Security Through Freedom

by Robert J. Romano

September 22nd, 2004

Yesterday, in speaking before the United Nations General Assembly, President George W. Bush laid out a vision of how the world will become safer and more secure through the advancement of human rights, freedom, independence, and liberty.  "In this young century, our world needs a new definition of security. Our security is not merely found in spheres of influence, or some balance of power. The security of our world is found in the advancing rights of mankind..." According to the President, freedom serves both moral and practical ends: "The United Nations and my country share the deepest commitments. Both the American Declaration of Independence and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaim the equal value and dignity of every human life. That dignity is honored by the rule of law, limits on the power of the state, respect for women, protection of private property, free speech, equal justice, and religious tolerance. That dignity is dishonored by oppression, corruption, tyranny, bigotry, terrorism and all violence against the innocent. And both of our founding documents affirm that this bright line between justice and injustice -- between right and wrong -- is the same in every age, and every culture, and every nation..." and "Wise governments also stand for these principles for very practical and realistic reasons. We know that dictators are quick to choose aggression, while free nations strive to resolve differences in peace. We know that oppressive governments support terror, while free governments fight the terrorists in their midst. We know that free peoples embrace progress and life, instead of becoming the recruits for murderous ideologies..." To paraphrase the late President Ronald Reagan, the march of freedom and democracy will leave terrorism and tyranny on the ash-heap of history.  The current President, Mr. Bush, is correct.  Free and wise people do not embrace aggression and terror, and instead we choose progress and life.  We condemn the acts of tyrants and terrorists to take away our rights, in particular, are most important right, that of life.  Free and wise peoples do not pursue the deliberate murder of innocent civilians as a matter of state policy.  We do not squelch the right to dissent.  We protect the lives, liberties, and properties of all of our kin.  And we do share, as does much of the world, the ideals that have founded a culture of freedom in this modern era.  We know that the protection and expansion of natural human rights globally will make the world, and America safer.  We know that the institutions found in republican and democratic forms of government best protect those rights from the boot of arbitrary coercion.  And we know that, as an institutional priority, security is often necessary to safeguard and expand those rights, and inevitably, it is through freedom that we will find peace and security.

        The danger could not be more clear: "Terrorists and their allies believe the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the American Bill of Rights, and every charter of liberty ever written, are lies, to be burned and destroyed and forgotten. They believe that dictators should control every mind and tongue in the Middle East and beyond. They believe that suicide and torture and murder are fully justified to serve any goal they declare. And they act on their beliefs... In the last year alone, terrorists have attacked police stations, and banks, and commuter trains, and synagogues -- and a school filled with children. This month in Beslan we saw, once again, how the terrorists measure their success -- in the death of the innocent, and in the pain of grieving families. Svetlana Dzebisov was held hostage, along with her son and her nephew -- her nephew did not survive. She recently visited the cemetery, and saw what she called the 'little graves.' She said, 'I understand that there is evil in the world. But what have these little creatures done?' ... Members of the United Nations, the Russian children did nothing to deserve such awful suffering, and fright, and death. The people of Madrid and Jerusalem and Istanbul and Baghdad have done nothing to deserve sudden and random murder. These acts violate the standards of justice in all cultures, and the principles of all religions. All civilized nations are in this struggle together, and all must fight the murderers." This is an enemy which cannot be merely contained and then appeased.  The terror enemy must be eliminated for the freedom of all peoples.  It should also be clear to all that this is a global war on terrorism, and that we must remain unified in our resolve to see this conflict through to a victorious conclusion.  We must not have any illusions that swift success in the near-term will secure liberty for the long-term.  We must remain vigilant in this new century, and continue to take the fight to enemy where he emerges.  Our freedom from danger depends on our staying power to focus our finite resources to eliminating the most probable dangers.  

        The President continued, "We're determined to destroy terror networks wherever they operate, and the United States is grateful to every nation that is helping to seize terrorist assets, track down their operatives, and disrupt their plans. We're determined to end the state sponsorship of terror -- and my nation is grateful to all that participated in the liberation of Afghanistan. We're determined to prevent proliferation, and to enforce the demands of the world -- and my nation is grateful to the soldiers of many nations who have helped to deliver the Iraqi people from an outlaw dictator... The dictator agreed in 1991, as a condition of a cease-fire, to fully comply with all Security Council resolutions -- then ignored more than a decade of those resolutions. Finally, the Security Council promised serious consequences for his defiance. And the commitments we make must have meaning. When we say 'serious consequences,' for the sake of peace, there must be serious consequences. And so a coalition of nations enforced the just demands of the world... Defending our ideals is vital, but it is not enough. Our broader mission as U.N. members is to apply these ideals to the great issues of our time. Our wider goal is to promote hope and progress as the alternatives to hatred and violence. Our great purpose is to build a better world beyond the war on terror..." How true.  In addition to upholding our great ideals we must make great strides to confront what ails our world, dangers and problems which will not go away through wishful thinking.  We must take real action to make the world safe for those ideals.

