The War on Terror and the Erosion of Liberty Assignment

The struggle on Terror and the Erosion of Liberty - Assignment ExampleIt is evidently clear from the discussion that in the haste to safeguard citizens, laws were enacted and restrictions were imposed that have had a deep and lasting effect on our ain freedoms. Many mountain have criticized the government actions as too broad, too severe, and have characterized it as an over-reaction to a single event. Others, such as John Ashcroft, have labeled the critics as paranoids and said, To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty your tactics only aid terrorists, for they erode our national unity and give ammunition to Americas enemies. It is clear that we have reached a point where we must weigh the price of a security against the address of our lost liberty. When we do, we find that the over-reaching policies of our anti-terrorist campaign have extracted too high a cost in lost liberty, freedom, and our national identity.The loss of our liberty extends beyon d the inconvenience of long lines at the airdrome and reaches into our daily right to privacy. One of the fundamental principle that America is built upon is the expectation that our personal records and symmetricalness have sacred and legal protection against inspection without a warrant. However, the sweeping powers granted to the government in the wake of 9/11 have allowed the government to examine bank and phone records of every American citizen without probable cause. Meanwhile, the government is cloaked in ever greater secrecy as many more than governmental meetings can be held in secret away from the press and the public (Chaddock). While it whitethorn seem that we only have something to worry about if we are engaged in illegal activity, the situation is that it opens the door for corruption and abuse. There is the potential that political enemies could examine bank records to find out who has contributed to a given charity or political cause. It could be used to examine a credit circuit card record to trace a persons travel or spending habits. Liberty is only of value when we strike it. Once surrendered there is no returning it to the safe state of affairs that the right to privacy gives us.