2008 Woodie Awards
Keeping freedoms alive is imperative, even at the risk of potential danger
Ian Parker '10
Issue date: 10/24/07 Section: Opinion
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There has recently been a great debate about the use of torture and domestic spying in this country. When the New York Times revealed two weeks ago that the government continued to justify the use of the harshest interrogation techniques in defiance of law, Congress became furious, and rightly so. The government's constant contempt of oversight, supervision, or caution is inexcusable. When coupled with its suspension of rights for people accused of being "enemy combatants," it becomes almost criminal. This is an old argument, but a necessary one. The abuses must stop for the good of the country.
There are those who argue that we are in a war for the survival of our country and that suspension of rights for some people is necessary to win that war. They bring up the "ticking time bomb" scenario, a hypothetical situation in which the government has custody of a prisoner who knows exactly where a particular bomb will go off. Torture will get the prisoner to reveal the location of the bomb. Without it, hundreds of innocent people may die. Logically, it makes sense to torture one man to save hundreds. The people who will detail this situation will also bring up the fact that we are in a war and that unpleasant measures are sometimes necessary in times of war.
This war, though, is unlike any other war we have ever been in. It is, for one thing, an open-ended war, one where we are not even sure who our enemies will be on any given day. It is a certainty that it will also last for decades, if not longer. In this kind of fluid, changing environment, it does not make sense for citizens to give up their liberty to combat an enemy they cannot even see, when this sacrifice could well last beyond their lifetimes. If we abandon the use of secret police, domestic spies, and torture, will some people die? Probably. There is no doubt that torture will sometimes convince enemies to give information when no other method would. When we must make a choice between liberty and security, though, liberty should always win. Nothing is more important than ensuring that America stands for what is right and decent in this world. There is no point to "winning"-if that word can even be used in our complicated situation-if we lose that sense of morality that has always made the American people special.
Although we are in a new kind of war, it does have one precedent: the Cold War. Like the situation we are now in, the Cold War lasted for decades against an enemy that used terror and a brutal, foreign ideology to increase its power. Unlike now, though, America chose not to let that fact change what kind of country it was. Throughout the war, freedoms remained intact. Rather than being a liability for our enemies to use against us, our freedoms ended up being one of our best weapons in the fight against communism. Freedom served as a rallying point for countries across the globe.
We can do that again. Once again, we face an expansionary, authoritarian power. We will not defeat them anytime soon, so it is left to us to try to limit their expansion in any way we can. The best way to do that is to provide an example to the world of the society that is possible without fear and without oppression. America can and should be that shining light on the hill.
There are those who argue that we are in a war for the survival of our country and that suspension of rights for some people is necessary to win that war. They bring up the "ticking time bomb" scenario, a hypothetical situation in which the government has custody of a prisoner who knows exactly where a particular bomb will go off. Torture will get the prisoner to reveal the location of the bomb. Without it, hundreds of innocent people may die. Logically, it makes sense to torture one man to save hundreds. The people who will detail this situation will also bring up the fact that we are in a war and that unpleasant measures are sometimes necessary in times of war.
This war, though, is unlike any other war we have ever been in. It is, for one thing, an open-ended war, one where we are not even sure who our enemies will be on any given day. It is a certainty that it will also last for decades, if not longer. In this kind of fluid, changing environment, it does not make sense for citizens to give up their liberty to combat an enemy they cannot even see, when this sacrifice could well last beyond their lifetimes. If we abandon the use of secret police, domestic spies, and torture, will some people die? Probably. There is no doubt that torture will sometimes convince enemies to give information when no other method would. When we must make a choice between liberty and security, though, liberty should always win. Nothing is more important than ensuring that America stands for what is right and decent in this world. There is no point to "winning"-if that word can even be used in our complicated situation-if we lose that sense of morality that has always made the American people special.
Although we are in a new kind of war, it does have one precedent: the Cold War. Like the situation we are now in, the Cold War lasted for decades against an enemy that used terror and a brutal, foreign ideology to increase its power. Unlike now, though, America chose not to let that fact change what kind of country it was. Throughout the war, freedoms remained intact. Rather than being a liability for our enemies to use against us, our freedoms ended up being one of our best weapons in the fight against communism. Freedom served as a rallying point for countries across the globe.
We can do that again. Once again, we face an expansionary, authoritarian power. We will not defeat them anytime soon, so it is left to us to try to limit their expansion in any way we can. The best way to do that is to provide an example to the world of the society that is possible without fear and without oppression. America can and should be that shining light on the hill.
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