Why surveil alleged "Terrorists" when you can detain and torture them

President George W. Bush and his administration, including Attorney Alberto Gonzales, have made every argument in favor of essentially unrestricted right to detain suspected terrorists and even to torture them in order to extricate information from them.

So, why does the same team need to surveil the communications of alleged terrorists? Already, suspects can be taken to Guantanomo or put on secret aircraft and flown to Uzbekistan or Syria and tortured into making almost any confession the government wants them to make. So, why delay the unraveling of truth by waiting for them to make more phones calls, which may or may not happen and may or may not yield productive results?

Something is "fishy" in this logic. Could it be that the U.S. Government is not only surveiling those with connections to foreign terrorists, but is surveiling the entire population of the U.S.? Could it be that Bush/Gonzales are trawling for prospective domestic opponents of his regime? Could it be that the definition of the word "terrorist" is being stretched to include dissidents? Could it be that Bush is laying the groundwork for detaining large numbers of domestic dissidents (persons of conscience) under the guise of seeking foreign terrorists?

One thing we know for certain — Bush lies and lies. If Bush is explaining something, he is seeking to deceive; it is really that simple. Bush is NEVER overtly honest. Alberto Gonzeles comes across as sincere, in the most sordid context imaginable. Gonzales is as sincere as Josef Goebbels and Heinrich Himmler were, and with the same love of truth and democracy.

Fascists require power and obtaining power often requires deception. We already know that Bush has lied to the American people regarding the scope of NSA snooping. American citizens, such as Quaker pacifists are being surveiled for instance. These people have no foreign connections or contacts.

Step by step we see democracy being uprooted like an unwanted weed and the preparation for fascism, for a police state in America. The Congress is largely complicit. The media is supportive. The public is apathetic. By the time apathy is reversed, there may be little opportunity to restore what was lost without massive effort and pain.