Editorial

The events of September 11 cast doubt on libertarian hopes for a century of freedom. The 20th century's great threat to individual rights was totalitarian government, motivated by collectivist ideologies. Such governments are far less prevalent now and few defend them as the hope of the future. But similar collectivist ideologies now inspire new threats to freedom in the form of anonymous terrorist acts. These kill far fewer people than totalitarian governments—no more than a thousandth as many—but their unpredictability magnifies the fear they inspire.

Nor can they be counted on to remain on so small a scale. Weapons of mass destruction are cheap and getting cheaper. It appears, for example, that the former Soviet Union's stocks of smallpox virus have not all been accounted for; just as they are, those viruses could produce a devastating epidemic. The effectiveness of decades-old vaccinations is subject to doubt, and millions of younger people have never been vaccinated at all.

Such dangers inspire a justified call for protective measures. But the other danger to freedom is in the very intensity of that demand. It's not a good sign, for example, that three San Diegan men of Near Eastern ancestry have been imprisoned indefinitely, without any criminal charges being filed against them—and thus without grounds for a defense—and that the news media were excluded from the courtroom where this decision was made, an action that is technically Constitutional in the absence of criminal charges but that violates the spirit of the Sixth Amendment. Star Chambers meeting without witnesses are poor defenders of freedom; American institutions were designed to keep such practices in check. It would be a tragic irony if terrorists frightened the United States into giving up its remnants of free institutions.

A more hopeful sign is the care taken by American government officials, including the President, to disavow any thought of a general war against Arabs and other Western Asian people, or against Islam. American folk culture has its share of racial and religious hatreds, which have given rise to several acts of violence against innocent people, often not even Arabic or Muslim—a Sikh and a Christian Egyptian have been murdered, for example. Government officials' condemnation of such actions shows a proper rejection of the principle of collective guilt.

It's too early to tell how these crimes will affect the United States. There may be war, and wars have historically been bad for liberty. The economic stimulus of war on a depressed economy will cause long-term damage to the structure of capital. And the threat of terrorism won't be ended by any action against bin Laden; to be effective, any actions taken must deter or intercept future terrorists. We don't know, but we must hope, that freedom will not be destroyed in order to save it.