Part One – The Controversy:
The Belgian government
believes that we can win the war on terror without infringing on “human
rights.” In fact, they have stated that they are convinced, “that the fight
against terrorism can only be waged if human rights and international humanitarian
law are fully respected.” They argue that, “Terrorism cannot be battled
effectively by flouting the very rights and freedoms that terrorists are intent
on destroying;” if we compromise our rights, the Belgians argue, the terrorists
win.[i]
In practice, the United
States’ Patriot Act was touted as minimally compromising rights. It
allows roving wiretaps, but only with a warrant.[ii] But, the recent spate of
revelations concerning our National Security Administration, have shown that
such spying has compromised our rights more than we initially thought.[iii]
And so while the United States gives lip service to the Belgian model of
not violating rights, its actions indicate that it has found this route
impractical.
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