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Sept. 10, 2006 Our U.S. legal system was designed for use by middle class, gentlemanly Anglo-Saxons. It is sort of like a boxing match with padded gloves, following the Marquess Of Queensberry rules. But our present conflict with international terrorists is more like Asian kick boxing or karate, designed to inflict maximum damage, and it makes our main legal system look desperately outdated. We can no longer afford to wait until suspected terrorists commit a crime, sufficient incriminating evidence is collected, and then have an American style trial and possible short imprisonment. Since the 9/11 disaster, the Bush Government has realized that we have to quickly grab such suspects and throw them into detention at Guantanamo, and not provide them with a Harvard Law School type defense attorney like Alan Dershowitz. The modern capability of damage is too powerful, and suicide bombers are not going to be deterred by the fear of imprisonment. (Were the 9/11 Muslim extremists deterred by fear of imprisonment?) Our enemies want to kill thousands of civilians if possible, and judging by conflicts going on in Africa, maybe millions. A truck bomb set off upwind of Washington or New York, laden with nuclear waste dust bought from a starving country like North Korea could do it. Inevitably, some mistakes will be made, which cause a few innocent people to be imprisoned. If that continues to prevent another 9/11 (or worse), it will be a necessary trade-off. (About 30,000 people die in automobile accidents every year in the U.S., but we are not outlawing cars.) At least, we are really trying hard to avoid such mistakes. On page WK-4 of the Sept. 10, 2006 New York Times, it was reported that 22 suspected Muslim extremists have been set free so far, because of poor quality evidence. But, so far, I have not read of any such people being imprisoned where friends and relatives of the prisoners all clamor for release based on obvious innocence. (If that begins to happen a lot, then maybe we should reconsider our strategy.) However, it seems like the friends and relatives are more likely to be proud of their "martyrdom." A liberal concern about the Bush strategy is encroachment on our privacy, especially regarding telephone and e-mail monitoring. As far as I am concerned, personally, the FBI is going to be bored stiff if they monitor my communications. Maybe my messages to old girlfriends before I was married would be embarrassing if made public, but I am not really ashamed of any of it. I think we ordinary folks who are not trying to get maps of the N.Y. City water supply system have nothing to fear from the FBI and CIA all rolled up together. ------------ About the author: Dan Shanefield is a retired engineering prof, who worked at Bell Labs and then at Rutgers University. He wrote the book "Industrial Electronics for Engineers, Chemists, and Technicians". Visit his website or email: shanefield@ieee.org Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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