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Spy. Assassinate. Protect.
To stay ahead of ruthless enemies, the US needs an agency that doesn’t play nice
By Robert Caruso | SEPTEMBER 18, 2014
www.bostonglobe.com...
This piece will appear in print in Sunday’s Opinion section.
ONCE AGAIN the United States finds itself embroiled in a debate over whether or not to “go to war.” It’s a choice the country shouldn’t have to make, and it wouldn’t with a bigger, more lethal clandestine service like France or Israel has.
While today’s enemies are virtually undetectable until they strike, history offers some lessons on how to fight a resourceful, nameless foe that effortlessly weaves themselves into the fabric of everyday life.
From the Revolutionary War to the Eisenhower administration, Americans successfully executed covert and clandestine actions around the world by empowering select individuals to secure the nation.
originally posted by: JiggyPotamus
I'm all for clandestine government organizations and them using amoral means to protect our country. However a problem arises when such an organization starts using these same methods against innocent people, especially US citizens. All it takes is one piece of bad intelligence, and you have violated someone's Constitutional rights, or have even taken their life, with absolutely no justification. It is a very slippery slope.
And how much should we trust such an organization to do the right thing? It would be a whole lot easier to protect the country, theoretically, if you know every single thing every single person is doing, but is that justification for violating the rights of the populace? The government is supposed to protect and ensure our rights, therefore protecting us by violating our rights is illogical.
And the issues are inseparable. You cannot give such organizations this type of power and then say that they will only use it against non-US citizens, or only against those who are a threat to our country. What constitutes a threat to the nation? Does speaking out against the government justify violating someone's rights? There are many questions that should be asked. We have already seen what happens with the government's "good intentions" for protecting us. If protecting us means violating the rights of innocent people, then I cannot support such things. And there is virtually no way to ensure that every single act these groups perpetrate is for the benefit of the country, or is against a true enemy of the US.
originally posted by: Spruce
Frankly, I'm all for a super secret squad of assassins to take care of the US' little problems. I'm sure there is already such a thing, especially in other countries. I'm dead certain Russia has such a thing, and likely Israel.
The human animal is just that, an animal. Sometimes it takes an animal(s) to solve an animal(s) problem.
originally posted by: Spruce
a reply to: Quetzalcoatl14
I live in the real world.