Obama has difficult job balancing privacy and security
“To the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee.” H. Melville
In the 21st century there is a terror that lurks beneath the waves of humanity. It periodically rears its ugly head, decimates the unsuspecting, then sinks beneath those waves until the next time al-Qaeda resurfaces. This poisonous cabal is inspired by a noxious concoction of an unbridled rage, a twisted world view and a warped theology, resulting in carnage for the cause of Jihad.
The challenge that faces President Obama, our intelligence agencies, our military and our nation is two-fold: first, how do we hunt down and destroy an enemy that has mastered the tactic of terror through stealth? In Melville’s classic work, “Moby Dick,” he describes the effect of terror by observing, “His very panics are more to be dreaded than his most fearless and malicious assaults.”
That ever-present terror leads to the second challenge of how we diligently protect our freedoms and liberties without losing them through increased electronic surveillance, court-approved warrants, searches and wire-taps, developing terrorist lists, increased cyber-security and other necessary measures.
In recent months President Obama and his administration have been accused of crossing certain legal thresholds. These accusations continually raise the question of how we balance our need for national security with the need for protecting classified intelligence gathered by our government.
The administration will continue to take the position that, in an effort to stay ahead of terrorist attacks, aggressive measures were taken to protect American lives.
Others will charge that the president and his administration have abused their powers, circumvented personal liberties and are hiding pertinent information in the name of national security. The truth is that only time will tell whether the lines of propriety have actually been crossed.
Republicans need to remember that when George W. Bush was confronting terrorism, those on the political right were likely to quote the late Senator Barry Goldwater’s advice, “That extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice!” I don’t doubt for one second that Republicans and Democrats both want to see that our country is protected, but at this juncture in history no one can succinctly and consistently define what “too extreme” always means.
If a Republican president had implemented the same measures that President Obama has, wouldn’t supporters regard that person as a champion of freedom? At the same time, wouldn’t an outraged chorus of criticisms be rising from angry Democrats?
Though some might liken president Obama to the dictatorial Captain Ahab in Melville’s novel; others will be inclined to view him as the perceptive and noble Ishmael who bravely faced the ominous terror beneath the waves.
The reality is that President Obama took the Oval Office and was faced with the unenviable task of trying to plan, organize, implement and control a global war on terrorism. In his second State of the Union the president not only confronted the war on terrorism, but he specifically focused on the need to protect our cherished American freedoms when he stated:
“I recognize that in our democracy, no one should just take my word that we’re doing things the right way. So, in the months ahead, I will continue to engage with Congress to ensure not only that our targeting, detention and prosecution of terrorists remains consistent with our laws and system of checks and balances but that our efforts are even more transparent to the American people and to the world.”
“Transparency” in the minds of many is one of the collateral damages sustained by collecting and protecting information regarding the identity of terrorists, their objectives, strategies, movements and financing.
In the process of achieving both internal transparency and external vigilance, we are confronted by the massive size, complexity and inefficiency of our own government. In short, we are now faced with the reality that we are stuck in the quagmire of investigating our own investigations.
Melville described Moby Dick as an evil, “Which, like Satan, would not sink to hell till she had dragged a living part of heaven along with her.” That depiction describes the ambition of al-Qaeda and why lawmakers in Washington need to find the balance between covert operations and constitutional obligation.
Larry Douglas is a resident of Waynesburg.