Either We're at War or We're NotLet me ask you some questions....are we at war? Do you think the attack on our country in September 2001 was an act of aggression against the United States? If so.....do you think it's a good enough reason to go to war?
I would venture a guess that most of you reading this would have said yes to these questions back in 2001. And we all cheered when the Taliban fell in Afghanistan. And (whether you like to admit it or not) when Saddam had declare America his enemy and the intelligence said that he had WMD at his disposal....most of us thought the UN needed to do something about it, and when it didn't Congress overwhelmingly voted in favor of us doing whatever it took to remove the threat of Iraq using WMD on countries in the region or...God forbid...us.
Let me remind everyone that given the intelligence we had at the time, the world and Congress agreed that Saddam was a threat.
Well, guess what? He didn't have the WMD. But you know what he did have? Al Zarqawi in Baghdad recovering from the injuries he received in Afghanistan, and Al Qaeda training camps in more than one location in Iraq.
Our country has been at war before. Remember WWII? Remember the rationing, the personal sacrifices, the women going to work in factories to support the war effort, the victory gardens, etc.?
It seems to me that today not only do we try and re-write history to our liking, we also are not willing to make any sacrifices to the greater good that would aid the war effort in any way. We are at WAR, people. We can't change that. The enemy started this on 9/11 and our leadership is trying to do what it can to protect us from the evil that lurks outside (and inside) our borders.
Personally....I don't think it's a big sacrifice of personal freedom when intelligence agencies monitor calls to and from Al Qaeda made to and from our country. The ONLY people that should be worried about this attempt to track communications of the enemy are those that are aiding the enemy with intel or are directly involved with their operations. To call it domestic spying is not only inaccurate, it is an underhanded way to score political points at the cost of gaining intelligence that could save people's lives.
Just my opinion. I'm certainly not an expert and I'm sure we don't have all the facts. But really....are we at war or aren't we? If you agree that we are, you should also agree our leadership should be doing everything it can to protect us. Personally....I'd be pissed if my neighbor was talking to Al Qaeda and the government wasn't monitoring the communications. I know it's sad to say...but those same people complaining about the program now would be the first ones to blame the government if they could have stopped a plot to kill Americans but didn't because they were hesitant to do anything that would "appear" to be taking away any civil liberties from us.
Think about it....you know it's true.
I know I'll get angry lefties commenting on this post, but I do think this needed to be said.
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Comments
Peaches - I agree. What people don't seem to understand (forgive me my dear friend Paula) is that with limited manpower and money at their disposal, the agencies doing the surveillance are going to be selective about wiretapping. They aren't just going to be listening to every Tom, Dick, and Harry's conversations.
If it is ever abused, start worrying. I have yet to see evidence of that.
Congrats to your nephew, we need more like him.
Posted by: Mark on January 22, 2006 08:04 PM
Paula-I agree that pulling google searches and monitoring what we read is a bit much....unless they already have evidence the person has been talking to Al Qaeda or they suspect he's been involved in an actual plot.
What I don't get is that some people are OK with the feds wiretapping drug lords, but for some reason they're not OK with wiretapping terrorists. It just doesn't make sense to me. But that's just me.
Everyone has their own view on this, and I think sometimes one's perspective might be colored by the fact that they haven't actually been personally touched by terror. I might see things a little different as Tommy was in a room where everyone except him was injured by a terrorist attack to the extent they received a purple heart.
Posted by: Peaches on January 21, 2006 10:39 AM
I agree we need to fight the war and I support it generally. Doesn't mean I can't disagree with certain specifics though. Forex, I don't think the gov't should be allowed to snoop on what books we take out of the library or what we put in Google searches. The wiretapping leaves a bad taste in my mouth, too.
Posted by: Paula on January 21, 2006 10:08 AM
You may get some interesting comments, Peaches. But I also know that you & I could totally hang out. Not that I ever doubted it before...
Posted by: buffi on January 20, 2006 10:21 AM
