An executive order made by President Reagan, which ostensibly allows
spying on foreigners, is
used
today mainly to collect data about Americans.
The article repeats the absurd nostrum that terrorists such as al
Qa'ida threatened the existence of the US. This is a ridiculous
exaggeration — what they could directly do was too small to
eliminate the US, and the only way they could do great harm was if the
US reacted self-destructively (which it did). Since this ridiculous
exaggeration was the excuse for Dubya's attacks on US human rights,
and on Iraq, we must not let it pass as true. We must refute it even
when someone else mentions it only in passing.
President Reagan other horrible things. He betrayed his country by
supplying weapons to terrorists as ransom for the hostages they had
taken. He attacked the non-rich, setting the US on the path towards
today's plutocracy and expanding poverty.