Shame on THEM not US

A lot of noise has been made in the last couple of years in response to the supposed unfair policies that the Bush administration has adopted since the 9/11 attacks. The author of the blog “…it tolls for thee” contends in her commentary "Shame on US" that the civil liberties of the American public as well as the detained prisoners at Guantanamo Bay are being infringed upon. I respectfully but wholeheartedly disagree.

I, as an American citizen do not feel that my rights are being infringed upon. I believe that as members of this great country, we have a right to our privacy to a certain extent. Wiretapping and recording of phone conversations is a policy that I for one do not have a problem with. The government is free to listen to my conversations about cramming for tests and the latest sports scores. Even if the information that I talked about over the phone was more important, I would consider it a small price to pay to help insure that another terrorist attack did not occur.

In regards to the treatment of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, I would have to say that their “civil liberties” are not much of a concern to me. They DO deserve the right to prove their innocence. But that’s it. End of story. As an Iraqi combat veteran, I have witnessed the apprehension of many suspected terrorist prisoners. They are not simply plucked out of their villages on a whim. They are taken in for committing a hostile act (planting IEDs, blowing up innocent civilians, shooting at Iraqi Police and American forces, etc.) or belonging to a group that engages in these activities.

Too often nowadays, people are so quick to wave the banner of “prisoner’s rights” in regards to these detainees. THEY ARE NOT AMERICANS. Because of this fact they do not deserve the same liberties AS an American prisoner. We provide clothing, food, and religious material to them. Their version of prisoner rights has already been shown to us in gory detail. Our way of doing business in regards to detainee handling may not be a perfect system. It never will be, I promise. I, nor the author of the blog, is in any position to say what is warranted or necessary to obtain information that will spare the lives of innocents. Is the torture of one man, proven to be guilty, worth the lives of five, ten, or more? How about the total lives lost due to the 9/11 attacks? 2,974.

There is an old cliché that is thrown around but still rings true. Freedom isn’t free. Like it or not, our freedom is sometimes bought and paid for with a currency that some don’t care to pay attention to or acknowledge. Idealists would argue that any means used to trample or infringe upon another’s liberty and freedom is unacceptable. The irony is that in many cases, it is that infringement itself that has secured them the freedom to do so.