parresia

Is the U.S. government just

Is the U.S. government just going to sit back and wait for the Philippine government to handle this?

Muslim rebels claimed Tuesday that they had beheaded one of three U.S. hostages and threatened to kill more of their captives...

It makes me angry to read that at least three United States citizens are being held hostage by Muslim zealots, while our government intends to do nothing-- leaving the recovery of the hostages to the Philippine government. It seems to me that U.S. citizens are our responsibility to protect, not to mitigate the role to some foreign nation. If it was one of my family members being held captive, I would like to think that I could count on my country to do something about it.

Was it that long ago, say just after WWII, that being an American meant something? Remember when the U.S.A. was honored and respected? Is the only "superpower" in the world going to just sit back, feigning interest, while its citizens are held out to dry?

The Declaration of Independence reads as follows:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men

I posit that the hostages' inalienable rights have been usurped by foreign terrorists, that our government ought to take action is evident from Jefferson's words-- the very reason governments are instituted is to secure these rights for its citizenry.

May God grant those hostages and their families grace in peace-- it seems their own country is too busy to bother.

Posted by jeremy stock at June 12, 2001 11:56 AM