A climate of intimidation has settled over America. Those seen protesting war on Iraq, or are critical of President Bush’s policies and plans on Iraq are derided as unsupportive of our troops, anti-American and unpatriotic.

A common criticism of the anti-war movement and protesters is that they are being unsupportive of the troops. Nothing could be further from the truth. Now that the war unfortunately has started, many of the signs at rallies and vigil show just the opposite. Many support the troops and want to bring them home–to keep them out of harm’s way and to keep them alive. After all, for many this war is unjust and such a sacrifice of American lives is a tragedy. By putting pressure on the government to end the war and protect all lives–American and Iraqi–the desirers of peace support the troops by valuing their lives.

Although those supportive of the war effort might disagree with those against it, namecalling and impugning of the protesters’ patriotism is unnecessary and shows a lack of intellectual maturity. Patriotism, after all, is a love of country, a love of nation, not a love of the current politicians in power. The message to stay silent and support the president goes against the democratic nature of America. Dissent is profoundly American, and attempts to silence or namecall those who are dissenting is a true affront to what we all love about this country.

No leader, politician or political party is infallible or free from error (after all, for most of us the concept of a politician as error-free is laughable at best) so blind obedience to the views expressed from the top does not make sense.

Just because our president believes something does not coerce us all to believe the same. Clearly, protesting this war is not un-American, rather for most it is the patriotic expression of a desire for the government to live up to the ideals of the nation.

Despite our proclamations to promote democracy in Iraq, a pall has settled over political discourse in our country. Those who dare to question are maligned and told to stay silent. Within the entertainment industry the gagging of free speech has been the most severe and noticeable. CBS told musicians and presenters not to say anything against the war at last month’s Grammies, Clear Channel entertainment (the large mega-corporation that controls most of the radio stations and music venues across the country) forbade the distribution of anti-war literature at an Ani DiFranco concert and threatened to cancel concerts of performers who make anti-war comments on stage. Meanwhile there have been reports circulating of actors being punished for their outspoken anti-war views by losing work, a threat eerily reminiscent of the Hollywood blacklists of the past.

As if these stories of censorship and corporate bullying are not worrying enough, it appears that Attorney General John Ashcroft is poised to take another sledgehammer to our already compromised civil liberties.

In the aftermath of Sept. 11, Ashcroft managed to get the PATRIOT act passed–an act that permits governmental snooping of library and bookstore records (hope you haven’t been reading anything controversial lately or else you might be in trouble), greatly erodes due process, allows for property searches without a warrant and other violations of basic civil liberties. Of course, some liberties are still protected.

Although the Justice Department can snoop on your reading materials, they are not allowed to check to see if you have bought any guns. An important concession–for the NRA at least.

In this climate of fear and worry that we live in, we cannot let ourselves be whipped into such a frenzied hysteria that we voluntarily give up our rights. War tends to put people in a state of blind obedience and unquestioning allegiance, however, now is the time to remain vigilant of our rights and freedoms.

America is a country of freedom and democracy, but when our own people are intimidated from speaking out then we lose the very essence of America. You might not agree with the placard-waving protester, but her right to exist and be heard must be protected.

Lubna Alam is a senior studying history.