‘Science Under Siege’

Throughout the Bush administration, the president’s policies have been criticized by many scientists. On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union issued a new and harsh analysis of those policies.

“Science Under Siege” says that the administration has used the attacks of September 11 to undermine the rights of researchers. “Spurred by misguided and often disingenuous security concerns, the Bush administration has sought to impose growing restrictions on the free flow of scientific information, unreasonable barriers to the use of scientific materials, and increased monitoring of and restrictions on foreign university students,” the report says.

The report says that there is no debate about the fact that there is some information that is so potentially dangerous that it shouldn’t be widely circulated, and that there are some terrorists who need to be kept out of the United States. But the report says that the Bush administration has gone way beyond reasonable measures — and that in doing so, the president is endangering security.