In times of terrorism, the first casualty is American values. After 9/11, Americans witnessed the shredding of habeas corpus, torture of terrorist suspects, lawless secret prisons, warrantless wiretaps, and the trillion dollar debacle known as Iraq.
One would hope that incidents like the recent failed attack over Detroit have made us all more aware of the insidious aftereffects that terrorism can have on our body politic. As my Cato Institute colleague Jim Harper trenchantly notes:
Though it certainly helps, terrorism doesn't require explosions and fatalities to work its will. If public fear produced by this incident drives the U.S. toward self-injurious overreactions--abandonment of plane travel, overwrought and poorly directed security measures, and so on--then it will be a successful act of terrorism. The behavior of the Obama administration, political leaders in Congress, and the media will determine whether this is a successful act of terrorism.
The Obama administration must counter its impulse to overreact to this recent terrorist incident. We would have learned nothing from 9/11 if we misdirect more of our country's limited energies and scarce resources to feed our unwieldy homeland security department, especially since the bravery of average folks (rather than billions of dollars spent in counterterrorism equipment) is what saved Flight 253. Perhaps the worst conclusion pundits might draw from this foiled attack is that the continued prosecution of wars overseas will keep America safe from terrorism; in fact such counterproductive efforts only play into al Qaeda's hands.
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Al Quaeda has been winning over the US since 9/11, at the latest, and gained ground ever since.
Imprisoning and banning critical journalists, Patriot Act , homeland security, Iraq invasion, legalizing torture, international isolation, worldwide recession bordering on depression, taking off your shoes at the airport, you name it.
Never in the history of mankind have so few done so little to make cowards of so many, until 9/11 .
After all, Cheney was already a thuggish war-profiteer on September 10. And Perle, Wolfowitz, et al. were already plotting and lobbying for an Iraq invasion for years before 9/11. And so on.
9/11 was the pretext, the excuse, and a Rohrshach Test that revealed who we are as a society.
Obviously we do our best to prevent the latter and we don't ignore national security. However, it doesn't matter how tight the system is, or how good the security is -- as long as the system can be learned, someone can find a way through it.
As long as there are terrorists, there will be acts of terrorism, eventually. Or, attempts.
The terrorist doesn't "win" when he succeeds in blowing up a building, or completing a suicide bombing. That's a means to an end. He, or they, win by "terrorizing"! -- and thus, making us alter our lives, restrict our movements, restrict our freedoms, by causing us to live in fear of future attacks. And we KNOW THIS -- and still are vulnerable.
Enough is enough. Exercise reasonable caution, examine the system to see if someone screwed up, and continue to live life. Stop allowing the terrorists to "terrorize" and to stop our country in its tracks.
In fact, I don't think the media should even cover it. (except when seeking WANTED information about a suspect, for instance) -- not because "we the people" don't have a right to know, but because the spotlight should be OFF. Terrorists don't deserve publicity, and we have a right NOT to be "terrorized".
Has anyone checked to see if Fox News is back to it's "terror alerts"? They probably have big red and yellow graphics blinking on and off flashing the word "PANIC!!!".
We must remember that the damage done to this country by the Wizards of Wall Street is the stuff of Bin Ladens wildest dreams. Our most dangerous enemies are internal and they are being allowed to rule the roost.
ALL it takes is ONE person out there, committing himself to a suicide attack on American targets, and suddenly the ENTIRE US media KNOCKS EVERYTHING ELSE off the front pages.
IF you were the sort of person who was TRYING to keep "BAILOUTS for FRAUDULENT BANKERS," and their "FRAUDULENT BONUS BILLIONS," and the ENTIRE "Health Care 'REFORM'" charade being ANOTHER back-door "BAILOUT" for insurance, Big Pharma, HMOs, and related medical-components of BIG FINANCE; and IF you were trying to keep the RISING COSTS and EXPANDING ATROCITIES of America's GLOBAL IMPERIALISM, er, "war on terra" in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and (soon Iran?) OUT of the news....
you could hardly PRAY for a NEW terrorist attack that, in one simple swoop, accomplished ALL the above.
The Israeli-Palestinian dispute should have been solved by now.
The Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan should have been solved by now.
Those two major international disputes left to fester for so long are now producing offshoots of terrorism one after the other like a multi-headed hydra. They have now reached the stage of uncontrollable world-wide terrorism and barbarity.
The civilized world shares the blame, along with the terrorists, for not acting to ensure the rights of the innocent people of Palestine and of Kashmir.
America is fast becoming the casualties of British and more generally European imperialism
The terrorists only truly win when we change our way of life. Let's not give them the win.
However the point about the patriot act is you put freedoms on a razors edge were at any moment those freedoms can end and no reason has to be given or charges brought against someone, just automatic imprisonment from that moment on with no way to prove you are innocent or no need to prove you are guilty. Just black bagged and gone.
So in doing so you have given up your right to a jury by your peers, the right to a fare and speedy trial as well as the need for a search warrant.
I laugh when I hear the wailing of the right because what they are wailing about is a thing of their own doing, remember if you haven't done anything then you shouldn't worry about the Gov looking in on you. Funny how it was a-ok when GWB was doing the peeking through the key hole but now the rigk has come unglued at the though of something being taken away that only their drum beaters are taking about being taken away.
Meanwhile we have a piece of legislation still in place put there by GWB that has the teeth to do just that and they hide it by calling it the patriot act.
Lunatics, religious fudamentalists, people trying to blow themseleves up on board a plane and it all is just a case of hysteria.
Interesting.
What will the huge security industry do without such incidents to feed it's endless appetite? Are we condemned to live by rules that benefit them and at the expense of our civil liberties? Then there are the people whose faces appear on CNN to justify more restrictions on liberties all in the name of the war against terror. 9/11 destroyed America by destroying her economy to cater to the military-industrial complex and other lobby groups. We all know what is going on but we cant stop it. What a great democracy.
Sometimes I think we are condemned to live this life from hence given the agenda created for us by the lobby powers. In fact I think we are condemned to live this way even if it bankrupts us several times over. These security vested interests are killing the economy and the lifestyle we have known. And now we have the Obama doctrine in foreign relations, American imperial authority with a kinder face. We are condemned to go this path.