The federal government has attempted to stonewall the public's right to know, and SLDN is aggressively challenging its decisions. The Bush administration consistently tells the public that surveillance is conducted only on terrorists and Americans communicating with terrorists; yet information obtained by credible media sources indicates that it is also spying on groups that support civil rights, animal rights and the environment. To suggest those groups are terrorists is an act of modern day McCarthyism.

C. Dixon Osburn