls even further. "There is no doubt these resolutions and the rising public sentiment behind them has deterred Patriot Act 2 from moving forward," he said.

(The City of Falls Church is considering such a resolutions. Arlington County and the City of Alexandria have already adopted their own versions).

A tape of the Cole forum will be replayed on Falls Church Cable Television five times in April. It is Channel 12 on Cox Cable and Channel 2 on Starpower. The scheduled times are as follows:

• Friday, April 2, 5:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 7, 10:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 14, 10:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, April 20, 6 p.m.
• Friday, April 30, 6 p.m.