COLUMN: U.S. fails to live by principles

by David M. Anderson

U-Wire

Shortly after Sept. 11, President Bush stated in an address to Congress that the al Qaeda terrorists "hate our freedoms - our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other." Al Qaeda's members "hope that America grows fearful" and retires from the world and its affairs so that the political and theological goals of bin Laden and other Wahhabi extremists can be accomplished.

The president's prescription for defeating al Qaeda and other nebulous terrorist groups is for Americans not to fear, to continue spending on their credit cards, to travel by airplanes, and to live our daily lives as if Sept. 11 was just like Sept. 10. President Bush reminded us that "we are in a fight for our principles, and our first responsibility is to live by them."

This nation has failed to live by its principles. The freedom that al Qaeda supposedly hates and that differentiates the United States from so much of the world is under siege. The attack has not been led by foreigners; instead it has been led by the present administration. The president and his advisors are the greatest single threat to the civil liberties of the average American - not al Qaeda, the despots of Saudi Arabia, nor even Saddam Hussein.

Even before Sept. 11, the Bush administration had been hostile to the ideals of open and transparent democracy. An order was issued that hid Reagan administration papers from the public. The law mandated the release of these papers. In the opening months of the current administration, Attorney General John Ashcroft issued a legal opinion that stated all Freedom of Information Act requests would be denied if there was any legal argument against public knowledge. The previous position had been that information was to be released in all but the most extreme cases. The assault on public access began before Sept. 11, and was justified by the Bush administration's penchant for the lies and unrealistic optimism needed to support its agenda.

However, Sept. 11 greatly accelerated the deterioration of civil liberties. The Bush administration has decided that Constitutional restraints upon the executive branch don't apply during wartime. The administration supports secret arrests, indefinite detentions, and the denial of citizens' basic judicial rights, such as access to a lawyer and habeas corpus. All of these actions are, according to the administration, not subject to judicial review or Congressional oversight. This is an interesting proposition, for they have not justified why this war is different than the much greater struggles of the Civil War or World War II. In each case, there were Constitutional violations, such as the imposition of martial law on Union states of suspected loyalty, and the internment of Japanese-American citizens; but the courts and Congress had access and the opportunity to change these policies.

President Bush, Vice-President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and Attorney General Ashcroft have implemented policies that are scarily reminiscent of the tactics of most totalitarian regimes. For instance, the Justice Department now believes that attorney-client privilege does not always apply and that this decision should not be reviewable by the courts.

This position effectively strips any person in custody of the right to a competent defense of his rights. Additionally, the executive branch of the government maintains that it has the right to suspend the writ of habeas corpus whenever it decides someone is an enemy combatant. For instance, Jose Padilla, the alleged "dirty bomber" who was arrested in Chicago, has been held in a naval brig in Charleston, South Carolina for the past four months without a charge being filed against him and without access to a lawyer. The administration states that he has no rights because it has determined such at its own will.

If President Bush's analysis of the motivations for attacking New York and the Pentagon is correct, Osama bin Laden has won. Today, our society is less free than it was a year ago. Our civil liberties have been curtailed for no publicly demonstrated gain in security. If we, as a society do not oppose the actions of this Administration, then we - in the words of Benjamin Franklin - deserve neither liberty nor security.