Effective and Practical Counter-Terrorism Measures (Ron Paul 10/15/2001)

RON PAUL LIBRARY (ARCHIVES) ^ | 21 OCTOBER 2001 | CONGRESSMAN RON PAUL

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

TEXAS STRAIGHT TALK BY RON PAUL

Over the past month I have introduced several bills designed to address terrorism and make Americans feel more secure. While many counter-terrorism proposals were considered in Congress last week, my belief is that the most effective steps we can take do not infringe upon the civil liberties of American citizens. In fact, I believe only a free society can ever be truly secure. The goal should be to make terrorists feel threatened, not the American people.

Here are some concrete steps Congress can take immediately to make our borders, our cities, and our skies more secure:

• Arm Pilots: It is unthinkable to leave pilots defenseless in the cockpit after the events of September 11th. We trust pilots to operate multimillion dollar machines filled with human cargo, yet incredibly we do not trust them with firearms. While airport security certainly can be strengthened, pilots must have the choice to carry weapons as a last line of defense against future hijacking attempts.

• Immigration Restrictions: Common sense tells us that we should not currently be admitting aliens from nations that sponsor or harbor terrorists. Remember, only U.S. citizens have constitutional rights; non-citizens are in the country at the discretion of the State department. While we should generally welcome people from around the world whenever possible, we cannot allow potential enemies or terrorists to enter the country now under any circumstances. My legislation would restrict immigration, including the granting of student visas, by individuals from nations listed as terrorist threats by the State department.

• Better intelligence gathering: Burdensome regulations and bureaucratic turf wars hamper the ability of federal law enforcement personnel to share information about terrorists. My proposal would slash regulations and make sure the CIA, FBI, State department, Justice department, and military work together to coordinate anti-terrorism efforts.

• Harsher criminal penalties for terrorists: The federal statute of limitations for terrorist offenses should be eliminated, so that suspects can never breathe easy even 10 or 20 years from now. Jail sentences and penalties should be increased, and the death penalty should be possible for many offenses. Terrorist attempts and conspiracies should be treated as harshly as completed acts.

• Letters of marque and reprisal: This constitutional tool can be used to give President Bush another weapon in the war on terrorism. Congress can issue letters of marque against terrorists and their property that authorize the President to name private sources who can capture or kill our enemies. This method works in conjunction with our military efforts, creating an incentive for people on the ground close to Bin Laden to kill or capture him and his associates. Letters of marque are especially suited to the current war on terrorism, which will be fought against individuals who can melt into the civilian population or hide in remote areas. The goal is to avail ourselves of the intelligence of private parties, who may stand a better chance of finding Bin Laden than we do through a conventional military invasion. Letters of marque also may help us avoid a wider war with Afghanistan or other Middle Eastern nations.

• End legal preferences for terrorist suspects: Congress should clarify all federal criminal statutes to insure that so-called "extralegal" preferences for criminal terrorist suspects are eliminated. In some past terrorist investigations, federal rules have been interpreted to require law enforcement to show something more than standard probable cause to obtain warrants. Law enforcement officials should never have to demonstrate anything more than standard probable cause when seeking a warrant in the war on terrorism.

[Petronski]

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

PAUL PING

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

My pic of Washington crossing the Delaware trumps your Thorazine!

[Petronski]

The Thorozine is L.Ron’s and YOUR picture is off topic.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

The Thorazine is a photo-shopped work of fiction. Washington did cross the Delaware my man! ROFL

[Petronski]

Yes, but the Thorazine is directly on point, while The Crossing has nothing to do with the topic.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

So do you disagree with the article posted or are you just going to discuss which .JPEG is more worthy of debate?

[JTN]

[JTN]

Letters of marque and reprisal: This constitutional tool can be used to give President Bush another weapon in the war on terrorism. Congress can issue letters of marque against terrorists and their property that authorize the President to name private sources who can capture or kill our enemies. This method works in conjunction with our military efforts, creating an incentive for people on the ground close to Bin Laden to kill or capture him and his associates. Letters of marque are especially suited to the current war on terrorism, which will be fought against individuals who can melt into the civilian population or hide in remote areas. The goal is to avail ourselves of the intelligence of private parties, who may stand a better chance of finding Bin Laden than we do through a conventional military invasion. Letters of marque also may help us avoid a wider war with Afghanistan or other Middle Eastern nations.

[lfrancis]

Sounds like a loon. “Immigration restrictions” that’s crazy talk.

[George W. Bush]

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Pingeroo!

[JTN]

Sounds like a loon. “Immigration restrictions” that’s crazy talk.

And that stuff about, "Harsher criminal penalties for terrorists"? This guy's the Lyndon Larouche of the right.

[George W. Bush]

End legal preferences for terrorist suspects: Congress should clarify all federal criminal statutes to insure that so-called "extralegal" preferences for criminal terrorist suspects are eliminated. In some past terrorist investigations, federal rules have been interpreted to require law enforcement to show something more than standard probable cause to obtain warrants. Law enforcement officials should never have to demonstrate anything more than standard probable cause when seeking a warrant in the war on terrorism.

Ron Paul is exactly correct on this matter regardless of how you view the occupation of Iraq and its outcome. The bar for investigating and prosecuting terrorists in this country should never be set higher than for ordinary domestic mass murderers. The current law places the government at a disadvantage when prosecuting these mass murderers.

Similarly, the provisions for letters of marque and reprisal are more fitting in this current action in the Mideast because we have never before employed such a huge mercenary force in our history. Current estimates of total forces in Iraq alone are over 300,000. So we certainly are using mercenary forces very widely. While I have no objection to using armed civilians to support our troops, escort their supplies or provide other security, I do think the president should have the option to employ such persons directly to fulfill specific military missions legally.

My expectation is that we are likely to see some incident embarrassing or damaging to the Bush administration prior to 2009 because these methods were not authorized and used.

[CJ Wolf]

Nice Graphic! ;-)

[CJ Wolf]

But what about shrimp? lol

[rineaux]

Great Shot!

[rineaux]

Thanks for the ping.

Immigration idea makes way to much sense. Congress prefers the open gate policy on immigration like the one we share with Mexico.

[padre35]

I’ve gotta agree with you there, a painting of Washington destroys some hackish poster fro Thorizine any day of the week.

Funny, one would think that instead of a picture like that a picture of ....well....he is a smart man..he’ll figure it out...

[jmeagan]

****So do you disagree with the article posted or are you just going to discuss which .JPEG is more worthy of debate?***

As usual, Ron Paul’s ideas make a lot of sense. The only thing I see wrong with it is that we should be denying visas and student visas from any Islamic country at the present time. Saudi Arabia is not considered a terrorist country, but most of the 9/11 people came from there.