The so-called "War on Terror" has shown the world both the strengths and the weaknesses of the U.S. Government and of the American people.
The strengths are easy to see. We have unmatched military might and the will to use it. We have the strength of will to fight for freedom, not just our own, but also the freedom of Afgan and Iraqi citizens, and, presumably, citizens of any other country who are not free. And we will apparently borrow any amount of money needed to complete the task.
The weaknesses are less obvious but just as important.
We don't have is the strength of will to embrace the ambiguities and pitfalls of freedom, or to support the principles of freedom whatever the result. Americans want the Iraqi people to have freedom, as long as they make the "right" choices. American-style democracy may not be the Iraqi choice, and we won't stand for it.
But if the Iraqis don't have the freedom to make what we might consider bad decisions, or actual bad decisions, they don't really have freedom at all. Freedom must include the independence to make poor choices.
Americans have had the freedom to make poor choices. Basing our government on the Articles of Confederation, precursor to the Constitution, was arguably a poor choice.
We've also made some poor choices in electing presidents. Not everyone agrees which presidents were the poor choices and which were the good ones, but we have used our freedom to choose. Or not. We also have the freedom to opt out of the process by not voting.
Another sign of our weakness as a nation is that not many of us have shown the strength to stand up for the individual rights we claim to believe in. In the name of fighting terrorism, we have created a new class of non-people known as "enemy combatants."
We claim that our rights don't come from the government or the Constitution which merely enumerates them, but that each human being is "endowed by their creator" with certain rights. Most Americans believe in God, or so surveys show, but not, apparently, in rights for everyone.
The enemy combatants have few, if any, of the rights each American expects and even demands that the government respect. If we feel our rights have been violated, we sue. The enemy combatants don't have access to the courts. They depend on receiving their God-given rights from the American people through the government.
We've said no. They have no right to appeal their incarceration, no right to due process, no rights of any kind apparently, including the human right not to be tortured.
Granted, prisoners of war are generally not returned to their country of origin while battles continue, and the enemy combatants are probably more easily defined as criminals than soldiers, but they aren't even accorded the rights guaranteed to criminals in America.
To our credit, we are equal opportunity hypocrites. Congress passed the Patriot Act to limit the rights of American citizens and aid in the fight against terrorism. We even give up our own rights in the name of freedom.
Giving up rights and freedoms, or taking them from others, is a sign that we don't believe in
the very principles we are fighting for.
President Bush recently said that questioning the original reasons why the United States went to war in Iraq hurts our troops and helps our enemies, and many Americans agreed.
Democrats, Republicans, Independents, rich, poor, black, white, and every other category of American includes citizens, possibly a majority, who support the actions the United States has taken in the war on terrorism. We as a people are supporting the suppression of freedom both directly and through our silence.
Freedom to dissent and question the actions of government were principles of freedom our founding fathers embraced as reasons for starting a revolution.
If we don't have enough confidence in the strength of freedom and its principles, the rest of the world, friends and enemies alike, will believe that we are weak, and they will be right.
