Depressed, lethargic, and pessimistic, I sit here staring at three articles published by the Minneapolis Star Tribune on January 20, 2006. The first is an article where Vice President Dick Cheney is speaking in Washington D.C. regarding the inherent war powers authorized to the President after the 9/11 attacks. The Vice President stated. "that the President's power to protect the country with surveillance was reaffirmed when Congress passed an October 2001 resolution that authorized the President to use military force against Al-Qaida and to deter furure terrorist attacks (Leonnig, 2006)." Futhermore in utilizing their own interpretation of that language used in the resolution, the Bush Administration asserts that Congress gave the affimation to eavesdrop on international phone calls and email of United States citizens and others (Leonnig, 2006). One crucial fact taht seems to escape my comprehension though, is that none of the terrorists were United States Citizens.
Correct me if I am wrong, but is it not the job of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service to regulate the people who exactly are admitted into the country or not? When have we ever been told by the Bush Administration what has been improved within that organization since 9/11?
Instead, I read on about our Attorney General of the United States, Alberto Gonzales, in another published article, asking a federal judge in San Jose, Ca, for a court order so that Google Inc., will be required to hand over their records of millions of search queries within their database. Here another fine example of our government taking meaningless and ineffective measures in "protecting," this country from terrorist attacks from within (Liedtke, 2006). Never forget that it is our brethern that we have supported and continue to support in the Iraq war, even though all fo the evidence providing the premise for the invasion was erroneous. Still, our President desires to alienate the population that he governs.
The last horrific aspect to the chain of recent events, is that Osama Bin Laden the mass murdering architect of the 9/11 attacks, continues to be on the loose. Despite the Administration's "great" efforts to find him and terminate his worthless existance, they have continued to fail. Through the Al-Jazeera Television network, Bin Laden has once again threatened attacks that no one seems to be taking seriously (Pincus & Whitlock, 2006).
"Some analysts dismissed Bin Laden's warning, saying he has repeatedly vowed to attack the United States again without suceeding. But others said it was not for lack of trying and noted that previous Bin Laden statements have been followed a few weeks later by attacks elsewhere in the world (Pincus & Whitlock, 2006)." Appalling as this complacent attitude may be, the threat remains nonetheless very real. Time and time again, we have been witness to horrific and grizzly tragedies around the world created by these ruthless vandals. Bin Laden's threat is real and he has been waiting for our government's desensitized complacent attitude as a signal to take another chance in carrying out another American atrocity. Only the next time that it happens, the public will not be so kind to believe that the Administration's efforts have actually been effective; rather, all measures that have been taken since 9/11, have been essentially to save face.
Coming from a simple college student and a Marine Corps veteran such as myself, my opinion does not have too much weight, which is perfectly fine. But mark my words, these people can and will attack again. Our own arrogance is our own self-inflicted disease which will serve us with the devastating final blow. We must remain vigilant in keeping our priorities straight.
- Snooping on what college kids are researching for their coursework is not a priority.
- Knowing what kind of porn Mr. Johnson from down the street prefers, is not a priority.
- Monitoring United States citizens phone calls, is not a priority.
- Least of all, actually spending intelligence resources watching anti-war protestors peacefully protesting take the biggest slice of pathetic cake.
All the while that our government is doing this, Al-Qaida is planning, researching, and recruiting for the next catastrophy.
Thinking of every child that needs to grow up without a father, mother or both, has inspired me to write this. No one else deserves to die, because of our leadership's ill-fated efforts to protext this country. When will Bush finally listen to reason and quit slandering the name of "The President of the United States?"
Written by: Adam
References:
Leonnig, C. D. (2006, January 20). Justice: Eavesdropping Power Trumps Warrants. Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Liedtke, M. (2006, January 20). Google Fighting White House Over Data Request. Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Pincus, W., Whitlock, C. (2006, January 20). Bin Laden: Al-Qaida Preparing to Attack U.S. Minneapolis Star Tribune.
