Not to belabor a point, but I do not feel sorry for them, I feel sorry for us. When the people of the country, that has demonstrated to the world, for over 200 years, the power of an open and free society, can be cowed into willing ceding, the very rights that make it an open and free society, in the belief that it will make them safe, the battle is lost.
Whether we detain, 600, 600,000, or 6,000,000, it only takes the one terrorist, who is willing to die. The security and safety you seek, by conceding rights, is a mirage.
A countryÂ’s greatest danger is from within. The barbarians did, not conquer the Roman Empire; they merely feed on the decaying carcass, of a state whose people no longer possessed that, which had made them Romans.
Fear of external danger, is the weapon that despots use to conquer their own people. Hitler appealed to fears of Bolsheviks, Jews, and national impotency, and the German people willing abandoned their constitutional government, for the security and strength he promised. They gained neither.
Our government is now trying to convince us, that by our willingly allowing the dilution of rights, we can achieve security from terrorism and become more potent in the fight against it. This will make us no more secure and, what will be left is a stronger government, ruling over an impotent people.
Since 9/11, when the war on terror began, around 6000 American civilians and military personnel have been killed. By contrast, over the same 4-year period, around 150,000 people died in traffic related accidents and around 50,000 died from intentional homicides committed by a firearm. If you are willing to cede your rights to save 6000 lives, are you also willing to cede the Second Amendment, and turn in your car to save 200,000 lives?
I am not attempting to diminish the barbarity of these terrorists or trivialize them by comparing them to traffic accidents and simple homicides, or suggest we should not confront and destroy terrorists. I am however trying to put the danger we face from terrorism in prospective. It is a far greater probability that one will die in a traffic accident or be the victim of an intentional homicide, then as the result of a terrorist act. Is your freedom worth it?
Once we begin allowing the erosion, of the prohibitions against the government, denying ANY of the rights, as enumerated in the Bill of Rights for the sake of security, or any for other reason, it is only a matter of time before we find ourselves with no rights.
Life is no joke but funny things happen
jon