All Americans, along with most of the members of the civilized world were shocked by the horrific events that took place in New York City, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania this past week. At times such as this, it is very easy to get emotional and demand immediate action by our government against the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks on our country's most sacred business and political establishments.
Getting revenge becomes a priority and the cost of getting the revenge becomes a secondary concern. Although, not many of us are ready to think about the cost of the government's campaign against the terrorism, it is definitely worth a close look.
The cost of the government campaign against the terrorists around the world and in our own country is going to be in billions of dollars. However the real cost of this campaign may end up being, not the dollars spent and the potential loss of life, but the erosion of our Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Even before the number of dead and missing in the recent events were tallied up, our government officials were on TV asking for broader powers to be able to better combat such illegal activities. Such requests have been made by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other investigative bodies for years. However, each time they faced a strong opposition by the American people and those who cherish individual rights and the American way of life.
The Justice Department and the FBI are in the middle of a public relations campaign to finally convince the public that the only way to stop future attacks on our soil is to allow the government to listen into our telephone conversations, to read our emails, and to invade our sanctuaries, without meeting the burdens placed on them by the Constitution and the Courts through out our history. A great effort is being made to take advantage of the public sentiment and implement measures that would otherwise not be acceptable to any freedom loving American.
With risking the possibility of being labled as politically incorrect, we need to stand strong and not be swayed by the current events into allowing this country into turning into a police state. We need to remember that we will get through this horrible time in our history. We can not forget that what sets us apart from most of the other countries in the world is the freedom that we enjoy in this country.
Once we have overcome the terrorist attacks from the foreign militant groups, we need to be able to look at ourselves and be proud of what we have managed to preserve. If we allow our freedom to be taken away, we have let the terrorist achieve the unthinkable, and that is to strip America of what makes it great.
While we unite against the foreign enemies and try to salvage our dignity around the world, lets not forget what has made us who we are and what has made America the greatest country in the world. Our greatest asset is our FREEDOM and lets not let them take it away.
