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Celebrating civil liberties

Americans who are known to fiercely guard their liberties, have hailed the ruling as a landmark victory against the abuse of power in the name of war on terror and protecting citizens from militant attacks.

However, the Bush administration thinks otherwise. Advocates of spying on innocents without warning and congressional approval have disagreed with the judgment saying that it weakens the US war on terrorism, though Washington has not disclosed that its clandestine electronic eavesdropping has yielded any results so far.

The Justice Department, stung by the verdict, which will not be enforced until a hearing scheduled for September 7 is conducted, is preparing for the next round of legal battle in an appeals court.

Whatever the outcome, when a majority of US citizens has welcomed the federal judge’s observation that warrantless wiretapping is illegal, President Bush has completely disagreed with him saying that "those who herald this decision simply do not understand the nature of the world in which we live." An optimistic Bush believes that the appeals court would overturn the ruling finally.

He may be right in his own way. But his administration runs the risk of alienating its own people by trying to defend a covert programme that reminds you of the authoritarian regimes Bush loves to hate. The US that prides itself on its civil liberties record and claims to be a beacon of democracy to others sullies its image if the Bush administration goes on waging legal battle over its secret wiretappings.

Moreover, Americans, fiercely possessive of their freedoms, will not tolerate any attempts to interfere with their personal lives. As it is, Bush is acting like a dictator, spying on his own countrymen. If Bush doesn’t respect the privacy and freedoms of his own people and legal opinions, he will end up further damaging his presidency and his party’s prospects.