Defuse the domestic threats
Violence made headlines nationwide last week, beginning with the attack on the Boston Marathon and ending in a shootout in Watertown, Mass. The suspected perpetrators, one dead and one in custody, sought to bear influence upon us through their violence, but we cannot let them win.
Shane Wade
Opinion Editor
We cannot let terror win.
Violence made headlines nationwide last week, beginning with the attack on the Boston Marathon and ending in a shootout in Watertown, Mass. The suspected perpetrators, one dead and one in custody, sought to bear influence upon us through their violence, but we cannot let them win.
In the war we fight against forces bent on dismantling America and devolving the liberties we cherish, we cannot sacrifice quintessential American freedom in favor of an impossible goal of total security. Liberty and freedom are more than abstract values to be debated by talking heads; they are the characteristics of this American landscape and the guiding points for moral policies.
Fear has gripped our lives and made us reactive and cautious people. In the past week, Short Pump Mall, downtown Richmond and a local airport have all had temporarily evacuations because of reports of an unattended package; similar instances have occurred nationwide.
The same fears of outsiders, attacks on the public and impending dooms that lingered about in the aftermath of 9/11 still haunt us to this day, but we cannot begin to let those fears define us as a people — not through public policy, not through daily behaviors and not through legislation.
Responding to acts of terror by engaging in torture, extraordinary redition, warrantless surveillance and religious or racial discrimination and attacking civil liberties is exactly what terrorists want. It’s exactly what will be our downfall.
We will, in the coming weeks, see a plethora of pledges from pundits and politicians requesting to further restrict freedoms previously enjoyed by the public. Just as they have taken our shoes and miscellaneous toiletries at the airport, they will seek to take our bags, our hats and our glasses. Advocates of this new American pseudo-police state will ask you to “Remember Boston” and strip naked in order for us to remain safe.
That is not our America.
Our America is one that recognizes that blanket, assured security is a myth and that freedom is greater than fear. The greatest threats to America will always be domestic: Federal spending, foreign policy, extradition, militarization, unjust laws, culture wars, political stasis – these issues drag us closer to ruin. These are the issues that deserve our constant vigilance and the spotlight of our 24-hour news cycle, not celebrity gossip, political grandstanding and general derision.
Security should not be achieved through the loss of personal freedoms. London, for example, removed trash bins near major sites and public spaces years ago to prevent Irish Republican Army militants from using them as bomb drops.
There’s a philosophical, strategic and logical difference between implementing measures that inconvenience individuals and measures that limit public and personal freedom. Smart solutions exist, if only we give them our attention and credence.
Threats to American security undoubtedly threaten American liberties. Expediency to legislate safety, however, is an equally virulent threat. Policy amendments and legislation suggestions regarding recent events have been, appropriately, few and silent, but that’s how the controvesial Patriot Act, passed Congress.
As our defense priorities shift from al-Qaeda and the enemies abroad, a greater eye of focus must be placed upon our domestic threats: For the government, those threats are domestic and home-grown terrorist operators; for the citizenry, those threats are found no further than Washington, D.C.
