EDITORIAL: Fighting terror, defending freedoms

Elected officials who met with the Review-Journal's editorial board in the years following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks faced a stock question: Would the Bill of Rights survive another major terrorist strike on U.S. soil?

Tellingly, no one ever answered with an immediate, firm yes. No one said, "Absolutely." Most people took a moment to contemplate a response. Many said they didn't know the answer.

These were rare moments of complete honesty. The 9/11 attacks, carried out by al-Qaida radicals 14 years ago today, weren't merely strikes on the Pentagon, the Twin Towers and our economy. They were a direct blow to the liberties enshrined in our Constitution, the freedoms that define our way of life and have long made the United States a beacon for the rest of the world.

How quickly our freedoms eroded in the months after that awful day, which killed nearly 3,000 people and left thousands more with devastating injuries and fatal illnesses. Congress passed the Patriot Act, which greatly expanded warrantless surveillance and data collection. The Transportation Security Administration took over U.S. airport security, subjecting law-abiding citizens who in no way fit a terrorist profile to humiliating searches and seizures. The federal government has become more secretive, less willing to release public information and more hostile to whistleblowers. Police are increasingly militarized. Special events require significant security measures.

Amazingly, the country has not suffered another terrorist attack even remotely approaching the magnitude of 9/11. For that we can be thankful. No doubt, the country's massive anti-terrorism efforts have a lot to do with that. Whether that network can be as effective in preventing future "lone wolf" attacks and identifying ISIS recruits is an open question.

We must be vigilant in remembering why terrorists target us and why we must deter them. Our enemies know that even one deranged terrorist can make every American less free. If we fail to defend our rights while defending ourselves, we will have lost.

Would the Bill of Rights survive another terrorist attack on U.S. soil? The answer needs to be yes.