Speaking to the International
Association of the Chiefs of Police, Chertoff said that the
internet is a vital tool for people training to make terrorist
attacks, according to the Reuters news agency.
"We now have a capability of someone to radicalise themselves
over the internet," Chertoff said. "They can train themselves over
the internet; they never have to necessarily go to the training
camp or speak with anybody else."
US President George Bush's government is conducting a wiretap
programme gathering information about US residents' phone and
internet use without court-issued warrants. The programme is the
subject of several law suits, some of which claim that wiretap
activity without warrants is illegal.
In August a judge in Michigan ruled that the programme was
illegal and halted it, but the Bush government won an appeal which
allows it to continue the programme while an appeal on the whole
case is pending.
Chertoff's claims about the use of the internet within the US
appear to back the wiretap programme. "The diffusion of a
combination of hatred and technical skills in things like
bomb-making is a dangerous combination," Chertoff said. "Those are
the kind of terrorists that we may not be able to detect with spies
and satellites."
Chertoff used last summer's attacks in London as an example of a
domestic terrorist threat and said that his department would send
20 field agents into the US to work with local police forces to
combat domestic terrorism.
Disclaimer: We hope you find OUT-LAW’s content useful. It’s prepared by the lawyers at Pinsent Masons. Please remember, though, that it’s intended as general information only. It’s not legal advice. If that’s what you’re seeking, please
contact us. See also: our
full disclaimer
