Are We Safer
Than We Were before 9/11/2001?
By Siddique Malik
Louisville, KY
smalik9496@gmail.com
The
above question is a simple one but Washington’s
incessant political exploitation of the 9/11 tragedy
has ensured that no answer to it will sound simple.
Too many issues have been amalgamated with terrorism,
impeding the efforts to beat it. This superimposition
is not without a motive. It suits those politicians
(both in and outside the echelons of power) who
have no ability and/or intention to genuinely
excite masses on many other solid issues such
as economy, education, inner city problems, child
abuse, environment, world peace, the Middle East
conundrum, world trade, nuclear proliferation,
spreading freedom worldwide, etc.
Turmoil and confusion help the rogue states and
entities, too. They love it when the leader of
the free world does not seem to fathom the difference
between handling terrorism and launching an unnecessary
and unplanned war. This energizes them to pursue
their own agendas. It’s not a coincidence
that while America’s leadership is consumed
by the “war on terrorism” which, by
the way, has become a convenient cover for our
government’s all shortcomings (in the areas
of domestic issues as well as foreign policy),
North Korea is testing missiles, Iran is defiantly
enriching uranium, and many young Muslim men (most
of whom are born and raised in the West) are desperate
to kill and die.
This doesn’t make you feel very safe, does
it?
Let’s face it: Washington has given too
much ‘”credit’’ to terrorists.
Terrorists are like a bunch of die-hard criminals,
and we can deal with them without dispatching
rendition flights or diluting our commitment to
freedom and privacy. Societies have dealt with
crime since time immemorial. Many centuries ago,
the solution to all crimes was simple because
the concept of due process did not exist. Power
was dynastic and controlled by those who could
suppress and brutalize the masses. The word of
those who were in power was the unquestionable
law (it may be called a sort of forerunner of
today’s excessive use of the signing statements).
However, in this time and age, crime must be handled
in a sophisticated way, with emphasis on the concept
of “due process”; otherwise, the result
will be disastrous.
Today, if you complain about warrant-less wiretappings,
incarcerations without a charge, erosion of judicial
oversights, etc., you are accused of being an
al-Qaeda supporter. Voting against certain candidates
brings the same accusation. Criticizing government’s
foreign policy is labeled as comforting the enemy.
What happened to the people’s right to be
the ultimate sovereign of their country? What
happened to the aphorism: people are never wrong?
Yes, we are far from becoming a full tyranny but
as Justice Sandra day O’Connor said in a
speech she made after retiring from the Supreme
Court, we should not even take one step on this
degenerative path.
Giving the law enforcement agencies’ certain
new tools on which no judicial oversight exists
will actually hamper the agencies’ ability
to foil terrorism. It will cause them to grab
the wrong guy while the terrorists roam free.
On the other hand, if they know that they must
look for evidence that will withstand tough judicial
scrutiny, they will most likely nab the real terrorist,
not someone who simply has certain accent, complexion
or features. This judicial corner-cutting is not
reassuring in terms of our safety and security.
Terrorists are like dangerous mosquitoes. We should
use plenty of repellants but if they still manage
to come near us, they should be squashed. But
in this mode of heightened alertness, let us not
start burning our parks and forests with a view
to eliminating such mosquitoes. “War on
terrorism” is a misnomer. Efforts to foil
and detect terrorism and seize its potential perpetrators
fall within the domain of law enforcement activity;
it cannot be a war. Let us not erode our civil
liberties and our commitment to due process.
Five years after the fateful morning of 9/11/2001,
America is less safe. Not only, we have more enemies
ready to die while trying to hurt us (thanks to
our short-sighted and emotionally motivated foreign
policy goals), and rogue regimes feel emboldened
because of our Iraq predicament, our law enforcement
agencies have been thrown on a declivitous path
to incompetence.
Does this situation not make you feel less safe
than you felt before 9/11? The American voters
must answer this question in their hearts and
minds, regardless of how many times our president
utters the name of terrorists’ inspiration,
Osama bin-Laden. The voters must inflict electoral
punishment on those - Republicans, Democrats or
“independents” – who in the
voters’ opinion have made America less safe
by exploiting the issue of terrorism.
It’s time for the sovereign to fire its
manipulative and incompetent servants, and help
trigger serious efforts to uproot terrorism. It’s
time to restore the concept of “due process”,
not weaken it further, as President Bush wishes.
This concept is the backbone of a civilized society
and a guarantee of the competence of its law-enforcement
agencies.
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