        The President went on to speak out on AIDS and other disease prevention efforts, confronting the evils of human trafficking, a ban on human cloning, expanding the economic freedom of the developing world, building regional peacekeeping forces which can help to prevent genocide in continents like Africa, resolving the dispute between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan, and spreading free, independent, democratic, and representative forms of government globally, each unique to the culture of the nation.  "Finding the full promise of representative government takes time, as America has found in two centuries of debate and struggle. Nor is there any -- only one form of representative government -- because democracies, by definition, take on the unique character of the peoples that create them. Yet this much we know with certainty: The desire for freedom resides in every human heart. And that desire cannot be contained forever by prison walls, or martial laws, or secret police. Over time, and across the Earth, freedom will find a way... Freedom is finding a way in Iraq and Afghanistan -- and we must continue to show our commitment to democracies in those nations. The liberty that many have won at a cost must be secured. As members of the United Nations, we all have a stake in the success of the world's newest democracies... Not long ago, outlaw regimes in Baghdad and Kabul threatened the peace and sponsored terrorists. These regimes destabilized one of the world's most vital -- and most volatile -- regions. They brutalized their peoples, in defiance of all civilized norms. Today, the Iraqi and Afghan people are on the path to democracy and freedom. The governments that are rising will pose no threat to others. Instead of harboring terrorists, they're fighting terrorist groups. And this progress is good for the long-term security of us all..." Fulfilling the promise of freedom will indeed take time, perhaps decades, maybe even longer, but we must remain steadfast in our determination to see a world which is free from the brutality of dictatorship, and the horror of terror.

        The challenges we presently confront in Afghanistan and in Iraq demonstrate to the world that freedom is not free, that there are those who seek power through brutal force, and are willing to take innocent lives to bring back the days of tyranny and oppression.  Because we are determined and have a supreme belief that right makes might, we know that freedom will inevitably triumph over fear.  Staying the course means that we will not waver in our commitment to the nations we seek to liberate.  The world has an obligation, both moral and practical, to aid these newly freed nation-states, and to aid in their development as democracies.  Freedom, in the long-run, will provide the security which all free peoples yearn for.  Freedom from wars of aggression, freedom from the dangers of terrorism, and freedom from the threat of attack from weapons of mass destruction.  State sponsors of terrorism must be served notice that their actions, when coupled with the development of weapons of mass destruction, will be met will all the components of power in our national repertoire, and with all the free peoples of the world standing together.  

        We must never trade off security for temporary economic or political gain.  In a world with terrorists possessing nuclear weapons, any short-lived monetary gain will not purchase security in the long-run, and it certainly will not help to spread political freedom to those who lack it.  We must change a culture where infractions against the law of nations appear to be overlooked and met with weakness, and instead, we must never fail to send clear messages to those nations which are state sponsors of terrorism that are pursuing nuclear weapons capability.  This is the great danger of our day, and it is not limited to a single nation-state.  Only through the unity of free nations, and the resolve of free and wise peoples, by turning our attention to the peace and security of our shared world, and taking decisive action to prevent the world's worst weapons from falling into the hands of the world's worst people, will we be able to fulfill these promises and ideals which we seek to uphold.  What is clear is that by taking action against once-state sponsors of terrorism, as in Afghanistan and Iraq, we have sent a bold signal to others who carry out similar activities.  The President's own words, his doctrine, could not be any clearer, that one is either with the free world or the terrorists.  The world entire must fulfill her international treaty obligations to fight terrorism and to prevent weapons of mass destruction proliferation.  Much has already been accomplished, but there is obviously much more to do.  In the process, we must embrace the forward strategy of advancing freedom and democracy as the right and practical alternatives to tyranny and terrorism.  When the demands of the world are just, in the future decisive action will be necessary.  We must not waver in upholding the ideals of human rights and freedom, and we must always choose our own freedom and security over the demands of tyrants and terrorists.  There can be no negotiation with evil.  And evil seeks nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass murder.  They must be made to fail in these pursuits.

        We must not flinch in our duty to protect the lives of our people, our children, and that of all future generations.  From the President's speech: "Today, I've outlined a broad agenda to advance human dignity, and enhance the security of all of us. The defeat of terror, the protection of human rights, the spread of prosperity, the advance of democracy -- these causes, these ideals, call us to great work in the world. Each of us alone can only do so much. Together, we can accomplish so much more... History will honor the high ideals of this organization. The charter states them with clarity: 'to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,' 'to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights,' 'to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.' ... Let history also record that our generation of leaders followed through on these ideals, even in adversity. Let history show that in a decisive decade, members of the United Nations did not grow weary in our duties, or waver in meeting them. I'm confident that this young century will be liberty's century. I believe we will rise to this moment, because I know the character of so many nations and leaders represented here today. And I have faith in the transforming power of freedom.  May God bless you." Will the world rise to the challenge? This is not America's challenge to the world.  This is history's challenge to mankind.