The 'War on Terror' and the American Justice System

There's a report today that President Bush is willing to compromise on a bill expanding government power to spy on Americans without search warrants. It's the latest story about a program once shrouded in so much secrecy that high-level officials were willing to lie about whether their own lawyers thought it was legal. The outlines of the National Security Agency's program for eavesdropping without court orders are now well known. It's been reported that former Attorney General John Ashcroft refused to approve it, even when White House aides lobbied him in his hospital room. But the New York Times withheld publication for more than a year, because Bush Administration officials insisted it was vital to national security, and that Justice Department lawyers said it was okay. That's according to Bush's Law: The Remaking of American Justice, by Times investigative reporter Eric Lichblau.