Neutrality and Justice

New York Sun ^ | April 7, 2008

[hanfei]

"Contrary to the government's assertion, it is by no means self-evident that a person engaged in extra-territorial or resistance activities — even militant activities — is necessarily a threat to the security of the United States. One country's terrorist can often be another country's freedom-fighter."

* * *

It happens that those words were written by one of our wisest federal Judges, John Noonan, who rides the 9th United States appellate circuit. He was deciding, in 2004, an immigration case involving a Sikh militant. We thought of the judge's point as we were ruminating on two current criminal prosecutions on the Coast that are being levied by the Justice Department against individuals who are hardly neutral — they are on our side in a twilight struggle against remnant communist regimes in Indochina.

[hanfei]

This shows that we are not likely to be a Free Republic in the foreseeable future.