New focus stirs fears of civil abuses

Washington -- Few could fault the FBI for spending less energy chasing Bonnie and Clyde and more thwarting Osama bin Laden. To those most concerned with another terrorist attack, enhanced undercover operations, wiretaps and intelligence gathering are a rational and long-overdue response to 21st century threats.

Yet as the agency transforms itself from a pursuer of bank robbers into a domestic intelligence organization, others worry that national security will inevitably be confused with political dissent. To them, the FBI's reorganization announced Wednesday conjures up disturbing memories of J. Edgar Hoover's single-minded focus on communism, his penchant for domestic spying, and thick dossiers on political enemies.

As the public applauds the increased surveillance directed at would-be hijackers and suicide bombers, some warn that the FBI's wide net might also ensnare campus radicals, environmental extremists and scores of others on the political fringes.