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9/11 Ethical Dilemmas

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The country found itself in utter terror and a sense of paralysis immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on American soil by the al Qaeda network. “In the aftermath of the first attack on the American continent since the War of 1812, and the deadliest in the nation’s history, the country rallied behind the president” (Milkis & Nelson, 2012, 445). During this heightened time of support, the Bush Administration worked to expand the presidential powers. One of his most immediate decisions was to work with the National Security Agency (NSA) to monitor communications traffic between the United States and foreign countries in an effort to catch unknown terrorists before they acted against the United States again. According to Eichenwald, …show more content…

Over the years following 9/11, facts about the secret surveillance program started to surface. As an investigation started being conducted, it was found that the program was not just listening in on calls and emails from abroad by quite of bit of activity monitoring was taking place within the United States causing a lot of controversy in the fact that people did not like the idea that their private information was being invaded by the NSA on authority of the president. Furthermore, there was a rise in concern for the Fourth Amendment rights against search and seizure violations of having individual’s emails taken and used against them without warrants. The Bush Administration worked with Congress immediately following the 9/11 attacks to pass and sign into law the USA Patriot Act that was “an overnight revision of the nation 's surveillance laws that vastly expanded the government 's authority to spy on its own citizens, while simultaneously reducing checks and balances on those powers like judicial oversight, public accountability, and the ability to challenge government searches in court” (ACLU,

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423 Words | 2 Pages

The USA Patriot Act, also known as "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism" was a rushed act passed 45 days after the devastating terrorist attack on the twin towers September 11th, 2001. It was composed with the intention of finding and prosecuting international terrorists on American soil, but consequently violated the constitution. In addition, the Patriot act allows surveillance on all emails, internet, and cell phones to try and catch terrorists. Regardless, the act ended up having more power than primarily planned as stated in the CNN debate on the patriot act. America was founded on the principle of individual liberties and the pursuit of happiness in the context

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1112 Words | 5 Pages

In his “9/11 Address to the Nation” the 43rd President of the United States of America, George W. Bush assures that America will not be affected by the unruly and evil attacks carried out on September 11th, 2001. The President drafted this speech to resist the impending fear and questioning that American citizens around the country would soon be consumed by. Because 9/11 was the most impactful, yet devastating terrorist attack on the United States to date, Bush was not able to derive his thoughts from others’ ideas and speeches, thus he was forced to dig deep and extract the emotions and thoughts aroused by the “despicable acts.” Much like any great leader, President Bush wanted to stress the importance of instilling a sense of pride and resilience in the country and fellow countrymen and women to come together and remain as one. As the head of the “brightest beacon of freedom and opportunity” President George W. Bush declares that the United States of America will “remain strong” and appear unaffected as the country continues to build and rebound from the senseless acts of terrorism and hate.

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567 Words | 3 Pages

The Patriot Act is one of today’s most controversial laws. The law’s official name is the USA PATRIOT Act, which stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act. The law was passed in 2001 after the September Eleventh terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The act greatly increased the power of the government in preventing terrorism, but it also increased the amount of surveillance that the government performs on citizens.

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953 Words | 4 Pages

The moment that the Twin Towers fell in New York, America became destined for change. In the wake of these attacks, the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 was quickly passed through congress, and signed by then-president, George W. Bush. The act itself gives the FBI and other government agencies the ability to do and use certain methods, many of which are already used by other law enforcement organizations, to help prevent future terrorist attacks. Since then, this piece of legislation has been the center of much debate and controversy. But, there is ample reason to believe that the Patriot Act is needed and effective.

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The wiretapping program is used to collect data that is transmitted on a network and allows the government to eavesdrop without a warrant. The use of this program is easy for the NSA to snoop and allows the government to eavesdrop without having to present a warrant. President George W. Bush had addressed this program as a crucial part to the National Security Agency, yet this announcement led to the wild growth of the NSA’s power. The NSA took advantage of the program and used it to spy on the conversations between foreign nationals, U.S. citizens, and international communications. However, curious of the program and questioning President Bush’s speech, a group from the U.S. senate decided to look into the situation.

