We the People: Vigilia Pretium Libertatis (Vigilance is the Price of Liberty)

The motto was adopted to symbolize the objective of NATO, which is to maintain peace through strength and unity. It should become the motto for the international fight against terrorism.

The original 12 allies united in the face of a common threat and utilized a formal and precise contract to detail the rights and responsibilities of each nation. We need a NATO-style international treaty to simplify and standardize the response of the civilized world to the problem of refugees and the threat of terrorism. We need to support and strengthen NATO and increase its role in the war against terrorism.

A cowardly truck attack killed innocent 12 civilians and maimed dozens at a Christmas market in Berlin. The suspected killer, Anis Amri, a Tunisian refugee, was able to flee the scene.

Amri remained in Germany after his application for asylum was denied this summer. He had arrived in Germany in 2015, coming from Italy where he was in jail for a time.  German authorities tried to deport him but failed. His identity card was recovered from under the driver’s seat of the truck he hijacked and used to kill shoppers at a Christmas market. He was under “temporary suspension of deportation” status because Tunisia was sensible enough to refuse to take him back.

German officials must now explain why Amri was able to move freely in Germany and plan this attack under the nose of the authorities despite the fact that he had ties to violent groups. The U.S. knew enough to have his name on the “no-fly list.”

German police had surveillance footage of Amri entering and leaving an ISIS associated mosque in Berlin. German officials should be embarrassed because the evidence reflects the perpetrator was known to the police and under surveillance but still carried out the attack and escaped.

U.S. authorities had warned Americans to avoid Christmas markets in Germany due to a high risk of attack but German authorities never warned Germans. Amri should never have been allowed to roam free anywhere in the world except Tunisia. It was reported that he was killed in a shoot-out with police in Milan.

We need to work together with our European and Middle Eastern allies to create a sensible plan to address the problem of refugees and violence to protect our citizens and our allies’ citizens.

Mr. Trump must take steps to share information with our allies and support our alliances while demanding a new protocol or treaty that would spell out how undocumented persons and persons suspected of terrorism should be treated here and abroad.

The treatment does not have to be punitive but it must contain sufficient precautions and protections so persons like Amri are housed securely while the appropriate action is determined.

It will take cooperation and hard work. If we fail to work together, we will fail to protect the lives of innocent civilians in all nations. The conservative movement has a definite preference for isolationism and a willingness to use division at home and abroad to accomplish its goals.

Although Mr. Trump’s victory reflected a push back against the globalist orientation of the moderates in both parties, the president-elect must be proactive in our international relations by strengthening our alliances instead of abandoning them. If we bury our heads in the sand, it will only leave us blind and vulnerable.

The president-elect must lead the civilized nations of the world toward closer cooperation against terrorism and violence around the world. Glenn Beck, the uber-conservative radio talk show host, whose combative and controversial rhetoric became too much even for Fox News, appeared on a liberal comedy show recently and agreed with the comedienne host that the future of the world needs a coalition of nations and citizens working together to achieve “non-partisan decency.”

Beck gained popularity by attacking the left with conspiracy theory criticisms and hysterical rhetoric but he has moved away from that and acknowledged that he was wrong to contribute to the bitterness of political debate in America.

He told viewers, “I helped divide. I’m willing to take that … please don’t make the mistakes that I made.” He still has three million listeners who tune into his three-hour radio show every day and he has warned them that Trump could be a “dictator in the making.”  Conservatives call that treason and lambaste him for being “evil.”

If Glenn Beck can moderate his style and try to build bridges, then there is hope that we all can cooperate and focus on doing what is right and decent for all the decent citizens of the world. We the people must not let talk show hosts or reality show emcees destroy the unity of the American people.

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