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Editorial: Committed to civil liberties The Buffalo (N.Y.) News June 13 The Justice Department misused its authority in the post-Sept. 11 roundup of illegal immigrants, according to a just released report. The Justice Department rejects the allegations even though the report was issued by no less an authority on the subject than its own inspector general. The department, acting aggressively after the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, "made little attempt to distinguish" between immigrants linked to terrorism and those with no connection, then jailed many of them under harsh conditions, according to the report by the inspector general, an independent, nonpartisan oversight office. This is the John Ashcroft Justice Department. The attorney general, by all accounts, was personally reinvigorated by the crucial and historic tasks of prosecuting terrorists and protecting the country from future attacks. The challenges were real, and the country required a forceful response to a threat that was no longer theoretical. Those buildings really did come down. Close to 3,000 people really did die. ... No one should doubt the magnitude of the task that faced the Justice Department in the weeks after 9/11, and that it continues to face. In the sum of all its aspects, this challenge is not only massive, but unique in human history. But so is the continuing political experiment of the United States, whose residents have a stake not just in rooting out the terrorists in our midst, but in ensuring that the country their children inherit has the same commitment to civil liberty. It doesn't seem too much to ask that their attorney general have that same commitment, even in waging a vigorous and necessary fight against terrorism. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -