the beads

"While it is good that there be a world full of peace, fraternity, justice and honesty, it is even more important that we be in it." That quote is from a letter written by David Ben-Gurion. At the time, Israel was a fledgling country fighting for its very existence. The surrounding Arab nations were aligning against Israel, with the stated intentions of pushing her citizens into the sea. Ben-Gurion was not advocating inhumanities, illegalities, or an absence of compassion, but rather that Israel must exist. Last week, the U.S. congress in two instances, and the press in one, proposed peace, fraternity, justice and honesty, with no regard for our well-being. The euphemistically named"torture bill," sponsored by Senator John McCain, sailed through congress, the Patriot Act was torpedoed, maybe indefinitely, and the The New York Times revealed the existence of a secret program conducted by the ultra-secret NSA. A program designed to catch those who would destroy us.

I recently met Senator McCain. He is witty, sincere and, I am sure, well meaning. What he is not, is an expert on terrorism. Being tortured does not make you an expert on terrorism, any more than having brain surgery makes you an neurosurgeon. Khalid Sheik Muhammad, the alleged mastermind of 9/11, reportedly broke after two and a half minutes of a technique known as water-boarding. Applied correctly, it works. While I am against using torture as a means of coercing confessions from drug dealers, or other reprobates here in the U.S., I have no such qualms with us using these techniques to garner intelligence from the people who murdered 3,000 of my fellow Americans on 9/11. Our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines cannot expect fair treatment from these animals, no matter what our official policy is. Why then should we hamstring our interrogators when torture is already against the law? This is nothing more than a concerted effort by defeatists to force us into a position from which we cannot fight, and McCain has been co-opted into the effort.

The Patriot Act, which has been shown to be effective in combating terrorism, was tabled. This when not one abuse by federal authorities has been reported. You can believe that The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times would have reported it ad nauseum had it occurred. What has happened is that a handful of local jurisdictions have used it inappropriately to prosecute drug dealers, and the like. In that instance, those jurisdictions should be dealt with harshly, and to the fullest extent of the law. Civil liberties have always been suspended during wartime, and quickly returned when the threat was vanquished. Lincoln did it during the Civil War and FDR, the hero of the Democratic party, did it during WWII. I am not suggesting we make the Patriot Act permanent. I applaud the "sunshine" clause. When the threat is removed so too should the Patriot Act be removed, but not before.

Finally, it was reported that the NSA, an agency so secret that its employees refer to it as No Such Agency or Nobody Says Anything, was revealed to have been tapping the phones of people in the U.S. who were talking to people with known ties to Al-Qaida. Multiple members of congress, both democrat and republican alike, as well as a judge specifically tasked with intelligence oversight knew of the program, had in fact, been consulted both before it began, and every six weeks thereafter. This fact though was curiously omitted from The Times report. No, it was reported as a secret move by the President. Curiously, it was released in time to coincide with the congressional vote on the Patriot Act, as well as the release of a book by a Times reporter. Personally, I do not care one bit what communication mode we tap when it comes to those who have publicly stated over and over again that their entire purpose for existing is our violent demise. Had this program been in effect in August of 2001 Muhammad Atta's calls could have been intercepted, and 9/11 averted. Ask the 9/11 victim's families if they would trade their loved ones lives for the perceived loss of civil liberties by those who are not citizens of this country.

On that clear Tuesday morning in September of 2001 we reacted as one in horror, and then with sadness and rage. We railed against those who had so cowardly attacked us. We were united in a way not seen since the dark days of World War II. We were prepared, as one people, to fight those who had bloodied us so reprehensibly. When we are thus aligned, no country, no organization, no concept even, can defeat us. Militarily we cannot be beaten, but we can lose. Here at home we can lose, and abroad be forced into retreat. The Islamists have repeatedly stated that first they will drive us from Iraq, then the Middle East. Then they will establish a caliphate, an Islamic theocracy that spans the Islamic world, before once again commencing attacks on Europe and us. World domination is their none-too-secret goal and it can only be achieved with our help. Honest critics of our actions are patriots, and have a place in the discussion, defeatists do not. That, is the only choice left.