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For instance, the Act allows government interception of personal communication through wiretapping and other means. This enables the government to intercept communication among terrorism suspects. Law enforcers can also intercept personal communications of innocent citizens and non-citizens. However, patriot act supporters argue that electronic surveillance of people suspected to be a threat to national security has been in practice long before the patriot act. Secret hearings, warrants, and wiretapping have been around since 1978, based on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance

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971 Words | 4 Pages

At the time of the attacks, president George W. Bush was visiting Emma Booker Elementary School. In Document A, Bush expresses in a speech almost immediately after the planes hit the towers a need to “conduct a full-scale investigation to hunt down and to find those folks who committed this act.” This reflects most of the nation’s attitude of entering the battle against terrorism as soon as the news spread of the awful incidents that had occurred. The focus of the general public was on punishing those who took part in the attack as well as the Taliban leaders who harbored these terrorists. This caused the Authorization for Use of Military Force, Document B, to be passed a week later, on September 18th.

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Now in today’s standards, you only have freedom of semi-privacy that the Patriot Act believes is non-threatening. By them monitoring your texts, emails, history along with things you look for in search engines you never truly free to say anything or look up anything you want. Also what followed after this act were the random abductions of people. They take the “random,” person and ship them to another country to loophole their laws of not permitting torturing someone in this country. Instead they hire other countries to do their dirty work.

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879 Words | 4 Pages

In other words, they are collecting a lot of data from our phone conversations, emails, and social networking communications every single day. As the article states, it says that when Congress passed the Patriot Act, it expanded federal officials’ powers to keep tabs on most of our personal information. Not only are they intercepting emails, but they are also tracking credit card use, cell phone call, and car travel. This may seem a bit invasive, but a survey shows that about ⅔ of Americans are willing to put up with the personal impositions in order to prevent

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887 Words | 4 Pages

When a tragedy occurs, networks such as FOX, CNN, and NBC immediately air coverage. This coverage alerts graphic designers and in turn, they begin creating logos. The network plasters the logo on everything: hats, t-shirts, and sweaters. The logo, for all intents, becomes the event. During national tragedies, the logo or advertisement can benefit victims by promoting awareness which lends to support.

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In the wake of 9/11 and the war in Iraq, the threat of terrorism in America reached a new high. In 2005 George W. Bush addressed concerns about the nation's policies concerning homeland security. The policy known as the “Patriot Act” was due to expire and Bush fought for the renewal of this policy with 4 specific reasons. Along with his own opinions he attempts to reinforce his proposition by merely using stories as evidence.

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“At least 42 terrorist attacks aimed at the United States have been thwarted since 9/11” (Reality). The majority of people know about the tragedy that happened on September 11th, 2001, but not that many people know about what came to be after the event; the Patriot Act. This act is the “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001” (Miller). The Patriot Act got put in place by the President and almost got a unanimous vote to pass it nearly ten days after. It was later used to take down many of the 42 attack plots.

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991 Words | 4 Pages

The USA PATRIOT Act, while effective in enhancing national security, has been criticized for its potential to violate individual privacy through warrantless surveillance and data collection. According to Nova Science Publishers' "Wasted Lessons of 9/11. U. S. House of Representatives," there have been instances of government overreach and abuse of power under the pretext of combating terrorism. Such actions have sparked debates about striking a balance between security and civil liberties, with some arguing that the erosion of individual freedoms undermines the very values that define American society. Moreover, the implementation of strict immigration policies and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have led to concerns about racial profiling and discrimination.

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1030 Words | 5 Pages

population about this policy are controversial and have been hot topics in the news ever since. Lastly, the fallout after 9/11 associating with the USA PATRIOT Act has brought Americans to become suspicious of their own government. They were completely unaware of the FBI’s database meant to spy on them and gather exceptionally personal information. The amount of focus people have placed upon their leaders has made the country more lawful and

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800 Words | 4 Pages

“Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.” George W. Bush delivered this speech on the night of the September 11 attacks. The shattered steel of the Twin Towers, once towering the New York City skyline, forever changed America and its response to terrorism. The largest foreign attack on U.S. soil appropriately gave reason to Americans to recoil in fear and lose trust in the future, but in reality, the country displayed the opposite reaction.

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