On September 11, 2001, the United States began to consider the terrorist threat in a new light. Terrorism was
no longer something that happened in other countries on other continents but became a pressing domestic concern
for the US government and American citizens. The nation suddenly faced a protracted struggle.
In Terrorism, Freedom, and Security, Philip Heymann continues the discussion of responses to terrorism that he
began in his widely read Terrorism and America. He argues that diplomacy, intelligence, and international law should
play a larger role than military action in our counterterrorism policy; instead of waging "war" against
terrorism, the United States needs a broader range of policies. Heymann believes that many of the policies adopted
since September 11 -- including trials before military tribunals, secret detentions, and the subcontracting of
interrogation to countries where torture is routine -- are at odds with American political and legal traditions
and create disturbing precedents. Americans should not be expected to accept apparently indefinite infringements
on civil liberties and the abandonment of such constitutional principles as separation of powers and the rule of
law. Heymann believes that the United States can guard against the continuing threat of terrorism while keeping
its traditional democratic values in place.