John Ashcroft

In this viewpoint U.S. attorney general John Ashcroft claims that the U.S. government has begun to reduce the threat of terrorism. While Ashcroft acknowledges that terrorism remains a problem, he contends that the coordinated efforts of the Justice Department, law enforcement, and the intelligence community have led to important gains in the war against terrorism, such as the capture or death of senior operatives in the al-Qaeda terrorist organization, the identification of hundreds of suspected terrorists throughout the United States, and the dismantling of the terrorist financial network. Ashcroft asserts that these successes send a message to terrorists that they will be tracked down and brought to justice. This speech was delivered at a Justice Department terrorism roundtable on June 4, 2003.

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