Title: Trading Civil Liberties for Apparent Security is a Bad Deal
Abstract: Framing the discussion as a tradeoff between civil liberties and security creates a false distinction. This discourse is not new in the United States. Benjamin Franklin warned, “[t]hey who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”1 Throughout our history, we have grappled with this apparent tension. Unfortunately, all too often, we have lost our liberties—with no tangible benefit. It has been primarily the executive branch that has overreached beyond the lines that separate our three branches of government. Under the guise of his “Global War on Terror,”2 former president George W. Bush arrogated to himself a level of presidential authority that violated the Constitution and made us less safe. As U.S. military leaders said, the two things that have posed the biggest threat to our soldiers in Iraq are Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, which have served as recruitment tools3 and have become the symbols of American cruelty and hypocrisy.
Publication Year: 2009
Publication Date: 2009-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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