Writing Feedback / 9/11 Afghanistan paper to review; "little temporary safety" [3]

Imagine a country that was attacked by its own government, placed on entitlement programs that could not go on forever but were in fact in place to ensure the public was dependable upon a group of people, a country that claimed one ideal but was slowly turning itself into the opposite. At this point in American history this generation had been witness to a horrific attack on its homeland, watched as the implementation of social programs such as; Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, Obamacare has been accepted and seen its freedoms slowly taken away for the sake of security.

'They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.' - Benjamin Franklin
Today the American public is subject to endless surveillance and bureaucratic procedures designed to keep us safe and somehow this has become part of daily life for the vast majority of the public. The government is in charge of enacting these policies, but has it gone too far as it seems like many are breaching some of our most basic freedoms. The war in Afghanistan has dragged on for decade making it the longest lasting war in the history of the country, so the question lingers "for what?"- it took four years to get through a civil war, four years to win the second World War and the war in Afghanistan has gone on longer than our revolution and many other conflicts. Those were all outstanding reasons to fight, and although war fighting techniques have changed over time as well as the opponent, why has it taken so long for the U.S. to accomplish its goals in Afghanistan and what is the outcome for our country.

Ask yourself, why did we go to war with Afghanistan in the first place? The common answer would be "to chase down and eliminate Osama Bin Laden" which then turned into "to eliminate the Taliban" which then turned into "to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people". Are these reasons acceptable today as reasons to spend billions of dollars, sacrifice thousands of lives and tarnish the name of this great nation? The military has accomplished no great feat outside of killing Osama Bin Laden, which took nearly a decade to finally accomplish. The war is in place to keep the public aware that there is an impending attack around every corner and therefore "you" the American citizen should be willing to make some sort of sacrifice or give up some sort of freedom because in doing so you will feel safer at home. Go back to the months after the attacks of 9/11, the public sits at night to watch the news when a "terror level" change comes across the screen. All of a sudden the likelihood of a terror attack was increased and the nation was on watch. This went on for months as the government meant to keep us in constant fear that another attack was pending. The funny thing about that is the military has a system in place called "Force Protection" which is a system used to alert the military of any pending or actual attacks on U.S. soil. Using a system with four letters each of which with a different meaning: FPCON NORMAL- all clear FPCON ALPHA-no threat but standard security should be in place, FPCON BRAVO- heightened sense of alert for potential attack, FPCON CHARLIE- attack on U.S. soil is imminent, FPCON DELTA- attack is taking place on U.S. soil. The last time the country was in DELTA was the day of 9/11, with the level decreasing the day after the attack to CHARLIE for a few days to finally sit in BRAVO for a few weeks until settling at ALPHA months later. At the same time the civilian equivalent "terror levels" were changing daily even hourly. This is a clear example of the government using a tool to keep the public at bay and aware that their lives were now subject to an attack at any moment.

The terrorists used airplanes to attack the country so naturally the government would have to implement some sort of security in airports as the system in place failed on 9/11. The Transportation Security Administration was put into place in 2002 as part of the Department of Homeland Security, another agency put into place after 9/11. Where else in the world is the average U.S. citizen prone to such screening and security? Whether it is a typical metal detector or the controversial body scanners that are in place, each person must wait in line to be screened for banned items. There are cameras at intersections watching traffic and pedestrians, SWAT teams at peaceful demonstrations, increased police at local events and the NYPD is using drone aircraft. Lately the government seems to be pressing gun control, which someday may infringe upon the Second Amendment. This all seems to show that a police state is being slowly implemented upon the country one small move after another.

The USA Patriot Act was passed through Congress and was sold to the public as a tool that law enforcement could use to gather more information on terrorist groups. Once read through and more understood many began to see through the act and uncover items that contradict the U.S. constitution. The first item comes from Amendment IV of the Bill of Rights: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized". The Patriot Act allows the government the power to search and seize Americans' papers and effects without probable cause to assist terror investigations ("CCAPA"). The government is now allowed to monitor any U.S. citizens' bank account without their knowledge, claiming to use the information to track donations to terror groups, but the use has no limit and may be used to track or monitor anyone at any time.

