Oct-07-2009 08:47 AM
National Security. The phrase first appeared in the United States just before the great stock market crash in 1929. What is national security? Basically it is the use of diplomacy, economic, political and military means in order to protect your nation. National Security really became an issue during World War II. The concern over foreign spy's and the loss of technology that could damage national security was full fledged and intense.
After the war, the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union, began a whole new perspective on the term, national security. The majority of the concern surrounded the build up of Nuclear capability on both sides. We had became a nation in fear, fear from the very technology we created, of the possibilities and the devastation it could apply.
Over the years, we were confronted with many national security issues, that threatened our national security. However, it would not really hit home, until after the cold war had ended, until the birth of a new century had begun. On September 11th, 2001, a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, changed our perspective on national security forever. Terrorists had entered our nation, lived and trained to fly planes here, and then hijacked commercial jets and intentionally flew them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The nation mourned the loss of thousands. In addition, a nation was stunned at the weakness of our, national security. Having a valid identification card would become more vital than ever. Methods of ensuring identification would never be the same again.
Over the next few months a new branch of government was formed, the Department of Homeland Security. The Patriot Act was also eventually placed into law. This gave the government more rights to take whatever measures were needed, to protect our national security, even if it meant that at times, individual rights might be overshadowed. Mass surveillance was installed. Immediate security measures were installed into our nations airports, to protect our passengers, our planes and now, our national landmarks. Having proper identification cards and paperwork became even more essential. What you could take on board a plane became more and more examined.
Almost immediately, some Americans complained about their individual rights being violated. New national security procedures became increasingly controversial to some. What had long ago began with the need of proper identification, had passed into an entirely new light. New technology was being invented to make that system even better and stronger. Where will it all lead to? Only time will tell. The controversy over what protects us, and what violates us, will continue to linger in a political tug of war. National security is based on the principle that the protection of a nation, can at times, overshadow the protection of one. Proper identification cards will continue to be a factor in national security. However, our identification card of tomorrow, may be much different than our identification card of today.
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