the involvement of Saddam Hussein’s government in international
terrorism. The fears associated with Saddam’s weapons of mass destruc-
tion, observed Mueller, were “based more on selective perception,
willful deception, and self-induced hysteria than on evidence.”^34 From
the very start, the invasion of Iraq, which was not approved by the
Security Council, was denounced as a violation of the UN Charter.
Contesting the doctrine of pre-emptive war, progressives presented
this military operation as a maneuver to boost US control over the
resources and populations of the Middle East. Far from enhancing
democracy in Iraq, they contended, American policy plunged the
country into a brutal civil war that could result in its disintegration.
Finally, the left also denounced the war in Iraq as an immoral waste
of resources and viewed as the ultimate irony the fact that the number
of Americans killed in Iraq surpassed the number of victims of the
9/11 attacks.
In the domestic arena, human rights groups emphasized the need
to bring the fight against terrorism back within the ambit of the rule of
law and civil liberties.^35 To do otherwise could only set democratic
regimes on the road to authoritarianism and serve the terrorists’ ends.
Hence, in the United States, the 2001 Patriot Act was repeatedly
denounced for having been passed “with no discussion, debate or
hearings.”^36 Since the adoption of this controversial law, the oppo-
sition to anti-terrorist measures has only intensified, in large part
because the FBI has been unable to identify a single sleeper cell of
Al-Qaida in the country. In Great Britain, the country’s highest court
gave cause to critics when it ruled that parts of the Anti-Terrorism,
Crime, and Security Act of 2001 violated European human rights
legislation. One of the judges stated bluntly: “The real threat to the
life of the nation, in the sense of a people living in accordance with its
traditional laws and political values, comes not from terrorism but
from laws such as these.”^37 In a number of countries, the left has
(^34) Mueller, “Terrorism, Overreaction, and Globalization,” p. 67.
(^35) S. Neil MacFarlane and Yuen Foong Khong,Human Security: A Critical
36 History, Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 2006, p. 254.
37 Neack,Elusive Security, p. 59.
House of Lords,Opinions of the Lords of Appeal for Judgment in the Cause
“A(FC)and others(FC)(Appellants)v.Secretary of State for the Home
Department(Respondent);X(FC)and another(FC)(Appellants)v.Secretary
of State for the Home Department(Respondent)”, London, UKHL 56,
December 16, 2004, p. 53.
The core currency of political exchange 209