AMERICA: A SISSIFIED NATION? [How to deal with terror..and how not to]

Jewish World Review ^ | 08/14/2002 | Dr. Walter E. Williams

[Indie]

Jewish World Review August 14, 2002 /America: A sissified nation?

http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | Benjamin Franklin warned, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." But that's what the Bush administration and Congress have asked of Americans -- to give up essential liberty for safety that's not even guaranteed. By not being fully appreciative of the fact that it's Washington, not Osama bin Laden, that represents the greatest threat to both liberty and security, we've gone along with the agenda.

Let's look at it. Before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the communist government of East Germany had an extensive network of informers and spies who reported to the Stasi, the secret police. The Stasi was a carryover from Heinrich Himmler's feared secret police, the Gestapo. You say, "Williams, are you suggesting that there are Americans who want our government to create a network of informants and spies?" That's precisely what President Bush called for -- hundreds of millions of dollars to devise innovative ways to spy on Americans.

He called his agenda the Terrorism Information Program (TIP), where electric utility, telephone repairmen and others having access to our homes and offices would report "suspicious" activities. Had former President Clinton made the same proposal, conservatives would have greeted it with open outrage -- but since it's Bush, shoulder-shrugging indifference carried the day. Americans have bought into the most massive government growth since the LBJ days and the attack on our liberties out of the mistaken belief that there's a tradeoff between liberty and security.

We're willing to permit government to take away our ability to move about freely, take away our personal privacy, and number and process us -- all in the name of security against terrorist attacks. No matter how much of our liberty Washington takes away in the name of security, there are no guarantees that there won't be another terrorist attack.

Instead of attacking American liberties, the government ought to go after terrorists in their countries of origin. It should be like what our military attempted during WWII. Don't wait to defend ships against the kamikaze -- bomb the fields where they take off.

We know the countries who sponsor, support and harbor terrorists. They are Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Libya, North Korea and a few others. The president should put these countries on credible notice that should United States suffer a terrorist attack and our intelligence discovers that, say, Saudi Arabia financed, assisted or harbored the terrorists, there would be a massive military retaliation that would not exclude nuclear weapons.

You say, "Would our European allies or the United Nations support such an action?" I say ignore our European allies and the United Nations. Their vision of foreign policy is talk and appeasement of tyrants, a vision that allowed Adolf Hitler to nearly conquer Europe. If Ronald Reagan had listened to our European allies and the U.N., instead of the evil empire collapsing, Europe might be a U.S.S.R. satellite by now.

You say, "Williams, you sound like a warmonger!" No, I'm not. But neither am I willing to wait until a chemical or bacteriological attack kills millions of Americans or a "dirty bomb" makes one of our cities uninhabitable for 100 years before there's an effective response to nations who harbor terrorists.

I detest the initiation of force, but if I see someone building a cannon aimed at my house, I'm not going to wait for him to fire it. I would eliminate him and anyone else in his house before he gets a chance to fire it. But then again, I'm not a member of America's sissified generation.

[Oztrich Boy]

"You'll know Williams is disarmed when Williams is dead." Guess who said this?

Hank Williams? Robin Williams?:^)

[Commie Basher]

I was just wondering how FEW liberals would be left in a year or two.

If you mean big-spenders, probably 80-90%. The vast majority of Republican voters don't want their programs cut, just the next guy's. Plenty of so-called "conservative" seniors want free drugs; plenty of so-called "conservative" parents want more spening "for the children." You need only look at Bush's big govt socialism to know that this is so.

[RLK]

Had former President Clinton made the same proposal, conservatives would have greeted it with open outrage -- but since it's Bush, shoulder-shrugging indifference carried the day....

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This is a pattern in everything.

[ppaul]

WMD?

AP Survey: 61,000 Baghdad residents executed by Saddam

[Cheapskate]

Long Live The Professor Of Liberty!!!

[Squantos]

Kinda interesting.............Stay Safe !

[GeronL]

See #4

[meenie]

There is a direct connection between the second amendment and terrorism. How far would the 9/11 hijackers have gotten if an unknown number of passengers on those planes had been carrying? How many terrorists would have gotten on those planes knowing there was this possibility? Does it make sense to unarm the public when we are facing terrorist threats in this country?

[autoresponder]

Lots of semi-autos out there in non-mil appearance.

Some crave the M16/AR15 look but any top notch hunter can outshoot the majority of the herd with one bullet.

I have nothing against those who choose the military type of so-called "assault weapons" or their chosen firearms.

I just concentrated on accurate long distance shooting and nailing the game in rugged mountainous terrain where you only really get one shot if you are lucky.

Came in handy when I served.

Firepower was just a bonus in an emergency.

[papertyger]

I can't really disagree with you at any point, but I will remind you there is a BIG difference between a stalk and a fight.

[autoresponder]

I've hunted and killed big bear, wild boar, gators, killed sharks and barracuda while diving before I was 16.

I rarely hunted game that was not a hostile natural killer.

More fight then stalk if you are not accurate and instinctive.

I have also hunted elk, antelope, and deer but enjoyed hunting hostile game more.

My first hatband was a Coral Snake that was foolish enough to strike at me when I was only 12 and checking fenceline.

Ka-Bar.

When you grow up with a respect for weapons and wildlife it becomes instinctive.

I carried a Mossberg carbine in the trunk of my convertible that I drove to school every day.

Loaded magazines in the glove box.

Be prepared.

We raised Brahmas in heavily wooded areas and pastures right on swampy waterways.

Nasty critters seemed to abound.

Killed lots of Rattlers but never got that big cougar that stalked us one night while we were trying to track and trap three runaway Brahma steers.

Life was never dull.

I never let my prey make it fight.

Luckily my service was not with city slickers who thought they knew how to survive after a few months of training.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Your needlessly excerpted article is linked to the current article, not the one you posted. I wonder how it concludes.

[dirtboy]

Your needlessly excerpted article

Actually, Jewish World Review asked years ago that FR excerpt articles so they get more hits.

[Indie]

Your needlessly excerpted article

BaD urL ON Their PaRT