Amendment VI states: "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speed and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense". The government now has the power to indefinitely detain anyone, including an American citizen without providing counsel or the right to a trial. The government could literally take a citizen out of their home with no charge against that person, detain them in unknown quarters and never have to answer for the whereabouts or provide and rights under judicial law. These over-broad definitions of terrorism, along with new powers of search and seizure have seriously undermined the principles of free speech, due process, and equal protection under law ("CCAPA"). In regards to the increased surveillance for example Amendment I reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances". Clearly disregarding freedom of association, to assist in terror investigations, the government may monitor religious and political institutions without suspecting criminal activity. Why would the government feel the need to monitor peaceful assembly such as a church group or a group of concerned citizens and if the government has come to the point where groups of people are assembling to talk about the government negatively, shouldn't the government look to please the people, not watch them in secret awaiting some sort of attack? Lastly, Amendment I states: "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech...". The government may prosecute librarians or keepers of any other record if they tell anyone the government subpoenaed information related to a terror investigation ("CCAPA").

In the months and years following 9/11 some 1,271 government organizations and 1,931 private companies work on programs related to counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence in aboue 10,000 locations across the United States (Ghazali). Most are aware of the Military Industrial Complex first made public by an American President, where the government hands out contracts to companies that then make up a broad group of military suppliers. This group has only grown since 9/11 as new challenges were presented to the government. Today an estimated 854,000 people, nearly 1.5 times the amount of people that live in Washington D.C. hold top-secret security clearances. In Washington D.C. and the surrounding area, 33 building complexes for top-secret intelligence work are under construction or have been built since September 2001. These along with no fewer than 263 intelligence and counterterrorism organizations that have been created or reorganized occupy the equivalent of almost three Pentagons or 22 U.S. Capital buildings- about 17 million square feet of space (Ghazali). Lastly, 51 federal organizations and military commands, operating in 15 U.S. cities, track the flow of money to and from terrorist networks, and analysts who make sense of these documents and conversations obtained by foreign and domestic spying share their judgment by publishing 50,000 intelligence reports each year- a volume so large that many are routinely ignored (Ghazali).

Now that what's happening today is understood it is important to understand how the public was persuaded and manipulated into giving up these things. Later in the text the paper will talk about the acts taken on 9/11 but it will first speak to the current war in Afghanistan. A war that as of today is the longest running war in American history, longer than two world wars, a civil war that divided a country and a revolution that took place over two-hundred years ago. While war fighting tactics have changed it is clear that this war did not have a clear objective and began for all the wrong reasons. The country was told the goal was to capture and kill Osama Bin Laden, but throughout has changed into so much more.

