The forward march of liberty has been halted - even reversed
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1644028,00.html
Britain, America and France have all reduced civil liberties since the
twin towers fell. But has this made us any safer?
Timothy Garton Ash
Thursday November 17, 2005
The Guardian
The erosion of liberty. Four words sum up four years. Since the attacks
of September 11 2001, we have seen an erosion of liberty in most
established democracies. If he's still alive, Osama bin Laden must be
laughing into his beard. For this is exactly what al-Qaida-type
terrorists want: that democracies should overreact, reveal their "true"
oppressive face, and therefore win more recruits to the suicide
bombers' cause. We should not play his game. In the always difficult
trade-off between liberty and security, we are erring too much on the
side of security. Worse still: we are becoming less safe as a result.
Timothy Garton Ash
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.atheism/msg/2cc6a786ff8c7302
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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin
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