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Muslims face extra checks in new travel crackdown
London Times ^ | 8/15/2006 | Ben Webster

Posted on 08/14/2006 6:06:47 PM PDT by Agent Smith

The Times August 15, 2006

Muslims face extra checks in new travel crackdown By Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent

THE Government is discussing with airport operators plans to introduce a screening system that allows security staff to focus on those passengers who pose the greatest risk.

The passenger-profiling technique involves selecting people who are behaving suspiciously, have an unusual travel pattern or, most controversially, have a certain ethnic or religious background.

The system would be much more sophisticated than simply picking out young men of Asian appearance. But it would cause outrage in the Muslim community because its members would be far more likely to be selected for extra checks.

Officials at the Department for Transport (DfT) have discussed the practicalities of introducing such a system with airport operators, including BAA. They believe that it would be more effective at identifying potential terrorists than the existing random searches.

They also say that it would greatly reduce queues at secur-ity gates, which caused lengthy delays at London airports yesterday for the fifth day running. Heathrow and Gatwick were worst affected, cancelling 69 and 27 flights respectively. BAA gave warning yesterday that the disruption would continue for the rest of the week.

Passengers are now allowed to take one small piece of hand luggage on board but security staff are still having to search 50 per cent of travellers. Airports have also been ordered to search twice as many hand luggage items as a week ago.

BAA was criticised yesterday for failing to commit itself to recruiting more security staff and for claiming that its existing 6,000 staff at seven airports would be able to handle the extra searches. Tony Douglas, the chief executive of Heathrow, said that X-ray screening of hand luggage would be much faster under the new rules on size and contents, leaving staff free to carry out more searches.

The new measures, which include a ban on taking any liquids through checkpoints, are expected to remain in place for months. A DfT source said it was difficult to see how the restrictions could be relaxed if terrorists now had the capabil-ity to make liquid bombs.

The DfT has been considering passenger profiling for a year but, until last week, the disadvantages were thought to outweigh the advantages. A senior aviation industry source said: “The DfT is ultra-sensitive about this and won’t say anything publicly because of political concerns about being accused of racial stereotyping.”

Three days before last week’s arrests, the highest-ranking Muslim police officer in Britain gave warning that profiling techniques based on physical appearance were already causing anger and mistrust among young Muslims. Tarique Ghaffur, an assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said: “We must think long and hard about the causal factors of anger and resentment.

“There is a very real danger that the counter-terrorism label is also being used by other law-enforcement agencies to the effect that there is a real risk of criminalising minority communities.”

Sir Rod Eddington, former chief executive of British Airways, criticised the random nature of security searches. He said that it was irrational to subject a 75-year-old grandmother to the same checks as a 25-year-old man who had just paid for his ticket with cash.

Philip Baum, an aviation security consultant, said that profiling should focus on ruling out people who obviously posed no risk rather than picking out Asian or Arabs.

A DfT spokesman refused to make any comment or answer any questions on profiling.

AIRPORT UPDATE

British Airways plans to cancel forty short-haul and four long-haul flights from Heathrow today as well as eleven domestic flights from Gatwick. Other airlines expect to operate near-normal schedules.

All airports will allow passengers to carry one small piece of hand luggage, but no liquids are allowed through the security search point other than prescribed medicines and baby food.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; United Kingdom; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: airlinesecurity; airports; gwot; jihadintheuk; londonairlineplot; muslims; profiling; security; terrorism; waronterror; wot
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To: B-Chan

Exactly. Not just American Muslims. There are no doubt good Muslims all over the world who would never kill an innocent person. I don't know if they are afraid of their own brethren if they stood up and denounced terrorism, or what, but their "leaders" seem only to be focused on anger toward terrorists' victims for "profiling." Are they wholly without logic?


41 posted on 08/14/2006 6:52:16 PM PDT by Yaelle
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To: Alouette

Or "Pet the Airline Pig"?


42 posted on 08/14/2006 6:53:08 PM PDT by Yaelle
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To: Agent Smith

If you throw a rock into a pack of dogs, the one that yelps is the one that got hit.


43 posted on 08/14/2006 6:54:29 PM PDT by johniegrad
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To: phoenix0468

You're right. Not all muslims are south asian or arabic. Lindh wasn't really a terrorist, though. He was a Talibunny.

A few of the terrorists don't fit the profile of arabs or south asians. But easily 99% of them do.

So it's silly not to concentrate on them. I'm tired of seeing great-grandma get wanded at the security checkpoint while the guy speaking arabic waltzes on through.

I feel sorry for the patriotic arab citizens of this country who will feel the brunt of any profiling. Yet I'd feel even sorrier for them if a terrorist killed them.

And that terrorist is almost surely going to be an arab or a Pakistani.


44 posted on 08/14/2006 6:57:43 PM PDT by Dog Gone
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To: Dog Gone

I don't disagree with the fact that most of them are Arab or Asian, I am only stating another way to effectively screen for possible danger.


45 posted on 08/14/2006 7:03:23 PM PDT by phoenix0468 (http://www.mylocalforum.com -- Go Speak Your Mind.)
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To: Agent Smith
And if any Norwegian bachelor farmers returning home to Minnesota start committing jihad, they all should face special screening too!
46 posted on 08/14/2006 7:04:59 PM PDT by theBuckwheat
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To: Dog Gone
"Philip Baum, an aviation security consultant, said that profiling should focus on ruling out people who obviously posed no risk rather than picking out Asian or Arabs."
Sounds good except that this is a distinction without a difference.

