EDITORIAL - America must not surrender democracy

Like President Obama, this newspaper hopes that America will soon find out who is responsible for Monday's bombings in Boston and that they are made, as he puts it, "to feel the full weight of justice".

Yet, we appreciate the measured and methodical approach of the United States in getting the facts, rather than, as some would wish, a mad rush to pin responsibility on an easy suspect. For it is by such an approach, ensuring that the real culprits are the ones who are nabbed, that America will sustain its moral authority in the vanguard against global terrorism, of which it has been a major victim.

It is uncertain whether the perpetrators of Monday's atrocity were foreign, or foreign-inspired individuals or groups opposed to the United States, or domestic right-wing persons with a grouse against the government.

Either way, there is something clear and apparent about the instigators and executors of the attack: theirs is a cause imbued in cowardice, exemplified by their targeting of innocent athletes and spectators at one of the world's great athletic spectacles, the Boston Marathon. In the process, they claimed the lives of three persons and injured more than 170 others.

This bombing will, not without merit, lead to a review of America's internal security and antiterrorism apparatus, which has been greatly strengthened since al-Qaida's 9/11 attack 11 years ago.

Since then, the Americans have thwarted several attempts by terror groups to detonate bombs on their home soil. There will be legitimate questions of why the system failed this time, especially in the context of such a major event and when the tactics employed by the terrorists, in retrospect, seem so obvious and so easily policed.

HUMAN RIGHTS PRESERVATION

Whatever the Americans conclude, and whatever measures they contemplate to deter or deflect future acts of terror and to catch their perpetrators, there are critical lines the United States, for its own and global good, must be unprepared to cross. It must not seek protection behind the erosion of basic freedoms, whether by actions of the state or societal fear.

The greatness of the United States rests on the strength of its democracy, with a foundation of individual freedoms. There is a temptation after events such as Monday's for the state to limit freedoms or for people or individuals to retreat from public activities at which they may be deemed to be vulnerable. We understand that.

But while governments, and individuals, must take reasonable action to protect the state and the individual, due care has to be taken that such actions do not encroach on democratic governance and individual rights. If this happens, the terrorists are the victors.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.