No Shortcuts to Freedom

December 2001

What is to become of Afghanistan? Can the bombing give way to a freer, more representative government? Might the country shed the oppressive Taliban while avoiding becoming a client state? Will the US have the sense to fight this “different kind of war” with desperately needed food and relief supplies? Will Washington recognize that lasting economic justice is a more potent weapon in fighting terrorism’s roots than any military action?

We can hope so, even though the US track record of toppling and installing governments in foreign lands is checkered at best. Latin America, southeast Asia, the Middle East, and even Afghanistan itself have all seen US weaponry used to support regimes serving narrow political interests, not the rights and aspirations of the native peoples.

Perhaps, though, the end of Cold War will allow longer-term thinking. Despite its shortcomings, the US remains powerfully appealing to much of the developing world. And it is not Disneyland nor the Hollywood lifestyle that is at the core of America’s appeal. Instead, it is our freedoms that inspire so many around the globe. The right to speak ones mind, to assemble with like-minded people in churches or union halls, to expect a fair trial if accused of a crime, to not be defined by ones ethnicity or sex, to protest government policies, to keep the fruits of ones own hard work these are the freedoms that define America at its best. If America can be seen as an exporter of these freedoms, instead of weapons aimed at military “solutions,” we can forestall resentments that fester into terrorist violence.

Indeed, our civil liberties are our greatest asset in the struggle for justice, the prerequisite to lasting peace. Those who suggest that the Bill of Rights is an impediment in the current conflict are, thus, horribly short-sighted. The President, the Attorney General, and the Congress portray civil liberties as niceties we cannot afford in the battle against “evil.” They could not be more wrong.

Already, sweeping and chilling assaults have been made on Constitutional freedoms. We are told that we must all give up expectations of Internet privacy. That the government should get a copy of every email you send. That police need to conduct roving wiretaps of any phones they think might by used by terrorists. That “truth serum” may be forced into the veins of suspects. That torture could be part of interrogations. That people are to be imprisoned without any charges being brought. That the government now eavesdrops on client/attorney conversations. And, most recently, that some suspects will be tried not in front of a jury, but instead at military tribunals, wherein secret evidence is heard at secret proceedings with secret outcomes.

Though we are re-assured that freedoms are being abridged only to fight terrorism, history teaches that the erosion of civil liberties cannot be easily contained. If unconstitutional police practices are endorsed under the guise of national security, why not to catch “drug lords,” or “child pornographers”? Indeed, why should any suspected criminal be able to “hide behind the Constitution”?

But our wonderful Bill of Rights understands the paramount utility of civil liberties in protecting us all from a police state. By undermining the constitutional foundation that gives government its legitimacy, those who trash civil liberties in a mad rush for revenge are themselves far greater threats to America than any terrorist.

Citizens who value America’s true strength will insist that we not curtail civil liberties for the today-despised. Instead, we must defend and promote freedom and protection from government tyranny. By re-dedicating ourselves to the ideals upon which our nation was founded, we do more than foil today’s attempt to have us self-destruct we build a country that more of the world’s people will embrace rather than hate.

Pasted from <http://guidemag.com/magcontent/invokemagcontent.cfm?ID=6AAF4FF8-ADA6-41F3-8EA87D40795E1C0C>