There might be one positive development arising from the U.S. government’s reaction to its failure to prevent the 9/11 attacks. The Washington Post reported today (May 29) that “the FBI will shift 480 agents from drug and other criminal investigations to counterterrorism posts….”
Doesn’t that imply that if FBI agents weren’t spending their time prosecuting nonviolent crimes, such as drug possession, they would be able to devote themselves more fully to what they should be doing — protecting Americans from violent people? Isn’t that the primary function of government?
Now that the FBI is recognizing that it’s much more important to protect Americans from attack than to harass drug addicts, it’s time for Congress to bear its share of responsibility too. Despite decades of manifest failure and massive harm to people all over the world, Congress has continued its fierce and unswerving commitment to the war on drugs.
Congress is the branch of government that has the power to bring the war on drugs to a halt by repealing drug laws. Ending the drug war would enable the executive branch to more effectively do what it’s supposed to do — capture and prosecute people who commit violent acts against Americans.
Wouldn’t that make life safer for Americans?