John Ashcroft came to Cornell at the invitation of the Cornell Republicans.

But if he didn't know beforehand, the heavy visible presence of the Cornell police and a warning to the audience about acceptable behavior on campus before his talk Nov. 29 were good indications that his Statler Auditorium audience might not be entirely friendly.

So the former U.S. attorney general (under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005), Missouri governor and U.S. senator began his address with levity. "I've lost elections in three of the last four decades," he said, modestly dismissing a glowing introduction. To cheers from the audience, he added: "And I assume some of you are not applauding my persistence."

Still, Ashcroft drew as many supporters as protesters to his speech, which he called "an opportunity to discuss and think about a new paradigm of peril which has descended across the world."

He addressed controversial policy changes enacted after Sept. 11, 2001, including the Patriot Act, warrantless wiretapping and the Guantánamo Bay detention facility, arguing that the terrorist attacks made major changes necessary. "If you don't like what you're getting, you should change what you're doing," he said. "I didn't like what we were getting."

With highly lethal and portable weapons, today's enemies are more dangerous, since people could carry "evil biology or evil chemistry into an airport" ... and the population could become "a transportation system that propagates its own destruction," he said.

After the 9/11 attacks, Ashcroft recalled, he instructed the Department of Justice to think outside the box but never outside the Constitution.

And many of the controversial provisions of the Patriot Act, Ashcroft said, such as authorizing roving wiretaps, have been in place to fight organized crime since the 1980s, but law enforcement agencies require more access to information now to prevent future attacks.

"Some people talk about a balance between freedom and security," he said. "I don't think there is any value that can be balanced against liberty."

His speech was intermittently interrupted by applause, shouted questions and a whistle. Some audience members donned black hoods and turned their backs to Ashcroft. Many walked out. "I'm not sure what you guys would like for me to do," Ashcroft said during one interruption. "Keep going," someone called.

Asked about Guantánamo, Ashcroft said he had no qualms about holding prisoners there indefinitely without trial because it prevents them from re-entering the battle. "I find it to be commendable -- not just because I have a son who just came back from two tours in the Middle East -- that our people didn't say, when someone had a gun and was captured in the battlefield, 'Give it back and take another shot at Ashcroft's boy.'"

He paused. "Maybe your son," he said. "Not mine."

In the end, the audience, diminished by walkouts, was no less split than in the beginning. Of those remaining, some gave Ashcroft a standing ovation. Others gathered their things and filed out.

"He had a very good tactic of staying general, of not getting into specifics," said Khullat Munir '09, president of Cornell's Islamic Alliance for Justice. And Ahmed Abdelwahab '09 added that Ashcroft never mentioned the deaths of innocent civilians in Iraq.

"I think the students who were willing to listen enjoyed his sense of humor and enjoyed getting to listen to an intelligent viewpoint not normally heard on this campus," said Ahmed Salem '08, chair of the Cornell College Republicans, declaring the visit a success.

"Republicans are generally portrayed as warmongering, liberty-hating zealots, and we're not," Salem added. "We're people -- we share different viewpoints, but we honestly believe this is the best way to serve our country."