|
Treating Its Citizens as Enemy--A Bad Policy for Any Government
In the New York Times story
Criminal Inquiry Opens Into Spying Leak, Trent Duffy,
spokesman for President Bush in Crawford, Texas, read the
following from a prepared statement:
"The leaking of classified information is a serious issue. The
fact is that Al Qaeda's playbook is not printed on Page 1, and
when America's is, it has serious ramifications. You don't need
to be Sun Tzu to understand that."
Unlike Bush and Duffy, Sun Tzu did understand the ramifications
of the President's stance, and why it is ineffective as well as
wrong.
First of all, Al Qaeda's playbook is printed on Page 1.
The US intelligence community, military and nonmilitary, has
long been considered poor on basic library research skills.
Whether they don't value them, emphasizing fieldwork over
homework, or don't make use of the results when they don't like
what they find is moot. The intelligence community and the Bush
administration have made numerous mistakes that most reasonably
informed citizens knew were mistakes. Many folks here and abroad
told this administration why in time to prevent the errors. The
administration ignored them.
It's not that Bush and the US intelligence community don't know
that a good researcher can find out just about anything they
want to know about every organization and entity in the world at
the public library. They do know that. That's why they are very
concerned about who's reading what at the library.
You don't need a library to find out how to make a bomb, dirty
or otherwise, or any of the lethal, terrorist things that Bush
claims justifies spying on American citizens including what they
look at when in the library. You can find out all that stuff on
the Internet. Even Al Qaeda's playbook. It's not like it or any
other terrorist group has been innovative. The same as their US
intelligence counterparts (and they are mirror images of each
other), they have little imagination and a lot of arrogance.
They follow each other like sheep doing what the other does. See
what the US does and you know what the terrorist groups will do.
Watch the terrorist groups and learn the next move of the US.
You need the library to delve into the kinds of records where
effective means of changing institutions can be found. You need
a library to research the root causes of current problems using
primary sources so that you can resolve the underlying issues.
You need the library to check the written record, which can be
and is sometimes altered on a web site, whether personal or
government. Good decision-making as well as innovation come from
informed thought--something noticeably lacking in the
current White House occupants.
But, secondly and most importantly, any branch of government
unilaterally keeping secrets from the other branches only
benefits the evil-doers. The bad guys, whether in government or
elsewhere, all get to make unsubstantiated claims of
questionable accuracy. Concealed under the cloak of those
claims, they all get to follow personal agendas which may or may
not have anything to do with their avowed purposes.
As most US citizens know, the reason our founders created three
major branches of government--executive, legislative, and
judicial--was to provide checks and balances through
review of each other's actions. They knew that no single
branch of government could be counted on to do its job properly
without being checked and balanced by others of equal
stature and force. History showed that only too clearly.
Indeed, there are no modern examples of secret, autocratic
governments, such as we see now with the Bush administration,
with a flourishing middle class except in the short term. This
kind of government only benefits a very limited group of wealthy
elite and their cronies. These governments have all ended or are
ending badly--usually not just for the government itself but
also for the people in the country as well.
Even Machiavelli warned against government that trampled the
rights of the governed and decreased their benefits. Instead,
the Bush administration has been following the "playbook" set
out by the Spanish Inquisition and calling those methods of
governance and interrogation innovative and legal. Water
boarding is new? Oh please.
But you don't have to be particularly well-read to see the
effects of autocratic rule, just be a parent. You may get your
children to submit to your will, but they then become sneaky to
get their way while building up resentment at your lack of
fairness. Think back to when you were a child. "Do what I say
not what I do" doesn't work as a parenting rule of thumb.
Children do what they see done. It doesn't work for governance
either.
It doesn't matter if all prisoners say they aren't guilty. The
fact is that prisoners tend to know who is and isn't guilty, and
treating the innocent the same as the guilty emphasizes to both
innocent and guilty that actual innocence and guilt don't
matter. Who you are matters and who your friends are--and, most
importantly, not getting caught matters. Muzzling the
whistle-blowers (if you are the government) and snitches (if you
are the guilty--and who says the government and the guilty can't
be one and the same) matters. Maintaining a smokescreen matters.
Being innocent is no shield against mistreatment and torture,
so the obvious conclusion is there's little benefit to abiding
by the law. The guilty hide since getting caught is the only
meaningful problem in such a situation and elude the
authorities. The innocent are gathered up indiscriminately, or
turned in by the bigoted or people with a grudge against them,
and tortured until they confess to whatever it is their
torturers want to hear.
We don't need citizens to feel they won't be protected from
abuse by the government and malicious neighbors. We don't need
citizens to feel the government acts to benefit only itself and
its cronies at citizens' expense. We don't need scofflaws in
government. Those things encourage general lawlessness and swell
the ranks of terrorists.
