THE PRICE OF DEMOCRACY

Last Sunday’s papers carried news of a little rebellion. Retired Generals criticizing our Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and a top CIA employee “supposedly” leaking top secret information to a journalist and being fired (not prosecuted) for it. The TV program “60 Minutes” featured a top CIA official explaining in detail, how the Bush Administration twisted intelligence to justify their invasion of Iraq.

The various pundits took up sides and this Sunday, they continued their debate. Predictable, columnists on the right called critics and leakers of secrets as unpatriotic (traitors) who compromised our nation’s safety. Those on the left said it is our patriotic duty to question and expose our government especially when we suspect evil doings.

Both sides make good points but I think we are witnessing something bigger here.

I feel the Bush Administration, based on its actions and behavior, is being looked on as an enemy of the people and a danger to this nation. This very real perception in turn is redefining the meaning of patriotism.

The CIA employee, a woman who is 61 years of age and close to retirement (Mary McCarthy) was considered a loyal employee with great integrity who played by the book. What possessed her to reveal to a journalist that the CIA was operating secret prisons in Eastern Europe where all means possible were used to extract the truth from suspects? The journalist went on to win the Pulitzer Prize.

The CIA official on “60 Minutes” is now retired but had a need to set the record straight. He felt used and he felt the CIA had been used and that to him was not only wrong but not in the best interests of this country and therefore damaging to this country.

The stories about retired generals criticizing Rumsfeld have drawn a lot of bitter comment. The Wall Street Journal called their actions “Dishonorable” and predictably “Unpatriotic”. The New York Times polled active officers who criticized the retired officers for not criticizing the war plans sooner and more vehemently after all they should have learned something from Vietnam.

The situation with military officers is a little different. The military, by law, is commanded by civilians. We all know why our Founding Fathers wrote the law that way but today, generals have become political hostages, having to sing and dance for the President and his Secretary of Defense just to protect their careers. Officers who criticize are just removed.

Someone said that the price of democracy is to always be vigilant, always remain on alert for dangers that threaten our way of life. If people perceive the Bush Administration as that danger, that threat to our way of life, then they will behave how their conscience dictates and that may not always agree with, what we think, are accepted rules of behavior.


Janusz