“Among the more than 600 people arrested in the F.B.I.’s investigation of the Sept. 11 attacks are followers of Al Qaeda and other extremist groups, but the authorities have refused to call the arrests a roundup. Privately, however, some senior law enforcement officials are saying the large number of arrests is part of Attorney General John Ashcroft’s strategy of using the law aggressively to lock up people suspected of planning further attacks.”
– David Johnston, “Detentions May Be Aimed At Deterring Other Attacks,” The New York Times, Oct. 14, 2001