There might be one positive development arising from the U.S. government’s
reaction to its failure to prevent the 9/11 attacks. The Washington Post
reported today (May 29) that “the FBI will shift 480 agents from drug and
other criminal investigations to counterterrorism posts....”
Doesn’t that imply that if FBI agents weren’t spending their time
prosecuting nonviolent crimes, such as drug possession, they would be able
to devote themselves more fully to what they should be doing — protecting
Americans from violent people? Isn’t that the primary function of
government?
Now that the FBI is recognizing that it’s much more important to protect
Americans from attack than to harass drug addicts, it’s time for Congress to
bear its share of responsibility too. Despite decades of manifest failure
and massive harm to people all over the world, Congress has continued its
fierce and unswerving commitment to the war on drugs.
Congress is the branch of government that has the power to bring the war on
drugs to a halt by repealing drug laws. Ending the drug war would enable the
executive branch to more effectively do what it’s supposed to do — capture
and prosecute people who commit violent acts against Americans.
Wouldn’t that make life safer for Americans?
