"What the caterpillar calls the end of life, wise men call a butterfly."

Supreme Court Allows Secrecy for 9/11 Detainees

Mon Jan 12,11:47 PM ET

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Bush administration to keep secret the names and other basic details about hundreds of foreigners detained after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Without comment, the top court refused to hear an appeal by civil liberties and other groups challenging the secret arrests and detentions for violating the Freedom of Information Act and constitutional free-speech rights under the First Amendment.

The justices let stand a U.S. appeals court ruling that disclosing the names could harm national security and help "al Qaeda in plotting future terrorist attacks or intimidating witnesses in the present investigation."

Although the high court stayed out of the dispute about whether the government must release information about those detained, it has agreed to hear other cases arising from the administration's war on terror.

A (net)friend of mine had this to say about how he feels, "It seems to me (at the risk of sounding strident, paranoid, or Chicken-Little-ish) that this, more than anything that's come before, marks the end of The United States as I was raised to believe in it. I still love my country but I now actively fear my government."