"Bad governments are elected by the good people that do not vote!"

As someone that grew up in the biggest democracy and migrated to the best, I've been more than just disturbed by recent developments. Increasingly, people are being persuaded by a certain romantic notion of war. More and more of us are willing to hand over our liberty and tax dollars to our government in return for promised peace and prosperity. However, the universal answer from our government seems to be "more power and more money". No matter how much power and/or money are provisioned, neither the quest for more nor the actual issues ever seem to end.

I believe that, irrespective of our own personal opinion on this imminent war, what is more dangerous is lack of citizens' participation in the democratic process that is fundamental to what makes America so strong. If we get involved in this process, we can get this ugly propaganda of fear, uncertainty and doubt under control. Without resorting to any sort of civil disobedience there's plenty of ways for us to make a difference. Talk to your friends; write to your newspapers; call your representatives or call a talk radio.

Here are some of the questions that I struggle to answer in my own mind. While this is cause for concern, I remain optimistic that we'd find a way to solve these issues and move forward.

First and foremost, the people of the United States do understand that freedom and responsibility are one and the same. In order to enjoy the freedoms, shouldn't we first take responsibility for our actions or lack there of? Why is it that we are providing more power and money (rather than holding them accountable for their failures) to the two agencies that failed utterly to protect us from the evils of 9/11? Are more federal agencies the answer? Do we really believe that eliminating judicial accountability from an agency that's yet to capture the "Anthrax Guy" or Whitey Bulger the best possible route to rounding up more sophisticated killers?

Second, what ever happened to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty? Even ignoring those that are jailed by us on foreign soil, isn't there at least one citizen who was taken into custody on American soil and has been detained for almost a year without any charges or the right to see his family or an attorney? Why doesn't this bother us much? Is it because we are so sure that he is a bad guy and that it will never happen to us? Isn't this how the Jewish people thought during the onset of persecution?

Third, isn't one key ingredient of our system of check and balance, respect for a dissenting opinion? When I watch the proceedings of our Congress (as compared to say, the British Parliament or the Japanese Diet), I'm always impressed by the display of civil behavior. Everyone gets a turn and there's plenty of tolerance for a differing opinion. Now, why is it that we choose to take the position of "you're with us or with the terrorists" when dealing with the most pressing issue of our time? When almost all the public and a vast majority of heads of state from the rest of the world do not agree with our position, couldn't it be possible that we may be wrong?

And finally, thanks to the technological advancements of the past few decades, the world is now a very small place. We can no longer choose to turn a blind eye to the happenings around the world. First, our citizens need to be better informed of the world and its history. And second, we need to ensure that our government's actions overseas truly reflect American beliefs. Does it bother you when most people cannot tell the difference between Iraq and Al Qaeda? Why can’t we readily recall the events of 1987 when President Reagan called it a "costly mistake by a friendly nation" when Saddam Hussein fired Exocet missiles at USS Stark and killed 37 American soldiers? Why did it take the BBC to ask Mr. Rumsfeld about his handshake with Mr. Hussein in 1983? Why isn't our press asking these sorts of questions? Why do we trust our politicians so much when they've repeatedly lied to us in the past?

If you do find yourself asking these same questions, here are some links that may help. The American Liberty Foundation's www.truthaboutwar.com, publications from the Cato Institute (www.cato.org), and the writings of Harry Browne (www.harrybrowne.org).

|