Operation Enduring Freedom (October 7, 2001-present) began with ground forces of the Afghan United Front working with U.S. and British special forces and with massive U.S. air support, ousted the Taliban regime from power in Kabul and most of Afghanistan in a matter of weeks. Most of the senior Taliban leadership fled to neighboring Pakistan in a matter of weeks ("War in Afghanistan (2001-present) " ). Nearly ten years later Osama Bin Laden is captured in a compound in Pakistan while troops had been patrolling the hills of Afghanistan for nearly a decade. In late 2001 the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was established by the UN Security Council to secure Kabul and the surrounding areas. NATO assumed control to ISAF in 2003, including troops from 42 countries ("War in Afghanistan (2001-present) " ). The stated aim was to fight the Taliban and to find Bin Laden and other high ranking al-Qaeda members to be put on trial, and to destroy the organization at all costs. In December 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that he would deploy an additional 30,000 soldiers over a period of six months. He also set a withdrawal date for the year 2014. In June 2011, President Obama announces that 10,000 troops would be withdrawn by the end of 2011, and an additional 23,000 troops would leave the country by the summer of 2012 ("War in Afghanistan (2001-present) " ). The United States and its NATO allies finalized agreements on 18 April 2012 to wind down the war in Afghanistan by formalizing three commitments: to move the Afghans gradually into a lead combat role, to keep some international troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014, and to pay billions of dollars a year to help support the Afghan security forces("War in Afghanistan (2001-present) " ). Notice in that timeline there was no major accomplishment talked about, no major happening highlighted. The only item with that detail would be the capture of Bin Laden late in the decade. After a decade of war, billions of dollars, thousands of lives, and so much more impact that cannot be address in the cover what is there to say was accomplished. By no means is that statement to take away from the men and women fighting the fight; however what were they fighting for? When the war kicked off the goal was to capture anyone dealing with the bad guys but as a nation watched the toll of war take its toll was it worth it? Can the American people hold their head high and feel as if they won a war, made some major feat come to fruition. The answer is no, but perhaps some good is to come of it, even if that good isn't seen by the average American. As China continues to grow and Russia a constant uncertain threat, the U.S. feels the need to expand to southeast Europe and Asia, Iraq and Afghanistan are a central point in the center of these combined areas ("Project for the New American Century").

In an August 2001 meeting by the Bush administration's top national security officials it was agreed that the Taliban in negotiations would be presented with a final ultimatum to hand over Bin Laden and other leading al-Qaeda operatives. If the Taliban refused covert military aid would be channeled by the U.S. to anti-Taliban groups. If both those options failed, "the deputies agreed that the United States would seek to overthrow the Taliban regime through more direct action". ("War in Afghanistan (2001-present)"). On his visit to Europe in March 2001 anti-Taliban leader Ahmad Shah Massoud had warned that his intelligence had gathered information about a large scale attack on U.S. soil being imminent. His intelligence staff was aware that the attack will be on a larger scale that the 1998 embassy bombing, which killed over two hundred people and injured thousands. On September 9, 2001 Massoud was the target of a suicide attack ("War in Afghanistan (2001-present)").

Section V of Rebuilding America's Defenses, entitled "Creating Tomorrow's Dominant Force", includes the sentence: "Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event--like a new Pearl Harbor" Some argue that PNAC members used the events of 9/11 as the "Pearl Harbor" that they needed--that is, as an "opportunity" to "capitalize on" in order to enact long-desired plans ("Project for the New American Century"). The Nazis pulled a similar trick with the Reichstag Fire barely a month after Hitler's appointment. Whether planned by the Nazi's or not, Hitler, who saw it as a "God-given signal" made political capital of it, suspending all political and civil liberties as a temporary measure for the "protection of the people and state", however these measures were never revoked (" "). In an instance code named Operation Northwoods during the early 1960's, America's top military leaders reportedly drafted plans to kill innocent people to commit acts of terrorism in U.S. cities to create public support for a war against Cuba. The plans reportedly included the possible assassination of Cuban émigrés, sinking boats of Cuban refugees, hijacking planes, blowing up a U.S. ship, and even orchestration violent terrorism in U.S. cities. "We could blow up a U.S. ship in Guantanamo Bay and blame Cuba," and, "casualty lists in U.S. newspapers would cause a helpful wave of national indignation." The plans had the written approval of all of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and were presented to President Kennedy's defense secretary, Robert McNamara, in March 1962 were rejected by civilian leadership and have gone undisclosed for nearly 40 years.

After nearly a decade of war the American public faces many adversities; from social to economical and political all of which stem from a government focused on keeping the public at bay. The sooner the majority of the public realizes what is being fed to them the sooner something can be done about it. The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was put in place by the founding father as a way to keep the government under control by allowing the people to carry weapons and organize within. Today this is being challenged and where the situation goes from here is up to the American public.