The Real Victim Of The War On Terrorism

September 3, 2003

September 11, 2001.   In some ways it seems like decades ago.   In other ways it's hard to believe it's been two years since the worst attacks ever against Americans on American soil.   As we reflect back, it's useful to assess where we are in our domestic fight against terrorism.   No doubt our efforts overseas have netted numerous members of the al-Qaeda network.   Even if you don't believe Saddam Hussein had anything at all to do with September 11, it's undeniable that he was a terrorist.   Now he's been swept from power, his brutal sons killed and his ability to terrorize the people of Iraq snuffed out.

 

But how about our domestic fight against terrorism?

 

We now have the Patriot Act.   Proponents maintain that it will, and already is, making us safer by allowing the government to target those terrorists among us.   Opponents argue that it portends a future that may be more secure but will certainly be more restricted.   About 165 municipalities across the country are choosing to ignore certain provisions of the Patriot Act, some out of defiance of losing freedom but many others out of motivation to protect illegal aliens residing in this country.

 

Is the Patriot Act just window dressing?

 

The objectionable provisions that many of these municipalities are resisting require local authorities to assist the federal government in “observing” illegal aliens in this country.   Observing?   If we can see them why are they still here?  

 

You see, we can check every little old lady going through airport security for explosives.   We can randomly tag an air traveler for extra scrutiny.   But until we expel people from this country who run the greatest risk of doing us harm we're merely fooling ourselves.   That's not to say that citizens of Arab descent should be made to uproot their families and leave.   What I'm saying is that any non-citizen here from a country that our state department deems to be a terrorist state should be asked to leave.

 

How hard is that?

 

I don't want to hear all the excuses and the whining from people who say so-and-so isn't a terrorist.   He's just a hard-working immigrant who loves America.   That may be so but we just can't take the chance.   In the meantime, the federal government wants to know what I'm buying, where I'm buying it, how much cash I'm withdrawing from my account and my movements around the country.   All this because the politically correct stand in the way of common sense.   The common sense approach is to inconvenience the non-citizens, not the citizens.

 

Sound cold?   So be it but I've grown tired of playing the suspect while the real threats are roaming free within our borders.    The simple fact of the matter is this: Had airport employees been allowed to screen based on national origin, the hijackers, at least most of them, would've been detained and the Twin Towers would still be standing.   Instead, Mohamed Atta and his henchmen were waved through security and onto the doomed flights of September 11.   All because Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta fiercely forbade the use of standard police profiling to keep our airlines safe.   Even after September 11 he refused to succumb to common sense.

 

Are we safer now than we were two years ago?   It can be argued that since we haven't had another attack here in the last two years, we are.   However, most people are still waiting for the other shoe to drop.   As long as record numbers of illegal aliens roam our streets, we'll continue to wait.