British Response to Terror: Join Big Brother

For hundreds of years, Britain has been a bastion of democracy, a champion of the basic rights of people. Its advocacy in the United Nations, and in the Commonwealth has always been to free individuals from the tyranny of government. It has balanced the oxymoron of the British monarchy with the growing need for accountable governance since 1215, when King John signed the Magna Carta (the British even feel this is the best symbol of “Britishness“). A constitutional monarchy without a (written) constitution.

Ironically, Queen Elizabeth and her Princes are powerless to stop the Labor government’s incremental removal of the rights of the British people. Now, Britons are told where to smoke, and no, this not due to the infamous British sense of, umm, sensibility. The more insidious infringements, however, occur on a daily basis. An hourly one. A minute-by-minute scale. in each second of every day. That is the violation of the right to privacy.

Gordon Brown

It is not surprising, though, that the former Exchequer, the Right Honourable Dr Gordon Brown MP would want a more meticulous view of his subjects. The new British Royalty at 10 Downing St continues to pursue the oppressive policies of Tony Blair and his government. In fact, Brown wishes to promote “new, tougher” security measures in the same vein. That’s more surveillance, more detention for new arrivals, more strip searches, more limitations on movement, more “security.”

How has it come to this? A government now watching its own people. Trolling its citizens. Subjecting them to a 24-hour watch not unlike prisoners in their home. UK has turned into its very own Big Brother House. There are CCTV cameras everywhere (1 for every 14th Briton). Overhead, satellite pictures are taken of “suspicious” citizens. Transactions are recorded in secret rooms. Sounds like 1984 all over again. Sounds like an oppressive regime.

What’s alarming is that this is happening in Britain. A First World country. A democratic nation. Where are protests? Where is civil society? Is it now un-British to defend your own rights? Okay, there may be pockets of resistance to this. But we do see more of that happening in Third World countries where rights are even more limited, where people cherish their freedoms.

 

Maybe citizens think these measures are warranted. After numerous security threats, including an attempted car bombing in London, you’d think that the British were jittery enough… but the real word here is paranoid. People are scared. And fear is pushing them in the wrong direction: searching for wolves among the sheep. They might even want to search the empty, ghost flights of the British Airways.

When a democratic nation concedes to the terror, and is driven by fright, then these terrorists have achieved their goal. Now that’s real terrorism.

Philippine Parliament Bombed

Congressman Wahab Akbar (Basilan) died along with 2 others from blast injuries incurred when a remotely detonated bomb exploded at the entrance of the Philippine Congressional Hall (Batasan). He was a member of the Moro National Liberation Front, a secessionist group that dropped its rebellion in favor of a measure of autonomy in the southern Philippines.

This bombing apparently was malicious, and had a specific target. This contrasts with a recent Glorietta mall bombing that killed 11 and injured more than a hundred others. The latter was assessed by the Philippine National Police as an accident, one denied by the mall’s owners (in the accident scenario, they deny having faulty equipment, in the bombing scenario, they deny a security breach happened). Predictably, the prominent Filipino business family Ayala, wish to posit something akin to the Big Bang: massive spontaneous combustion with no Creator. Yes, they are avowed Catholics.

Glorietta Bombing

Representative Akbar was not without enemies. His rise to legitimate power was marked by the abandonment of secessionism in favor of the rule of law. This occured, despite having the Abu Sayyaf  insurgency based primarily in his province. Political enemies abound too. Wherever there are sweet election victories won, there are a dozen more bitter enemies made. Akbar was twice elected the governor of his province, and 2 of his wives hold office (one is the new governor of Basilan, the other is mayor of the provincial capital). The Akbars’ expansive and tight grip on power may have also have fueled an attack on the family figurehead.

 While an investigation might help the situation, we can expect political grandstanding to ensue. Opposition may once again try to pre-empt a declaration of emergency rule, or martial law (these accusations come frequent enough to lose impact). Government would focus on the maintaining the rule of law. So-called progressive movements would cry conspiracy. Civil society would shrug it off as just another attack. In all this hullabaloo, certain important things would be forgotten:

1. The economy must move on and investors should keep on investing. Only with better and progressive lives would the incentive for violence stop.

2. Government, while not sacrificing on other priorities, should whip its law enforcement agencies into action. The breach of security of an important government building is unforgivable.

3. This too is a political killing. Leftists cannot monopolize the claim to oppression.

4. Nothing good can come out of violence. This message should be consistently and thoroughly be hammered into the minds of destabilizing forces in the Philippines.