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Originally Posted by Tam9  You'd have to catch them first. What would you do to prevent yet another strike? That's why our means of obtaining intelligence has to be top notch and your objection to our losing some of our "personal liberties" is in question here. I'd be willing to forego some of mine to prevent another attack, or worse. |
Well, that's the issue. Has the erosion of liberties provided substantial protection? What form of protection has it provided? The assertion seems to be that it has provided intel, classified intel that has thwarted attacks. Now, we can't know what that intel is even after the attack has been thwarted. We can't have any indication of what protection we are receiving for the liberties we are being asked to give. All we have is the bare ipse dixit of those receiving the additional power.
Oh yeah, and we also have lawyers who have reviewed the documents saying there are no dangerous secrets, generals within the military opining that we haven't received much beneficial information regarding terror, and no less than the CIA stating that most of the prisoners held at Gitmo should never have been there.
I do not find freedom cheap. If we're going to sell our freedom, we should at least get a decent return on investment.
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I thought we were talking about freedom and what it takes to obtain and maintain it. Also, there are no personal liberties to be had without freedom.
The big, bad terrorists out there would love nothing more than to be able to take all that away from us and impose their rules of law and ways of life on us. I guess the question is - how far would you be willing to go to maintain your current freedom and personal liberties?
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Well, we were talking about Sarah Palin
. She had supported Bush's policies of keep Gitmo open, providing additional authority to the executive branch, and using "state secrets" rationale to prevent any real inquiry. Obama opined that most of these measures were excessive and has done some work to scale them back. Unfortunately, many of the measures are still in place and the justifications remain the same.
As to how far I, personally, would go: it is not especially relevant. The discussion is one of what we, as a society, should do.
To answer the question, I would give my life to preserve this country. I've taken oaths to faithfully defend the Constitution and the laws of this country and I intend to do so to the best of my ability. I've taken less lucrative jobs that require longer hours in order to do my part. I take this seriously.