Now serving: freedom! Freedom fries, freedom toast. Freedom is hardwired into the definition of what it means to be American. The war on terrorism and the impending war on Iraq have been cast as crusades for freedom. But will the Bill of Rights be the first casualty of war?

• Civil liberties experts say nothing in the USA Patriot Act prevents U.S. authorities from treating American citizens in the same ways they are currently treating foreign nationals in Guantanamo military brigs.
  
  
• American citizens currently in Baghdad to “shield” civilians from U.S. bombing will be tried as “war criminals,” says Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld..
  
  

On the home turf, the Bush administration is launching a barrage of legal changes that scholars say undermine our basic, and most cherished, rights and liberties. Draft language of the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, or Patriot Act II, would make more than 100 changes to the law, including:

• Authorization of secret arrests of legal residents and citizens alike.
  
  
• The stripping of citizenship from Americans for engaging in constitutionally protected activities.
  
  
• Extradition of U.S. citizens to countries with no extradition treaties, like Saudi Arabia, Libya and China.
  
  
• Abolition of consent decrees that prevent law enforcement from spying on individuals.
  
  

It would be sadly ironic, say critics, were the U.S. to join the ranks of countries like Iraq, China and Saudi Arabia that it has long condemned for abusing basic rights and freedoms. What's the proper balance between privacy rights, constitutional freedoms, international law and national security? Can we be both safe and free?