And, that means we need what our Constitution sets forth, open
government. Disperse the smoke. People must see what's happening
and decide what is right and what is wrong. In this country,
oversight is done by our elected representatives. The innocent
need to know they will have due process so that they can
demonstrate their innocence, and continue to feel there is value
in being law-abiding.
The three branches of government must be equal and responsible
partners--even in wartime.
And, when judged wrong, the offending branch of government must
stop its wrongdoing, not persecute the people who point out its
mistakes. The other two branches of government have a
responsibility to make the offending branch stop if it refuses
to do so voluntarily. Everyone hopes that no one will step over
the line on his or her watch, but when it happens, dealing with
it is the responsibility that goes with the perks of office.
We shouldn't be maintaining concentration camps to hold people
on the basis of their religion or gulags for political
prisoners. Not here, not anywhere. Unfortunately, we only have
the word of an administration which has repeatedly been caught
in blatant and gross falsehoods that there has been any benefit
at all in its harassing and imprisoning people in these places,
and only its word that religion and politics don't form the
bases for the harassment and imprisonment. It sure looks like
religion and politics are the bases. People, including American
soldiers, are dying or being grievously and permanently injured
because of Bush administration falsehoods.
History says not only is there no benefit to religious and
political persecution, but such actions harm the country that
allows those things to continue.
Bush and Duffy need to take time out from vacationing and
frat-house partying to actually read Sun Tzu's The Art of
War and Machiavelli's The Prince (not the CliffsNotes
version, but the unabridged version). Those two books may be the
most misunderstood yet most (mis)quoted ever written to justify
the unjustifiable by ignorant autocrats. How this administration
behaves both at home and abroad and excuses its behavior have
been shown for centuries to be the action mainstays of losers.
Oh, and the US Constitution also frowns on it.
About the author:
Diana Kirk, a
researcher and analyst with the Hoover Institution, SRI
International, and the Rand Corporation before founding her
company The Writer's
Place, also taught social science research methodologies at
Stanford University and Mills College.
Diana Kirk
More Articles
Government Education Loans - Max Bellamy
This article provides useful, detailed information about Government Education Loans.
Educational loans are meant for people who cannot afford education. They are a great way to complete higher studies if limited by...
Government Overregulation of Broadcast Content Could Backfire - Terry Mitchell
Rush is right! The government's stepped up bid to regulate broadcast television content is indeed frightening. Limbaugh made his comments during one of his regular radio broadcasts last year. Those remarks were in response to the FCC's crackdown on...
Franchising Democracy and Creating Cohesive World Government - Lance Winslow
There are so many problems with our perceived perfect checks and balances system of our government, that one cannot use the exact United States version model of government to create a franchise agreement for future governments of the world. A...
The Truth About Government and Bank Seized Real Estate Auctions - John Lee
(Discover Hidden Gems by Avoiding Potential
Pitfalls and Fraudulent Websites.)
Submitted by: John Lee
WorldWideReviews
http://moneyemployment.worldwidereviews.com/SeizedRealEstate-GovBankProperties.htm
Seized Property for 90% off...
Government Benefits – For Those On Low Incomes - Benedict Rohan
One of a series examining the different types of government benefits, this guide looks at some of the options available to assist those who’re on a low income and are struggling to support themselves or their families. Income support – this is a...
Government Loans And Why You Never Default! - Julia Tanner
There are many types of government loans out there – loans to go to school, to start a small business, and even to buy a house. It is considered a social service for the government to provide funding and financing to certain people in the...
Who Really Runs the U.S. Government Today - Gary Revel
On November 22, 1963 the United States of America was taken over by a powerful group of individuals that included a number of CIA special team operatives, some employees and officials of the government and members of the Mafia. They did this by...
Use the Government Programs We Already Have - Darrin F Coe MA
I’ve been doing some research for an electronic book that I decided to write and self-publish over the internet. This research has led me to some conclusions concerning our country and the possibilities that exist for citizens to create wealth and a...
Federal Government Jobs—7 Important Tips to Help Your Federal Job Search - Sean Dunagan
Despite constant calls by politicians and policy makers to reign in government spending, the federal government remains the largest employer in the United States. According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, there are currently more than...
Debt Consolidation with Free Government Grants? One Scam to Avoid - Charles Essmeier
Have you ever seen a commercial or an ad promising “free government grant money?” According to these ads, the government and other organizations give away nearly one half a trillion dollars each year, and all you need to do is apply! The ads go...
Collective of Concepts to Better Understand your Public Administration & e-Government [0803] - S Maurer
Publishing Guidelines: You may publish my article in your newsletter, on your website or in your print publication provided you include the resource box at the end. Notification would be appreciated but is not required. By S. Maurer Imagine an...
Combating West Nile Virus is a Concern for Government and Homeowners - ARA
(ARA) - West Nile Virus is a growing threat that infected 4,156 Americans and caused 284 deaths last year alone. Local health officials are in a race to discover effective methods of containing the disease that flies on the wings of a tiny...
|
