Posted on: Thursday, January 2, 2003

EDITORIAL
Congress must define limits on terrorism war

An early order of business for Congress when it convenes later this month will be a full and thorough review of the changes that have occurred in the landscape of criminal justice and civil liberties.

The war on terrorism — a new fight under new conditions for all of us — has seen the creation of what might be called a parallel legal universe where national security is concerned.

As The Washington Post pointed out in a recent editorial, the government can make use of regular criminal surveillance or a more shadowy surveillance normally reserved for foreign intelligence. It can try suspects in its choice of venues, from regular criminal courts to military tribunals. If it designates a suspect as an enemy fighter, it can choose not to hold a trial at all.

The debate over all this has not been particularly instructive. The administration, particularly Attorney General John Ashcroft, sometimes appears to believe that there is nothing to discuss. Civil libertarians sometimes use rhetoric that suggests that legal world has come to an end.

It must be the role of Congress to sort this out in a calm, thorough way. The war on terrorism is a new ball game, and new rules must be developed. But the Bill of Rights and the American system of justice are not something that can be set aside by executive whim.

Congress has an obligation to define what the law will be — even new law for a new era. It cannot passively cede these decisions to others.