The Gadfly is a series of letters offering commentary on local issues and published in the Warrensburg Gazette.

As I contemplate last week’s terror attacks on the U.S., I wonder about the nature of our responses. The responses overseas are much more certain than the domestic responses. Assuredly, the American people expect our military to locate the terrorist leader and eliminate him and to punish any government that has abetted him. We expect to see our economic power used to induce foreign governments to eliminate the ability of terrorists to hide assets used for funding such activities. We expect our intelligence community to develop the needed sources to provide adequate warning of future assaults, since we know they will come.

The domestic responses are less certain and more problematic. There is a fine line between merely enhancing our security and changing the very nature of our open society. I’m talking about whether we will be asked to give up our constitutional rights to achieve security.