The issue of government interference and involvement in the personal affairs of individuals has been met with fiery resistance all down the years. As mentioned in the article ‘#1 Habeas Corpus for any person’, there seems to be a paranoid fear that the government would bring in draconian measures and rules that would allow the police or the military to arrest anyone, anywhere, without giving the least concern to the rights of the person. Such fears have been proved in a number of military dictatorships such as Soviet Russia and China, where the writ of the military and the ruling junta runs deep. Retribution towards dissidents is swift and merciless. The US constitution and the bill of rights guarantee a person the right to a fair and quick trial. However, certain actions of the government that were designed for some other end and scenario make us feel paranoid that we would enter the stage where the government could easily arrest a person and imprison him without any let off or reason for the imprisonment.
Actions by George Bush when he ushered in haste the John Warner defense authorization act of 2007 and the military commission act show that indeed, the government is moving towards imposing martial law. These facts are discussed in ‘#2 Bush moves towards martial law’. The law allows the military to take over the functioning of any part of the country, often setting aside and suppressing the local governments. It should be noted that Bush brought about such a move to counter certain paranoid imaginations that the US would be seen be invaded and there was be a system of response to handle such emergencies. Given the high and intense reaction and resistance that the public would display for such as announcement, the government has preferred to hide this law.
As per the report, ‘#5 Human traffic builds US embassy in Iraq’, there are accusations that US contractors are using cheap foreign labor to build assets and buildings in developing countries. This would see apparent extortion and violation of human rights. However, it must be noted that with a shortage of skilled workforce, the contractor is forced to hire whoever is available and at rates that are above the market rates. The quality of labor in this would want since only unskilled workers are available. Therefore, the contractor pays the market rates, and these rates may be a pittance compared to wages paid to foreign workers. In such a case, it is wrong to say that the contractor and US are extorting the workers.