Terror and real security

As we commemorate the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, we may take time to reflect on our concerns for national, local and global security.

In the aftermath of the terrible attacks in New York and Washington on Sept. 11 and the anxieties from anthrax cases and warnings of possible additional terrorist attacks, we are experiencing a desire to feel secure again. That leads us to raise difficult questions of what we mean by real security and how we should go about achieving it. For many patriotic Americans, there are unanswered questions about whether the current and proposed policies for a worldwide war on terrorism are likely to make us more or less secure.

In his state of the union message of 1941, with the United States facing both domestic economic insecurity and a war in Europe that threatened to extend to the United States, President Roosevelt said: “In the future days which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms: freedom of speech and expression; freedom of every person to worship God in his own way; freedom from want; freedom from fear … anywhere in the world.” In the current war on terrorism, are we willing to ensure these four freedoms for the citizens of our country as well foreign non-citizens residing in our communities and others around the world?

For many there are concerns about whether our constitutional freedoms are being undermined by the sweeping powers of the P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act and by the establishment of military tribunals denying any due process to foreign non-citizens suspected of aiding, abetting or harboring terrorists. In the past we have criticized foreign governments using military tribunals for denying human rights. How will the rest of the world view our adopting these same repressive measures? Are we as a democratic society willing to protect the “freedom of speech and expression” and other rights of even those with whom we disagree? Are we willing to protect the “freedom of every person to worship God in his (or her) own way,” as well as the freedoms of those who refuse to accept any religion?

Are we seriously promoting “freedom from want” when the President and Republicans push through an Economic Stimulus Package that primarily benefits the largest corporations while leaving very little for workers displaced by the weakening economy?

Are we promoting freedom from want when we give the President a blank check of $40 billion to fight the undeclared “war on terrorism” when other needed programs and resources in our communities will be cut to pay for this “war”? Can we really feel secure in the world if our country with 4% of the world’s population continues to consume 40 percent of the world’s resources? The Marshall Plan helped to rebuild Europe after World War II. Can the United States lead such a plan in Afghanistan and other impoverished countries around the world to eliminate fear and want by providing basic needs of food, shelter, health, and education?

To work for “freedom from fear” we must understand the plight of those around the world who suffered fear even before September 11. Will we condemn all terrorism, even terrorism practiced by our allies with weapons we provide? Are we willing to see the consequences of U.S. arms sales around the world? Will we continue massive expenditures for sophisticated weapons systems that we have now learned cannot provide security? Will our new concern for chemical and biological threats raise our concern about toxic chemicals in our environment and germs in our food?

Some of these questions and others will be addressed at a “Real Security Forum” being held at 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, at l00 Neville Hall, University of Maine in Orono. The forum, which is cosponsored by the Maine Peace Action Committee and the Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine, will include a panel to address the history and roots of terrorism and insecurity, followed by a discussion of how we can build toward long-term domestic and global security. Come join us as we learn together, discuss these questions, and plan for a “Real Security Hearing” in the future.

Mary Dolan, Ilze Petersons, Kevin Holmes, Michael Howard, Valerie Carter, Sara Stalman and Doug Allen are members of the Education Committee of the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine.