War on terror in the lower lands
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Tagged with: Since the day Theo van Gogh was murdered by a religious fundamentalist and some of the Dutch politicians were threatened in a letter left by the murderer, Holland is 'at war with terrorism'. Now of course this sounds like a whole mouthful but in the Netherlands people are very good at overreacting. Yesterday I saw a documentary about the German Rote Armee Fraktion which kept Germany in a firm grip of fear and horror for decades. A documentary that put things into the right perspective again.
Nevertheless: We're at war with the terrorists so it seems. An interesting courtcase is currently going on. A case that will probably be very important to the future of our country. It's a case against a small terrorists-cell they call the 'Hofstad group'. While I have no doubt or whatsoever about the fact that this is a real terrorists cell and not some flock of random idiots the case however is worrying. With the current justice system it's hard, almost impossible in fact, to convict someone for something he hasn't done (yet). However this is exactly what we want to do with terrorists. Proof provided by intelligence agencies is now often swept off the table as unlawful proof.
Now we (and our politicians) will have to make a choice. Allowing intelligence data to serve as proof is very useful against these terrorists. However history has learned us that every decision we make can and probably will be used against us or turn against us at some point in time. You just can't say "Oh we'll only use this law against the real terrorists". It's bound to be abused one day or another I'm afraid.
Is the terrorist threat pushing us towards becoming a police state?
Time will tell...
Now we (and our politicians) will have to make a choice. Allowing intelligence data to serve as proof is very useful against these terrorists. However history has learned us that every decision we make can and probably will be used against us or turn against us at some point in time. You just can't say "Oh we'll only use this law against the real terrorists". It's bound to be abused one day or another I'm afraid.
Is the terrorist threat pushing us towards becoming a police state?
Time will tell...
At 09 February '05 - 09:10 Cissi wrote:
I think the main problem with the “War on Terror” is that the measure is a reaction against, rather than a solution for a situation. By committing acts of terror, it is obvious these groups are hostile. The “War On Terror” doctrine, with its restrictions, has the danger of further inflaming these hostilities.
Yes, I am a leftist, bite me =P
At 09 February '05 - 10:24 Marco wrote:
PS: I’m a leftist too