Wednesday September 26, 2001

The Arizona Daily Wildcat supports President George W. Bush's resolve to answer America's attackers, but there are cautions to be heeded in the midst of war.

While the security of our fellow countrymen and the expulsion of the architect of New York and Washington's attacks from the world are common goals, the means by which they are met must be validated. Machiavelli, in "The Prince", argued "the ends justify the means."

Don't be so sure of that.

Marketed as Operation "Infinite Justice," the United States' imminent attack on the assailants' organization and supporters is dangerously close to an unmitigated killing spree. Some Americans have traded their sorrow for racist sentiments and aggression for an attacker whom our intelligence community, with its "infinite" wisdom, has yet to authenticate.

Advertising executives would be proud to have the U.S. Defense Department's creative minds on staff. A whole nation is poised to exercise its Second Amendment right to bear arms while throwing away all of the First Amendment rights along with those of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Amendments.

Offering up our own rights, our own civil liberties, to "hunt down" a terrorist is a mistake. Suspending those freedoms guaranteed American citizens in the Constitution plays directly into the hands of the terrorists.

One of the fathers of our nation's genesis document, Benjamin Franklin, commented that, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Similar instances where civil rights have been shelved are ingrained in the history of reactions to terrorism. Including Daniel Day Lewis' moving performance in the movie "In the Name of the Father", wherein he and his father were taken from their homes under unverified suspicions.

Secretary General John Ashcroft pushes for the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001 on Congress, and many U.S. legislators support the measure. Under the bill, wiretaps will be easier to set up and similar intelligence gathering initiatives will be allowed on other mediums, particularly the Internet.

Washington has all but assured the American public that the Taliban and Osama bin Laden are at fault. Why, then, are in-depth domestic spying practices necessary? The executive branch is undoubtedly using the horrific events at the World Trade Center and Pentagon to garner more power.

While there can be no reparation made for the thousands of lives lost, the manner in which the United States goes about punishing those responsible for the atrocities can bring America and the world a ray of hope. Established by persecuted Puritans with the intention of creating a "beacon on the hill," America functions as a leader for the democratic world and those aspiring to join.

Protecting America includes more than maintaining a prized military, prepared to pounce on this nation's attackers. Civil liberties must be kept intact, if not espoused more now than ever. However, words mustn't run amok to invoke images of hatred or unguided aggression. Let this nation truly shine in this, its darkest moment.