American intelligence: lost and found

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Native American Intelligence

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My country has had a unique point of view since its founding that begins with the idea that the form of government is the best in the world because the Constitution and founding documents are dedicated to individual freedom and liberty. I agree completely that the American form of government is best in class, though others in this class may prefer aspects of theirs as well. For instance the parliamentary style verses the American Congressional style connote different processes for producing laws and regulations. The American electoral process and Presidential and Congressional terms are different as well.

The American system of legislation and the three branches of government ensures a process of continuous improvement and responsiveness to the needs of “We the People.” That process, however, should not become stagnant and demands continuous improvement. For that, I am a critic.

I believe that the system has become corrupted by too much influence from lobbyists and that the fund raising mechanism for politicians undermines individual voters.

The reason I discuss these topics first is to establish that for which we are defending.

To protect American government and the way of life afforded for its people demands continuous vigilance and attention because there are a host of other governments and people who view America and the spread of American values as a threat to them. Truly, freedom and liberty is threatening to those who wish to deny it.

I want to clarify these mutual feelings of threats.

America is a country of disestablishment, yet many Americans don’t know what that means.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_religion

What this means is that the American Constitution wants to protect freedom of belief. It tolerates if not respects the existence of diversity, including religious, economic, and political ideas. It protects diversity of people based on race, sex, and sexual preference.

If you are a member of a religion, you may practice freely. But, if you attempt to undermine freedom and liberty by imposing religious will on society, then you have failed to uphold Separation of Church and State and the notion of disestablishment, which is un-American.

What does this have to do with national security and intelligence, meaning the need to understand threats against the nation?

The sources of threats to the United States are those who actively oppose our Constitution and way of life. What is the profile of the opposition?

1.      Undemocratic forms of government that wish to expand their form of government to others at the expense of democracy

2.      Religious states that are intolerant of democratic forms of government and other forms of religions

3.      Religions that are intolerant of others or whose creed is overtly warring or aggressive against other religions

To be clear, America does not seek war with enemies of the American form of government and way of life, though must remain vigilant and attentive to the prospect that opposition may pose a threat and attack us.

Here are some specific examples:

In the reference above, you can see a list of countries that 1) are classified as a religious state, comingling church and state, and 2) nations that specify religious preference. Let me start by identifying some “Christian countries.”

Costa Rica declares their nation as Roman Catholic as does the Vatican as the Holy se. Denmark says that it is Lutheran.

There are Eastern Orthodox countries, and like Islam, they come in different sects: Cyprus, Cypriot Orthodox Church, Greece, Church of Greece, and Finland, Finnish Orthodox.

“The internal structure of the Finnish church is described in the Orthodox Church Act. The church has a power to tax its members and corporations if a majority of shareholders are members. The church does not consider itself a state church, as the state does not have the authority to affect its internal workings or theology.”

Interestingly, Israel is not a religious state.

Now, let’s consider Islam.

Considering this as a backdrop, one can see that Americans are concerned about any Islamic religious state and about the Islamic religion where the practice subordinates American values and form of government. To the extent that any of these sources are anything but neutral toward America, they are considered potential rivals or enemies.

So, America deploys its intelligence gathering mechanism to gage the degree of threat from these sources and to advise government on appropriate countermeasures whether they be economic or warfare.

This post is inspired  by the Washington Post special series called “Top Secret America.”