The Washington Post has recently published an opinion piece by George Washington University Professor Jonathan Turley titled “10 reasons the U.S. is no longer the land of the free”.
Professor Turley refers to regular State Department reports on individual rights in other countries. “Even as we pass judgment on countries we consider unfree, Americans remain confident that any definition of a free nation must include their own — the land of the free,” the author writes.
But is it really a land of the free? In Turley’s opinion, “the laws and practices of the land should shake that confidence. In the decade since Sept. 11, 2001, this country has comprehensively reduced civil liberties in the name of an expanded security state”, the most recent example being the National Defense Authorization Act, signed on December 31 (Radio Voice of Russia recently commented on its provisions restricting individual rights).
Further on, Professor Turley puts forward a set of ten reasons why the U.S. can no longer be regarded as a free country, and has much more in common with oppressive regimes than anyone may like to admit.
The list includes:
1. Assassination of U.S. citizens – “President Obama has claimed, as President George W. Bush did before him, the right to order the killing of any citizen considered a terrorist or an abettor of terrorism.” He also notes that countries such as Nigeria, Iran and Syria have been routinely criticized by the U.S. for extrajudicial killings of enemies of the state.
2. Indefinite detention – under the National Defense Authorization Act, terrorism suspects are to be held by the military; the president also has the authority to indefinitely detain citizens accused of terrorism. Here the U.S. finds itself in the company of often-criticized Cambodia. Even no less criticized China has recently codified a more limited detention law for its citizens.
3. Arbitrary justice– the president now decides whether a person will receive a trial in the federal courts or in a military tribunal (the way it is done in China and Egypt).
4. Warrantless searches – the president may order warrantless surveillance, including a new capability to force companies and organizations to turn over information on citizens’ finances, communications and associations (similar laws exist in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan).
5. Secret evidence – the government routinely uses secret evidence to detain individuals and employs secret evidence in federal and military courts.
6. War crimes– in 2009, Obama administration said that it would not allow CIA employees to be investigated or prosecuted for such actions as waterboarding terrorism suspects which amounts to torture and crimes against humanity. Other countries that resist independent investigations of similar war crimes include Iran, Syria and China.
7. Secret court – the government has increased its use of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and the administration has asserted the right to ignore congressional limits on such surveillance. Similar Pakistan surveillance under the unchecked powers of the military or intelligence services exists in Pakistan.
8. Immunity from judicial review – the Obama administration has successfully pushed for immunity for companies that assist in warrantless surveillance of citizens, blocking the ability of citizens to challenge the violation of privacy (similar practice is common for China).
9. Continual monitoring of citizens – the Obama administration has the right to monitor every move of targeted citizens without securing any court order or review. Similar massive surveillance systems exist in Saudi Arabia and Cuba.
10. Extraordinary renditions – the government now has the ability to transfer both citizens and noncitizens to another country under a system known as extraordinary rendition, which has been denounced as using other countries, such as Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan, to torture suspects.
“Since 9/11, we have created the very government the framers (Founding Fathers of the U.S.A. – B.V.) feared: a government with sweeping and largely unchecked powers resting on the hope that they will be used wisely,” writes Professor Turley. The evidence, presented in his article, hardly needs any further commenting. So, this piece can be concluded with his own words –
“Dishonesty from politicians is nothing new for Americans. The real question is whether we are lying to ourselves when we call this country the land of the free.”
Boris Volkhonsky, senior research fellow, Russian Institute for Strategic Studies
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