Under this plan, the Senate could then declare a post-attack state of emergency including a suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, as happened during the American civil war as long as it did so with an escalating majority every two months.

ECONOMIST: Civil liberties

Its story is a primer of American history Indian treaties, conflicts with Britain, the Civil War, the industrial age, the ad age, two world wars, one cold war, environmentalism, globalism.

NPR: Excerpt: 'Inventing Niagara'

The American Civil Liberties Union is disturbed by the congressional efforts to treat terrorism as an act of war.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Americans tend to avoid some bits of their past notably what they did to the American Indians but they have managed to cast most of their history, including the civil war, as part of their struggle for freedom.

ECONOMIST: Who has been lying about whose age?

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) A most-wanted American jihadi in Somalia said Friday that the leader of Islamic extremist rebels in Somali was starting a civil war, just hours after an assassination attempt left the Alabama native with a neck wound.

NPR: American Jihadi In Somalia Tweets On Kill Attempt