That's a victory for the rule of law and respect for human rights, one of the fundamentals of American democracy. The Turkish Constitutional Court, the equivalent of the US Supreme Court, has also been making the news lately, but not necessarily in a similarly constructive way. Turkey's top judges comfortably overruled a recent constitutional amendment previously passed by an overwhelming majority of Parliament that would have made it possible for religious female citizens who cover their heads to equally benefit from higher education.No matter how independent they are, judges are also human beings and they may be influenced by trauma, fear and prejudice in their respective societies. In the US case, the Sept. 11 attacks resulted in a trauma that immensely affected political decision making and legal interpretations. In Turkey, many secularists, who make up most of the ruling establishment, including the judiciary, have been suffering from a deep trauma since the 2002 elections, when a political party with religious roots began to dominate the executive and legislative branches. Whereas security has been the pretext for restricting freedoms in the US, Turkey's oppressors claim they preserve secularism.
The Bush administration, with the counsel of many of its lawyers and consent of some (military) judges, effectively pursued illiberal policies in the name of securing the nation. Torture practices in US-controlled prisons overseas, such as Guantanamo in Cuba, Abu Ghraib in Iraq, Bagram in Afghanistan and many unidentified secret locations, are widely documented. The controversial Patriot Act, which narrowed privacy rights in the US, is another example. Reading the opinions of dissenter judges in latest Supreme Court decision gives one a better idea of the psychology of American trauma victims. Justice Antonin Scalia writes, "America is at war with radical Islamists," and this decision "will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed." Fortunately, five of the nine top judges were able to maintain their commitment to rule of law over their fears.
Some fears can be real. However some people obviously fake, if not exploit, them. Fear-mongering is common in both the US and Turkey, essentially for the same purpose: Power. The American people's deep fears, invigorated by the Sept. 11 attacks, have become a goldmine for many politicians. President George W. Bush and many of his fellow Republicans made it central to their political campaigns, which certainly paid off in the 2004 presidential and congressional elections. The American public believed their government when it linked Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq to terrorist groups by flawed intelligence as a pretext for a military occupation. But no lie can conceal the truth forever. And no fear is permanent. As Americans gradually began recovering from their Sept. 11 trauma, their eyes have been opening more and more. Fear politics did not pay as much dividends in the 2006 congressional elections. Republicans who made security (rather than economy) the main issue suffered a serious defeat to Democratic opponents and lost control of the Congress.
It will be interesting to watch the role the security issue plays in the power game to capture White House in this year's upcoming elections. The initial indications are that Senator McCain is playing the same old Republican game, "Democrats are weak on security." He sided with Bush in criticism of the Supreme Court's latest decision on Guantanamo. Democratic candidate Senator Barack Obama was accused of having a "Sept. 10 mentality" by his opponents when he applauded the Supreme Court decision as "a rejection of the Bush administration's attempt to create a legal black hole at Guantanamo."
McCain and Obama's differing positions on Guantanamo ruling also hint at what kind of justices they might pick for the Supreme Court during a possible four (or perhaps eight-) year White House tenure. At least two liberal-leaning judges are expected to retire voluntarily due to their age. This year's US elections are crucial not only in that sense, but also because it will show whether politics of hope and change, which could sometimes be unhelpful if left as empty propaganda, can overcome the politics of fear.
