Slight imbalance

If this is the sort of balance FBI director Robert Mueller was referring to when delivering his speech on “The Balance of National Security and Civil Liberties” at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, then the logic of the entire Bush administration makes sense. Even as Mueller stood in front of attendees praising the American freedom that allowed four students to heckle him, the four were being arrested for doing so.

Briefly interrupted by the students’ calls of “Close Guantanamo, stop the lies,” Mueller’s speech focused on the FBI’s need to access information normally considered private, and warned of al-Qaeda cells operating “in our own neighbourhoods.” Quickly hustled out of the auditorium by Harvard University Police, the hecklers were cuffed and carted to jail. Another student was threatened with the same treatment for talking to them. Past protesters have been escorted out, but never arrested.

“It’s just sad that this is how the FBI responds to such situations,” said one witness. “It’s telling of how they respond to situations around the world.”

Rather fittingly, Mueller’s message stressed that the FBI’s effectiveness in keeping America safe “depends in large part on the American people’s ability to trust us.”

by SCOTT SAXON