SACRIFICE; My Belief
On September the 11th, enemies of freedom committed an act of war against our country. Americans have known wars, but for the past 136 years they have been wars on foreign soil, except for one Sunday in 1941. Americans have known the casualties of war, but not at the center of a great city on a peaceful morning. Americans have known surprise attacks, but never before on thousands of civilians. All of this was brought upon us in a single day, and night fell on a different world, a world where freedom itself is under attack. These were the words this nation heard on September the 21st, 2001 from our President George W. Bush, as our military prepared for war.
After the tragic events on September the 11th, our country was changed forever. The horrific memories of that day will never be forgotten. Four of our nations own commercial aircraft, filled with innocent civilians like you and me, were used as weapons against us. How could this be? The United States of America is the most powerful country; however, it had become lax, in national security.
America is the land of freedom and prosperity. When people can move to this country, learn to fly aircrafts in our aviation schools, and then pilot these planes into our cities, it is obvious there is too much freedom. Our government is trying to make adjustments to security, in order to keep this country a safe place to live. However, along with these changes may come changes in our everyday way of life? This is a small sacrifice for a greater cause.
In order to keep up with new age terror, our government has been attempting to introduce new security procedures such as the use of national electronic ID cards, “biometrics.” Biometrics is a method of identifying people by scanning and quantifying their physical characteristics. This is a new age method of screening who’s entering this country.
People of this country are concerned over the personal information being misused; however, the only information on these ID cards that differs from the information on any driver’s license will be fingerprints located on the back. Inevitably, these cards will eventually be forged, but the more ID’s and documents you need to legally enter this country, the more difficult it will become.
Officials ask for broad authority to inspect logs for Internet use and the address fields for e-mail messages.
Terrorists have been communicating through web pages and e-mail with encrypted messaging. Once again, the citizens of this country don’t like the thought of their e-mail being screened; however, random screening by law enforcement officials could intercept vital intelligence information that could save this country another tragedy.
Congress has elected to add electronic communications to existing laws governing telephone and video surveillance. This raises the argument of our civil rights to privacy being violated. The intelligence community wants to place electronic video surveillance cameras in public locations, work places, highly populated tourist areas, government and financial buildings, and mobile video units in housing communities across the United States. The fourth amendment reads, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
This surveillance would not be in our homes, and telephone wire taping occurs now with the proper warrants. The United States Bill of Rights clearly displays that heightened security, such as electronic surveillance is not violating our civil rights to privacy under the 4th amendment.
Winn Schwartau, a security consultant in Seminole Florida and the author of the books Information Warfare and Cybershock, agrees that electronic surveillance should not be a substitute for proven labor-intensive techniques. “We need human intelligence.”
I agree, we should not replace human intelligence with modern technology, but notice that along with human intelligence comes human sacrifice. Another perfect example of this spoiled society expecting the sacrifice to be made at someone else’s expense.
In March 1994, U.S. troops on an ill-fated humanitarian mission pulled out of Mogadishu, Somalia. But what few Americans realize is that during this mission, U.S. troops were faced with the most sustained and bloody battle fought by American soldiers since the Vietnam War. Late in the afternoon of October 3, 1993, the soldiers of Task Force Ranger were sent on a mission to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade Somalian warlord and return to base. This mission was supposed to take less than an hour, but instead the soldiers were pinned down in the heart of Mogadishu and locked in a desperate struggle of kill or be killed. For more than 15 hours, U.S. soldiers were caught in a bloody firefight that resulted in 18 American casualties and the deaths of some 500 local inhabitants. Thirty-Five U.S. soldiers from various elite Special Forces groups faced over a thousand renegade Somali’s. The end result display’s the integrity and strength of the men and women who serve to protect this nation. Black Hawk Down tells the story of that battle, from the eyes of the pilots and soldiers who struggled to survive.
A coward dies a thousand deaths; a soldier dies but once. The soldiers of our great military (like the soldiers in Black Hawk Down) bravely leave their spouses and children for a foreign land to proudly lay down their lives for this country, the ultimate sacrifice. It’s about time the citizens of this country sacrifice a little for the future safety of this great nation.
No Mercy
