On march 1st the new Department of Homeland Security, the product of the biggest reorganisation of the American government in 50 years, started work. But that change looks like mere bureaucratic reshuffling compared with the quieter, but far bolder, overhaul by the Bush administration of the government's powers of investigation, surveillance and arrest. The starting-point for the administration is simple and understandable. "We are in a war and we have to do things differently than we did before," John Ash-croft, the attorney-general, has explained. The war, against terrorism, requires not only the creation of new departments and reorganising the FBI, but also changes to most of the rules which govern what these authorities are allowed to do.
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