John Ashcroft, the attorney genneral

Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik and Foreign Minister Jan Petersen (met with) an extremist when they (met) U.S. Attorney Gen. John Ashcroft (on Monday). They (met) a man whose ideas and position of power are a threat to the rule of law and our liberal, democratic traditions.

As attorney general, John Ashcroft got the Patriot Act passed, giving police and prosecution dramatically increased powers. Under him, the U.S. has created secret military tribunals. Ashcroft even tried to recruit millions of Americans for a national system for reporting suspicious and potentially terror related activities. ...

The terror attacks of Sept. 11 allowed Ashcroft to play on fear, making it possible to cross freedoms and rights that have been fought for centuries. It is that fear that resulted in just one member of Congress voting against the Patriot Act. Fear is Ashcroft and the Bush administration's ultimate argument ...

That fear undermines the strongest weapon we have in the battle against international terrorism and its ideas: the rule of law and the liberal democracy.

-- Dagbladet, Oslo, Norway