Another Independence Day has passed, and we are reminded of the values of freedom, personal privacy and due process firmly rooted in our Constitution. But between the Bill of Rights and the USA Patriot Act has life in the shadow of terrorism moved us away from these fundamental values? And while fighting for Iraq have we forgotten to secure our own shores? What would the founders think about post 9/11 America and our efforts to fight an endless “war on terror?”

Democracy relies on a delicate balance of powers yet many analysts and a majority of Supreme Court Justices - say the sweeping administration policies on enemy combatants in US custody and captives of our Homeland Security is the sign of an executive branch grown too big for its britches. If the executive branch is overextending its power in wartime, and a “war on terror” may last generations, can this be the democracy our founders intended?

The founders guaranteed our individual rights constitutionally including privacy but could they imagine living with the threat of terrorism? Has the Patriot Act affected the lives of Americans especially Muslims and people of color? Will it retain its bite after congressional review in 2005? Does the lack of terrorist attacks on domestic soil mean Homeland Security legislation is working? How will we know when secrecy is kept in the name of security? While pundits fight over WMD in Iraq, what about WMD at home?

Fighting a war on terror means readiness for future terrorist attacks in the form of nuclear or biological weapons. How are our preparations coming?

• Recent studies warn our warning systems are in a shambles and our ports are still penetrable.
  
  
• Scientists racing to discover “cures” for future biological attacks spent over $14 billion in the last four years making new generations of pathogens never seen before and increasing the number of places and people involved in germ experiments to over 11,000 employees in 317 locations across the country.
  
  
• The Bioterrrorism Act of 2002 prevents citizens from determining what research is being conducted in their neighborhoods by requiring the locations of labs handling lethal pathogens like live anthrax, plague and botulism, be kept secret.
  
  
• The 2004 military budget grants $21 million for research on 2 types of new nuclear weapons including an earth penetrator and so called “mini-nukes.” These bombs are being built at labs in Livermore, CA and Los Alamos, NM, sites for the new pathogen research as well, creating new super terrorist targets.

Are we any safer? Are terrorists really a threat to our freedom and democracy? What causes groups to resort to terrorist acts? Have we attended to the original source of the 9/11 attacks? How effective is our war on terror? What has been the value of intelligence gathered from prisoners held in US custody? Has racial profiling embedded in the Patriot Act really produced terrorists or useful intelligence? What information do we have about what groups are dangerous, where did that information come from? How have the pre-emptive wars in Afghanistan and Iraq affected the terrorist movements that threaten us? What form will the next likely terrorist attack take? How much money is being put into the biological terrorism program and is there proper coordination and oversight of research? Where are the labs located and what is their potential impact on surrounding communities? Are our public health systems ready for the possibility of nuclear or biological attacks? What will be the impact of diverting money from community health issues to bio-terrorism preparedness? Are our ports safely secured from terrorist attack? Have we placed ourselves in a more precarious position by alienating the rest of the world? Has Homeland Security and the Patriot Act overextended the power of the executive branch? Why do we have a balance of powers? How can we return the government to the hands of the people? Should the U.S. be financing and fighting for “freedom and democracy” abroad when these two bulwarks of our own country are in peril?