Thursday, July 26, 2007

Balancing our rights against their wrongs

"Nobody seems to have an answer to this conundrum: why should the terrorist threat require the civil liberties of British people to be circumscribed by measures such as identity cards while foreign nationals who pose the threat are protected by human rights laws"?

Discuss.

It is debatable whether this is in fact a riddle at all. I suspect that it is just a question. Is it a legitimate question? I think it is fair to say that there is a terrorist threat. Although the perceived scale of it may vary according to points of view being expressed. I don't accept that the terrorist threat requires the civil liberties of British people to be circumscribed. The former is posed by terrorist groups whereas the latter is imposed by a draconian government. For example, somebody who commits a robbery and is sentenced to prison, we don't jail innocent people as a result of his or her committing the crime.

I cannot see the link between a terrorist threat and ID cards. I don't suppose terrorists will have the word terrorist written or stamped on their ID card.

Then there is the foreign nationals. The way the question is framed it gives the impression that all foreign nationals rather than just a few pose a problem. And, what about home grown terrorists?

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