Pros And Cons Of National Security

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National Security and Violations of Civil Liberties

National security has been a hot button topic issue for over a decade. After 9/11 President bush rolled out the Homeland Security Act and the USA PATRIOT Act. Part of the USA PATRIOT Act includes allowances for the NSA to surveil and collect data on American citizens. This issue gained notoriety and national attention when Edward Snowden came forward with information about how the NSA was collecting information from Verizon everyday on phone numbers in the U.S. and out. The issue here is whether or the NSA should be allowed to surveil and collect data on United State citizens. People who uphold the pro side of this argument believe that the NSA should and has the right to monitor …show more content…

Sales statement that “ Patriot Act helps prevent terrorism” is vague he doesn 't say by how much these policies decrease or prevent terrorism when looking at the data it does not support that there is any practical significance that these policies prevent terrorism.
Second Sale states that these policies “ simply lets counterterrorism agents use tools that police officers have used for decades”. There are several problems with this statement. The use of his word “simply” oversimplifies the issue and downplays the importance of the topic. The comparison is vague Sale lacks pertinent information as to the differences in the policy that requires a warrants for police officers and no warrant just “good faith belief that information should be disclosed” for counterterrorist agents to gain phone records and …show more content…

I would like to be safe and have all those I love to be safe too. I believe this could potentially leave me open to the error in logic of wishful thinking in believing that these policies will keep me safe. The source I chose to evaluate was Nathan A. Sales he is a lawyer from George Mason University School of Law. He worked at the Justice Department, he helped write the Patriot Act, he also worked deputy assistant secretary of homeland security.
In an article written for the NEW YORK TIMES entitled The Patriot Act Is a Vital Weapon in Fighting Terrorism, Sales makes the

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