Guest Commentary

GOVERNMENT POSES GREATER THREAT

As we mark the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, it's important to
challenge the conventional wisdom that terrorism poses the greatest threat
to our lives and liberty. Speaking bluntly -- it doesn't. Yes, terrorists
took over 3,000 lives a year ago. And eventually there may be more
terrorist attacks, and more innocent lives may be lost. But we need to
remind ourselves that far more lives are lost every year due to the
misguided policies of our own government. Americans die because government
denies them the right to carry a weapon. Americans die because violent
felons are released from jail to make room for non-violent drug users
serving federally mandated sentences. Americans die because the FDA denies
them access to new life-saving medicines. Americans die because they are
prevented from using medical marijuana to control the nausea produced by
chemotherapy and AIDS medications. And, while would-be terrorists can
threaten our lives, they can't threaten our liberty. Only politicians
overreacting to the threat of terrorism can accomplish that.

As columnist Walter Williams recently wrote, "It's Washington, not Osama
bin Laden, that represents the greatest threat to both liberty and security."

Government officials promise that if we give up more of our liberty,
they'll give us safety in return. But when have they ever kept up their end
of the bargain? Legislation passed after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing
gave the government more police powers to "protect us" from terrorists. Yet
surrendering those liberties didn't result in safety on September 11.

Now the USA Patriot Act is the law of the land. National ID cards are
coming. President George Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft even
proposed creating a massive network of citizen informants and spies -- the
TIPS program -- that would have seemed right at home in Communist East
Germany. TIPS has been blocked for the moment, but it will be back. And if
there's another terrorist attack, it will probably pass.

Random roadblocks are occurring more frequently, and for ever more
ridiculous reasons. Unbelievably, Florida state troopers were recently
pulling drivers over to take a mass transit survey. And Americans are
putting up with it.

Every time you think that airport security measures can't get any more
absurd, you read about a situation like 9-year-old Ryan Scott, whose 2-
inch G. I. Joe rifle and tiny toy pistols were confiscated at a Wisconsin
airport as federally prohibited items. When Ryan's mom and her fiance
questioned the measure, the security personnel responded by searching her
and threatening to destroy the toys. It sounds too absurd to be real -- but
it's happening. And Americans are putting up with it.

American citizens have even been detained without being charged with a
crime and without being permitted to see an attorney because they are
suspected of being involved with terrorists. And far too many Americans
seem to think that's OK. They don't understand that once you give
government that kind of power, it is inevitable that it will be turned
against the innocent as well as the guilty.

And it gets worse. The war drums are beating for a pre-emptive attack on
Iraq. Launched by presidential decree. Not in response to an attack, and
without a Congressional declaration of war, as required by the Constitution.

In turn, we're hearing more and more politicians suggest that we need to
bring back the draft. I'm old enough to remember Vietnam -- the young
Americans killed and maimed, the lives and families destroyed. The draft
makes it easier for governments to launch senseless wars, and thus makes
them more likely. It's tough to come up with a greater threat to the lives
and liberty of our children than a resumption of the draft. Some Republican
leaders may quietly bemoan the expansion of government power in the name of
fighting terrorism, but they aren't likely to stand up and oppose their
president. Some Democratic leaders may be dismayed at the loss of civil
liberties in the name of fighting terrorism, but they are too afraid of
being branded as unpatriotic to take a stand. At a time like this, it's
time for ordinary Americans to stand up for freedom. We can best honor
those who perished at the hands of terrorists by ensuring that our precious
liberties don't perish at the hands of politicians.

Steve Dasbach is executive director of the Washington-based Libertarian Party.