The American Dream, with regard to democratic ideals, upholds rights to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”# On September 11, 2001, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial jetliners, two of which were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre, one into the Pentagon, whilst the final plane crash-landed in a field in rural Pennsylvania. The responsive actions articulated by George W. Bush in the wake of these attacks catalysed an uproar, and caused a greater tragedy inherently contradictory to the American Dream. Evidence of this can be seen in the unnecessarily excessive War on Terror#, the human rights violations that occurred in Guantanamo Bay Detention Centre and the civil liberties violations of the governmental reforms implemented.
A plethora of diverse opinions on Bush’s reactions were (and still are) present. Writers and social commentators, Hunter S. Thompson, Gore Vidal, Michael Moore, and Noam Chomsky all expressed criticisms of the implemented actions. Bruce Schneier, a security expert, members of the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), John Gilmore, an American citizen and Declan Mcullagh, chief political correspondent for CNET, criticised governmental and security reforms, particularly those infringing on civil liberties. Former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, opposed the invasion of Iraq. Neoconservatives however, were often fervently in favour of Bush’s decisions. For example, Jim Phillips of the Heritage Foundation supported the awful treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay Detention Centre, treatment portrayed in a satirical political cartoon appearing on website, “Mikes Noise“. Max Boot, an author, historian and neoconservative, supported Bush’s rationale for war.
After the attacks of September 11, the US government claimed that Iraq was now an actual threat to their security and that of coalition allies due to Iraq’s alleged possession of WMD’s (weapons of mass destruction), and soon began pressing for military intervention within Iraq. This rationale was not a black and white issue and was thus highly contentious. Bush stated that the United States should “be ready for preemptive action when necessary to defend our liberty and to defend our lives.”# This would imply attempted protection of ideologies reflected within the American Dream, and this pre-emptive war rationale was supported by Max Boot, who actually stated “we ought to go further.”# It may also be interesting to note that despite US knowledge that Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda members were residing in Afghanistan, Iraq was, as stated by Bush, the “central front in the War on Terror.”# This perhaps gives credence to Thompson’s statement that “all he (Bush) knows is that his father started the war a long time ago, and that he….has been chosen to finish it Now.”# Kofi Annan stated that the 2003 invasion of Iraq was “not in conformity with the UN Charter…from the Charter point of view, the invasion was illegal.”# Many other harsh criticisms of the War on Terror were present. American intellectual, Gore Vidal, argued that the war was a “perpetual war for perpetual peace”# as the underlying ideologies that fuelled the war held their basis in Bush’s tirade against the abstract notions of sin and evil, rather than a defined enemy capable of defeat. The September 11 terrorist attacks claimed the lives of 2,819 individuals, whilst the number of lives lost in the War on Terror equates to 62,006, thus giving credence to Noam Chomsky’s statement that, “The new millennium has begun with two monstrous crimes; the attacks of September 11, and the reaction to them…”# This blatant disregard for human Life, and Liberties of fellow humans wherein their Happiness was unmistakably disturbed by the horrors of the War on terror, make it obvious that this war was inherently contrary to the American Dream.
Guantanamo Bay Detention Centre# is a detainment facility run by the United States government since 2002. The Justice Department advised that GBDC could be considered outside of US legal jurisdiction and therefore, subsequently, the US asserted that the detainees weren’t entitled to protections under the Geneva Convention. Jim Phillips stated that "some of these terrorists who are not recognized as soldiers don't deserve to be treated as soldiers."# Critics of U.S. policy say the government has violated the Conventions in attempting to create a distinction between "prisoners of war" and "illegal combatants." Accusations of torture have been presented by many past detainees, and idea portrayed in a satirical cartoon appearing on website, “Mikes Noise.”# The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman urged George W. Bush to "just shut it down", calling Camp Delta "... worse than an embarrassment."# On June 29, 2006, the US Supreme Court ruled in Hamdan Vs Rumsfeld that the detainees were entitled to the minimal protections under Article 3 of the Geneva Convention. As the American Dream upholds certain egalitarian ideologies, these actions can be seen as contrary to the notion, through the discrimination and persecution of detainees.
Complaints pertaining to the violation, or possible violation, of ones civil liberties came about due to the Information Awareness Office (IAO). The attacks of September 11 served as a catalyst for the introduction of the IAO, which was established in January 2002 by the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency. The mission undergone by the IAO was to "imagine, develop, apply, integrate, demonstrate and transition information technologies, components and prototype, closed-loop, information systems that will counter asymmetric threats by achieving total information awareness."# However, critics were sceptical, positing that large-scale information aggregation and analysis technologies are a grace threat to privacy and civil liberties, and that it may lead to a mass surveillance system, described by Declan McCullagh as “Orwellian.”# Following this staunch public criticism, in 2003, Congress ceased funding the IAO, but several of the projects run by the IAO have continued under different funding. The infringement upon civil liberties evident within this can be seen as oppositional to the American Dream, and the Liberties encapsulated within the notion.
The arguably unconstitutional nature of the security reforms implemented posed another quandary. In Gilmore Vs Gonzales, John Gilmore sued United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and US Attorney-General John Ashcroft expressing the idea that showing identification as a prerequisite to boarding domestic flights was tantamount to an international passport, and therefore unconstitutional, as it restricted his right to travel, to petition government and to speak anonymously. Controversy also pursued when the airlines and government failed to show the directive under which they were acting, with accusations of the public being subject to “secret law” running rampant. Bruce Schneier asserted that the security reforms were completely unnecessary, and it can therefore be seen that they did little more then infringe upon civil liberties; an unfortunate and seemingly frequent trend contrary to the American Dream.
The provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act# predominantly purposed to deter and punish terrorist activity whilst simultaneously expansively enhancing law enforcement power. Michael Moore and the ACLU both criticised the introduction of this act and, in addition, the ACU (American Conservative Union) refused to support this piece of legislation, thus forging an unlikely alliance. The ACLU asserted that the act was excessively vague in stipulating its circumstances of application and, as a result, understandably feared pursuant violations of civil liberties. Section 215 of the act, it was argued, lowered the standard necessary for probable cause below that of the Fourth Amendment, and hence was unconstitutional. Section 206 brought about accusations of confusing language that may allow for privacy violations of anyone encountering a suspect. In his film, Fahrenheit 911#, Michael Moore drives around in an ice cream van reading out sections of the Patriot Act, before getting a congressman to admit that he did not read it before approving it. The level of extra governmental powers that this Act allowed sparked Michael Moore to claim, “We have entered Orwellian and Bradburian times.” On March 9, 2007, these fears became reality after a Justice Department audit exposed the shocking revelation that the FBI had “improperly and, in some cases, illegally used the Patriot Act to secretly obtain information”# about US citizens. From this, it becomes evident that the Patriot Act, particularly the civil liberties violations it precipitated, was in direct opposition to the American Dream, specifically the liberties entailed with the notion.
Since the early 19th century, America has been regarded as a shining beacon of Liberty and Prosperity, a notion reflected within the American Dream. The actions with which George W. Bush responded to the 9/11 attacks were inherently contrary to the American Dream. Lives were lost in the war on terrorism as a result of his decisions, civil liberties were violated due to governmental reforms he implemented, and in Guantanamo Bay Detention Centre, basic human rights were denied. From this it can be seen that by orchestrating the American reaction to the monstrous crimes that were the September 11 attacks, George Bush broke the heart of the American Dream and created a far worse and far-stretching tragedy
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