Former US Attorney General John Ashcroft says America must stay vigilant in the war on terror. Terrorism was the dominate issue John Ashcroft faced as Attorney General during the first term of President George W. Bush. Ashcroft says though no further terrorist attacks have come on American soil since 2001, the nation cannot afford to become complacent. He notes terrorists adapt to law enforcement tactics, making it difficult to stop them. Ashcroft says terrorists should not be underestimated; that though they might have warped ideas, they often are very smart, many with college educations. Efforts to thwart terrorism have sparked, at times, heated debate in Congress. Ashcroft doesn’t see that as necessarily a break with the unity the nation display after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. on September 11 of 2001. He points out that 89 out of 100 Senators approved reauthorization of the Patriot Act amid much heated rhetoric about its alleged abuse of civil liberties. Ashcroft says the public can play a role, by staying alert and being cooperative with measures to combat terrorism. Ashcroft became Attorney General after losing his bid for re-election to the US Senate in 2000. He served as Missouri’s governor from 1985 to 1993.
