America has been playing with fire for years, disrespecting its Constitution and allowing, even encouraging politicians to pander to the fears of an ever-present boogieman over the higher values of individual freedom and responsibility.
Boogiemen are very effective tools in the arsenal of those waging psychological warfare against a nation. They are effective because a good boogieman usually brings legitimate scary qualities to the table.
Islamic terrorists are legitimately scary.
Invisible viruses that spread throughout the population are legitimately scary.
People are willing to give up freedoms under the illusion that it's only a temporary inconvenience. "Just go along and soon all will return to normal," they say.
After the attack that killed 2,900 Americans on Sept. 11, 2001, politicians came under pressure to "do something" to prevent another such attack by Islamic militants against innocent civilians.
Rather than just bombing the Taliban into oblivion and leaving its God-forsaken land, the politicians responded by occupying Afghanistan and launching a doomed effort to transform that nation into something it never wanted to be. At the same time they were failing at nation-building in Afghanistan, the politicians embarked upon sweeping extra-constitutional "reforms" here at home.
Comment: So while the State Department is trying to take credit for people who have actually managed to escape, they're actually the ones throwing a spanner in the works. Figures.
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