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America: A Work In Progress Opinion by Keith Allison, D.Dn. 4/19/03
The United States is a true dichotomy. In an attempt to influence other nations to provide their populace with the freedoms American citizens purportedly enjoy, our government routinely doles out millions of dollars in “foreign aid.” Sometimes that aid takes the form of military assistance, medicine, food, or modern technology. But regardless of the commodity doled out, each has one thing in common; they are generally gifts or grants, not loans to be paid back.
And now we find ourselves involved in another war in the Middle East, an ongoing war with Iraq; a war brought about because of “political considerations” that stopped our forces from completing the job the first time around. Of course, during both conflicts, there was never any doubt that coalition forces would prevail over Saddam’s vaunted Republican Guard. At no time did Iraqi forces have the will or high tech weaponry to counter our Smart Bombs, Hell Fire Missiles, or the superb training of our fighting forces.
The purported intent behind our latest foray into the Middle East is to rid the Iraqi’s of a tyrant, and bring “democracy” to their nation. With this new found “freedom,” Iraqi citizens will purportedly have the legitimacy of one man, one vote for those they wish to represent them in government. I question though if that will result in a truly free government, or will the end result bring them another Saddam Hussein, a perpetual head of state, or will it be a mirror image of our form of government; a select group of professional politicians dominating the political scene for decades? Will Iraqi citizens be granted a government of limited power as proclaimed within our Constitution? Will they be granted the freedoms given all people by God, freedoms guaranteed by our Bill of Rights? Or, will they find themselves strapped with a government free to re-interpret their “freedoms” based upon some as yet identified political agenda?
I suppose my greatest concern about the hyperbole I hear regarding the freedoms this war is supposed to bring to the Iraqi’s, is the obvious destruction of our freedoms and civil rights in the name of “national security.” In the name of securing our safety, the current administration has saddled us with the Patriot Act which they want to turn into a permanent statute, they want to enact Patriot Act II, an even greater intrusion into our freedoms and have recently implemented the so-called Medical Privacy Act. In reality, rather than protecting us from anything, close scrutiny reveals that each of these acts do more to deprive us of our constitutional rights, than protect us from an increasingly intrusive government, and dishonest politicians, judges and bureaucrats. Will they have to deal with a government such as ours, a government that holds its citizens to a high degree of accountability, all while holding politicians, judges and bureaucrats to little, if any accountability? All one need do, is examine the scrutiny private citizens and business entities must endure in the name of the law, all while public officials denigrate the validity of constitutional law by denying our citizens their constitutional rights.
Consider, if you will, how often government employees refuse to bring forth evidence of corruption within government; how often they refuse to bring it forth for uncensored public inspection in an honest court of law.
Knowledge is the key that unlocks the shackles of bondage. Keith Allison, D.Dn.
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