Civil Rights and Terrorism Control, Essay Example

Civil rights ensure that citizens can live, work, and play in society without fear of repression or discrimination. Terrorism is the unwarranted, unanticipated attack of someone against another; most often, it is a crime of violence perpetrated against a country. Our country must find that delicate balance between fighting terrorism without making inappropriate encroachments into the civil liberties of people.

Newscasts wag on with the specter of terror, as reports stream about how the USA is combating it as led by the Department of Homeland Security. Our country continues to reel from the heinous acts of September 11, 2001. Not since the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on that infamous day in the 1940s has our nation rallied in the wake of a surprise attack from a foreign aggressor. The need for screenings and protective measures to eradicate terrorism is pronounced indeed; however, Americans must stand firm that we can defend ourselves without stripping people of their basic, individual rights as citizens of this country and as citizens of the world.

Recently, it was discovered that US military personnel tortured members of the Taliban and Al Qaeda who were held prisoner at the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Such practices cause the United States to look hypocritical in the eyes of the global community. We stand for freedom and dignity, and yet we Waterboard detainees. Governments that get out of control, steering away from its guiding principles, like the ones that govern this great land, stand to suffer, influentially, as other countries take note.

Things are done in the name of national security when all they are is lending credence to the government to expand its ability to spy, hold without charge, and usurp due processes, and checks and balances. Freedom is a nice, comforting word, yet freedom, in and of itself, cannot defend against an enemy within. Fundamental human rights should be, by tradition of this land, guaranteed against any form of surveillance, discrimination, or censorship that would cause us to move down paths that lead away from liberty. Terrorism means learning to fight the unknown. As we fight, let us not forget the things we know to be right, decent, moral, and true.