Is the war on terror or liberty?

The war on terror has turned
into a war on life and liberty. Worse than the provisions of the Patriot Act is
the fact that the president of the United States can now kill anyone in the
world without any formal charges and without a trial.

This was made manifest last
year with the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, a New Mexico-born U.S. citizen living
in Yemen. He was alleged to have been involved with terrorists, but he was
never charged or tried. The president ordered him killed and it was done.

Few voices rose in indignation
over the lack of due process. Indeed, Republicans and Democrats alike — with
very few exceptions — agree with the policy. Attorney General Eric Holder even
told students at Northwestern University Law School last month that the
president can kill anyone.

For the record, this policy did
not start with President Obama. It’s merely the acceptance and application of
the policies of President George W. Bush.

Despite promises that such
power would only be used in defense of the country and in support of the
American people, this policy is still a violation of American legal principles,
that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due
process of law.

To ignore that directive of the
Fifth Amendment is to ignore the most fundamental principles of what made the
United States different from every other country in the world.

Through the decades, people
came to this country from Europe and Asia and other continents for the freedom
to live a life that was not under a government’s whim, where the basic human
rights to life, liberty and property were held to a higher priority than a
rulers’ lust for power.

It is this same disregard for
human rights that allows for unlimited detention of suspects without charges or
access to legal council and even to the Supreme Court allowing for the
strip-searching of people for failing to pay traffic tickets.

The United States was never a
perfect country. There was slavery, horrific treatment of the Indians and the
denial of rights to woman. Many immigrants faced discrimination, but people
wanted to come here because there was at least a chance to build a good life as
a free person without fear of the government. There was the promise of being a
free person instead of merely a subject.

There are bad people in the
world, people who wish to harm the United States. But we as people must ask
ourselves why. The Osama bin Ladens and the Anwar al-Awlakis don’t hate us
because of our freedoms. They hate the United States because our foreign policy
is intrusive and meddlesome, because it doesn’t respect the rights of others,
as our domestic policy no longer seems to respect ours.

About CFLive Staff

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