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The 9/11 attack left a lasting scar. Every time we look at that scar, we see tragedy, terrible loss, and horror.

9/11 generated a tsunami of conflicting, complex reactions. Some people believe that the U.S. government created the whole thing to invade Iraq for oil; some that it was revenge taken on the U.S. for the way it has treated other people around the globe; still others see it as an evil, unwarranted attack on the U.S. and its people; and Islamic extremists consider it a battle in their religious war.

No matter what people believe, 9/11 cost the world countless lives, trillions of dollars and widespread devastation.

For Americans, it has eroded some of our basic fundamental rights — such as liberty, privacy and for some fear of speaking out.

In the name of protecting our security, and us, the government imposed new strategies, laws and policies such as the Patriot Act, whose values and effectiveness in light of the cost to public liberty and privacy, has yet to be determined. At the same time, many of us encourage the government to impose these restrictions and policies on us if we never speak, question and challenge the justification of these policies.

At a recent press videoconference conducted by ������Ƶ, the panel urged the young journalists and citizens to be aware of such policies.

Civil Beat’s Michael Levine said, “We don’t have to give up our rights and our privacy to be safe.”

He urged that citizens be more skeptical of their government. “Do not take anything for granted,” he said. “Ask why? Why is it necessary? What do we gain by this and what is lost?”

Recently President Obama extended the Patriot Act. Many citizens don’t even know what the Act means. The fact is nobody really knows what that act can do, as it is vaguely defined.

It speaks of “the appropriate tools required to intercept and obstruct terrorism.” And no one knows what those tools are.

But the authorities such as FBI, CIA, Homeland Security and police use it to search telephone and email communication, regulate financial transactions, and look through medical and other records.

Are we ready to give up our privacy, liberty and freedom in the name of security and defeating terrorism?

According to a recent news report in the Honolulu Star Advertiser:

“Two-thirds of American say it is fitting to sacrifice some privacy and freedoms in the fight of terrorism”, but to what extent, the participants did not say.

The truth is, we don’t know exactly what the authorities are capable of doing in the name of these policies and security measures.

I’m not saying that we don’t need to support our government in order to protect ourselves and enhance our nation’s safety measures. Rather, my argument is that responsible citizens in a democracy need to know the validity and effectiveness of those policies.

At the Civil Beat discussion, Anthony Lang, Chief Division of Counsel of FBI Honolulu division, said the agency does make mistakes but needs support from the public.

We should know and understand what the Patriot Act really means, what are its scopes and limitations. We need to question the policy makers and make them answer for accountability.

Recently, the Associated Press reported the FBI and CIA’s involvement in New York’s taping of citizen’s email and phone conversations, as well as racial profiling and other such activities.

We need more questions and we need more answers.

9/11 cost thousands of American lives. For the world’s superpower, it carries with it the stigma of failing to protect its people and the nation from terrorism.

The aftermath is more tragedy, suffering and death. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed; schools, hospitals, villages and towns destroyed; societies ripped apart, in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Revenge is not the answer. As Gandhi said, “An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

According to President Obama, now that Bin Laden is killed, “Justice has been done.”

So what now?

Why are the troops still in Iraq and Afghanistan? Is the government ready to pull our friends, our brothers and sisters, from the misery of the war?

Osama’s death has not ended terrorism. Our troops being there on their land, killing them and their families, spawning more terrorists who hate us.

We cannot kill the terrorists one by one to end terrorism.

Now, ten years after the terrible attacks in New York City is the time to be aware of what has happened to us, and also what we have done to others.

What happened to our rights of freedom and privacy, and what did we ultimately gain from a decade of war?

Is there another way? We all must question our governments; we all must guard our rights to freedom of speech and liberty, especially to liberty to dissent. These are the basic foundations of this nation.