Last name1

Name of Student

Name of Professor

Name of Class

Day Month Year

Freedom and Security

The principles of liberty and freedom are the very basis of the founding of the great

nation of the United States. This country was created so that its citizens can live freely and

enjoy the liberty guaranteed by the constitution of the United States. The U.S. has always been

the protector of the freedom of not only its citizens but people all over the world. However,

ensuring the freedom of its citizens is not possible without providing adequate safety and

security to the people. It is the responsibility if the government of the United States to provide

security to its people all the while maintaining their freedom and privacy. However, keeping a

balance between the two, i.e., freedom and security is a complex task and therefore, the

United States has constantly been subject to the debate over this issue. Throughout its history,

certain threatening circumstances have led to a compromise of freedom in favor of more

tightened security, such as during the Cold War and the period after the devastating terrorist

attacks on 11th September 2001.

Though America has been seen as a protector of its citizens, it is clear that during the

period of the Cold War, the country only respected the rights which the government desired its

citizens to exercise. At times, the leaders forced its citizens to fake or hide their real views on

divisive matters. The government had the assumption that Americans were supposed to act like

unrealistic individuals instead of actual people. Frankly speaking, many people could not make
 Last name2

apt to the mold that the government required them to. The government of United States went

too far in defending freedom during the cold war period.

All the citizens who were not “normal," had radical or nonconformist views, had their

rights limited and not taken care of by the government of United States. The era of the Cold

War was characterized by a strong fear of communism and this fear was amplified by the

government of the United States. The government utilized this fear to eliminate even the

slightest possibility of a communist infiltration. It was used as an excuse to eliminate the

political opponents by labeling them as communists. The concepts of security and freedom and

the clash among them were brought to the forefront during this era. Therefore, after careful

analysis, it can be effectively said that the United States went too far in defending for the

freedom during the period of Cold War. It is clear that America was only after defending their

principles as a country but hiding it under the notion of defending freedom and rights myth,

(Gaddis).

On the same note, after the terrorist attacks on 11th September 2001, the United States

government passed several laws that greatly increased the government’s power to impose on

the American people’s civil liberties. The Patriot Act and NSA’s Terrorist Surveillance Program

gave the government the ability to monitor its own citizens with unprecedented freedom,

which many argued was in violation of the Fourth Amendment. However, even with these Acts

in place, the government still failed to end domestic terrorist groups, leading many people to

question whether or not these Acts should be allowed to continue.

 Last name3

The focus of the government of the United States shifted exclusively towards the

security of its people and it completely ignored liberty and freedom. It forgot that the

Constitution of the U.S. ensures that the liberty and privacy of the Americans are protected at

all costs. However, as mentioned previously in the case of the Cold War, it was simply another

case in a long list of hypocritical actions taken by the U.S. government. The War on Terror,

resulting from the 9/11 attacks have uprooted the founding principles of the United States and

national security has come to the forefront. The anti-terrorism policies, introduced in the

aftermath of the attacks, are against the American principles, specifically the citizens’ civil

liberties. While these policies are supposed to protect the American people, they are

undermining the country’s foreign relations and disrupting American citizen’s lives.

The Patriot Act, introduced in October of 2001, bolstered the government’s ability to

detain suspects who are considered to be a risk to national security. This provision allows

suspects to be detained without any concrete criminal charges or any judicial process. While

these measures seemed appropriate immediately following the 9/11 attacks, they have long

outgrown their usefulness and should be removed, as they have been used to detain innocent

American citizens with little more than circumstantial evidence. While many consider this act as

a necessary evil, its use has failed to bring the terrorist threat under control and has ruined

people’s lives in the process, (Evans).

Perhaps the most controversial program to spring up after the 9/11 attack is the NSA’s

Terrorist Surveillance Program. This program has since come under intense scrutiny as many

lawsuits have been filed stating that it violates the Fourth Amendment. With the immense
 Last name4

amount of personal information available to these surveillance programs, it is difficult to

believe that the government officials in charge of these programs will use this information

appropriately. Without proper regulation, corruption is bound to emerge in these agencies.

These programs should be brought into the public light, and regulations placed on how much

information can be taken from the American people, (Posner).

In conclusion, there needs to be a balance between freedom and security and it is the

responsibility of the government to ensure it. If these programs cannot be regulated, then the

American people will be forced to continue to suffer under these unconstitutional acts, with

their freedom of speech and right to a judicial process in jeopardy.

 Last name5

Works Cited

Evans, Jennifer C. “Hijacking Civil Liberties: The USA PATRIOT Act of 2001.” Loyola University

Chicago Law Journal, vol. 33, 2002 2001, p. 933.

Gaddis, John Lewis. Strategies of Containment: A Critical Appraisal of American National

Security Policy During the Cold War. Oxford University Press, USA, 2005.

Posner, Richard A. “Privacy, Surveillance, and Law.” The University of Chicago Law Review, vol.

75, no. 1, 2008, pp. 245–60.