ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION In the more than a decade since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States, a number of ethical issues associated with combating terrorism have come to the forefront of a national discussion on how to respond. In this essay, we will examine some of the more compelling issues that arose during the course of the last decade. Probably, the most important one has to do with the issue of balancing public safety, i.e., the protection of the American people, with a continuing respect for their civil liberties. Following the terrorist attacks in 2001, our society was faced with some difficult questions: how do we protect ourselves from terrorism? What tactics should we use? Will these tactics compromise our rights?