Not necessarily. I've long figured that the pre-boarding screening interviews I encounter (along with everyone else) in Europe upon return to the States are part of this profiling.

I'm not savvy as to exactly what they're looking for, but it's obvious (to me) that they're looking for tell-tales that could lead one on to a more "in-depth" interview. But whatever it is they're looking for (I can make some guesses, and they go to mental state more than political/religious orientation), I don't seem to match up.

Maybe if I'd been forced to pack a bomb things would be different. I do know my approach to these interviewers would not be as easy as it has been...

47 posted on 08/14/2006 7:07:47 PM PDT by sionnsar (†trad-anglican.faithweb.com† | Iran Azadi | Appeasement=Suicide | Hezbo rockets carry "peaceheads")
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To: Agent Smith
Why are they even allowed to travel? Look how many innocent CITIZENS of every nation on EARTH have been MURDERED by slimes!

The only travel they should have is back to sand land!

48 posted on 08/14/2006 7:10:37 PM PDT by rawcatslyentist (I'd rather be carrying a shotgun with Dick, than riding shotgun with a Kennedyl! *-0(:~{>)
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To: traditional1

That's a really stupid idea; Jews and Hindus won't do that either.


49 posted on 08/14/2006 7:13:55 PM PDT by GAB-1955 (being dragged, kicking and screaming, into the Kingdom of Heaven....)
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To: GAB-1955
That's a really stupid idea; Jews and Hindus won't do that either.

Yeah, that's true.

Let me defer to your infinite intellectual superiority, and hear the pearls of wisdom from you. What's your idea?

50 posted on 08/14/2006 7:18:10 PM PDT by traditional1
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To: traditional1
What's your idea?


51 posted on 08/14/2006 7:24:24 PM PDT by Alouette (Psalms of the Day: 97-103)
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To: sionnsar

Regardless, I think most here would agree that a purely random selection of passengers for in-depth screening is foolish. Profiling has been used because it works.

Now whether that profiling is based solely on appearance or is partly based on some initial questioning, I don't really care.

The ones that we know instinctively to pose a higher risk should be scrutinized more intensely. We should make it as pleasant and easy for anyone of any background to board a flight if they pose no risk. But let's concentrate our efforts on those most likely to wish us harm. It's not the Geritol crowd.


52 posted on 08/14/2006 7:25:44 PM PDT by Dog Gone
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To: Agent Smith

The first stirrings of common sense.


53 posted on 08/14/2006 7:41:19 PM PDT by PetroniusMaximus
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To: Yaelle

Well, if you want to see signs of that kind for real, go to Saudi Arabia (an "ally" in the war on terror).


54 posted on 08/14/2006 7:46:13 PM PDT by Bazooka (When Tolerance met Indifference, it was love at first sight.)
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To: Agent Smith

Now if only they would do this here in the US too...


55 posted on 08/14/2006 7:52:08 PM PDT by FairOpinion (Dem Foreign Policy: SURRENDER to our enemies. Real conservatives don't help Dems get elected.)
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To: traditional1

Random - truly random searches.

A better database with more reliable information than the "no fly list."

Making sure the public knows that anyone can be searched and that everyone will be.

The problem with profiling is that it doesn't catch the Western converts and it leads to lazy thinking among cops and security guards.


56 posted on 08/14/2006 7:53:37 PM PDT by GAB-1955 (being dragged, kicking and screaming, into the Kingdom of Heaven....)
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To: Agent Smith

Did they get permission from the Muslims first?


57 posted on 08/14/2006 7:54:46 PM PDT by airborne (Fecal matter is en route to fan! Contact is imminent!)
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To: Yaelle

The problem goes deeper than fear, though. Think of all the dissidents and critics of Islam from outside the community whose names are known and who appear on national TV and radio broadcasts. Think of resistors and dissdents in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.

Sorry, I think that the 'moderates' are a block of 'inactive' potential jihadists who, when it's time to get more 'devout,' tend to fall more in line with jihadist GOALS if not METHODS. Then when the Islamists become a powerful political party or lead a certain social or paramilitary movement, the 'moderates' fall in line with whatever the 'strong horse' is in that population and don't resist because they believe that the jihadists are, by and large, living the exemplary Muslim life.

Notice that the only anti-terrorist protests happen in Muslim countries when the jihadis kill Muslims. Some regions or populations are more or less sympathetic but I think we'll be waiting a long time to see anyone but intellectuals and pundits speaking out as Muslims against terror. No grass roots movement will be happening in the mainstream sects (Druze and Sufi don't count.)


58 posted on 08/14/2006 7:55:13 PM PDT by Skywalk (Transdimensional Jihad!)
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To: GAB-1955

Problem is the amount of Western converts arrested in these plots is so small that it makes sense to make things random as the SECOND line of defense. But first vet people based on more basic and 'discriminatory' profiling. But that doesn't mean you STOP random searches.


59 posted on 08/14/2006 7:56:20 PM PDT by Skywalk (Transdimensional Jihad!)
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To: PureSolace
Bring This Practice to the US! We must not allow Islamic Fascists to continue to kill us!

If we didn't do it after 9/11, we certainly won't do it now.

We are suicidal.

60 posted on 08/14/2006 7:57:08 PM PDT by freedumb2003 (The Democrat Party stands for open treason in a time of war.)
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