US-Justizminister trommelt für Antiterrorgesetz

--- John Ashcroft findet nur Löbliches am PATRIOT-Act, dem wichtigsten amerikanischen Antiterrorgesetz, das den Sicherheitsbehörden stark erweiterte Befugnisse gebracht hat. Seinen Spin hat er in einem Erfolgsbericht zusammengefasst, den die LA Times sehr kritisch sieht: The upbeat analysis, titled "Report From the Field: The USA Patriot Act at Work," is part of a campaign by the Justice Department and House Republicans to shore up support for the controversial law, which narrowly survived an assault on some of its provisions in Congress last week. "The report that we are releasing today provides a mountain of evidence that the Patriot Act continues to save lives," Ashcroft said at a news conference on Capitol Hill. Ashcroft said the report, which is not required under the act, was compiled at the request of members of Congress from both parties. But some House and Senate Democrats assailed the analysis as one-sided and misleading, saying it failed to address the most contentious provisions of the law and perpetrated myths about the department's terrorism-fighting record. "This report is more of John Ashcroft's doubletalk on the Patriot Act," said Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. The American Civil Liberties Union, which has challenged portions of the Patriot Act in court, branded the report part of a "public relations" campaign by the Bush administration.