N.Y. Times: Bush Should Have Used Racial Profiling to Prevent 9/11

NewsMax.com ^ | 4/15/2004 | DIM1

[DIM1]

With Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff

For the story behind the story... Monday, April 12, 2004 12:06 p.m. EDT

N.Y. Times: Bush Should Have Used Racial Profiling to Prevent 9/11

Don't look now, but the oh so politically correct New York Times has just endorsed racial profiling as a critical tool in fighting the war on terrorism.

In fact, says the Times, if only President Bush had ordered airports to use "threat profiling" to screen out suspected Muslim terrorists after receiving a CIA warning in August 2001 that al-Qaida was preparing to hijack U.S. airplanes, the 9/11 attacks might have been prevented.

"After receiving that briefing memo entitled 'Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.'," says the Times in Monday's lead editorial, Bush should have departed from his vacation in Crawford, Texas, and "rushed back to the White House, assembled all his top advisers and demanded to know what, in particular, was being done to screen airline passengers to make sure people who fit the airlines' threat profiles were being prevented from boarding American planes."

Of course, since all the terrorists mentioned in the August CIA memo were Middle Eastern radical Muslims, passengers of Middle Eastern appearance would have "fit the airlines' threat profile."

Hence, under the Times plan, Muslims by the thousands would have been yanked from airport ticket lines for thorough investigation.

But there's a reason that, even after 9/11, anti-terrorist racial profiling is verboten. It's because newspapers like the Times have spent the last 20 years demonizing law enforcement officials who even hint that racial profiling can be an effective way of ferreting out the bad guys.

The anti-profiling taboo has gone so far that often the Times and other like-minded news outlets will leave race out of the mix when describing a criminal suspect who's on the loose.

Alas, had the Times and its brethren not gone off the deep end on racial profiling, perhaps a sensible profiling program would have been in place at Boston's Logan Airport on the morning of 9/11.

Editor's note:

· "CATASTROPHE" Reveals the Secret Story Behind 9/11

[DIM1]

Another perspective on how the Lib “Crusade” against racial and ethnic profiling Left us open to attack. Emphasis is on the colossal hypocrisy of Libs, who now blame the administration for not using profiling to stop the attack in the first place, after it was their (the Libs) own opposition that made it impossible for that to be done.

[gimmebackmyconstitution]

Oh, those HypoCRATS. The NY times is hopelessly partisan, slanted & dishonest in my opinion.

[Ruth A.]

Too bad that we have proof that they wouldn't allow racial profiling after September 11th. They would have had John Ashcroft's head on a pike.

[Post Toasties]

Excellent article. I like the term 'ethnic profiling' better, though.

[ladyinred]

I could just scream! These people are determined to lie their way into getting Kerry elected! I am stunned that the Slimes would suggest this. Can you imagine how they would have berated him for daring to profile Muslim's before 911? My gosh, they have done it since 911! I don't even think I can take this anymore. How do we make the average American Idol loving voter realize how biased the media is? /rant continues!

[SierraWasp]

WHAT???

[j_tull]

They would have had John Ashcroft's head on a pike.

Always ping a freeper you're mentioning in a quote. 8^)

[E=MC²]

The demonrats scream at Bush when he sits down "Why didn't you stand up?"; the demonrats scream at Bush when he stands up "Why didn't you sit down?". Fie on them all and who in their right mind gives a meadow muffin what they think.

[CedarDave]

Did you see the FR thread yesterday where the leaders of the airlines revealed that profiling of more than two Arab-looking males per flight was prohibited??

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1118161/posts

"We had testimony a couple of months ago from the past president of United, and current president of American Airlines that kind of shocked us all," Lehman told me. "They said under oath that indeed the Department of Transportation continued to fine any airline that was caught having more than two people of the same ethnic persuasion in a secondary line for line for questioning, including and especially, two Arabs."...

So I ran all of this by Herb Kelleher, the legendary chairman of Southwest Airlines. Kelleher confirmed it, and that it began during the Clinton administration. The Justice Department said it was "concerned about equality of treatment with respect to screening."

[NormsRevenge]

two words, uh,, make that four words..

Clinton holdover,, Norm Mineta..

[Lancey Howard]

I love NewsMax.
Way to go, Carl!

[Freedom4US]

No, remember that the lefties don't want words to actually mean anything, in order for them to mean whatever they want, OR, they invent a term that doesn't apply at all, the ole' bait and switch - "Racial Profiling" is by definition wrong. Criminal profiling on the other hand, is just good police work.

Ever notice trying to argue with a "progressive" is like pulling teeth? They'd argue with you if you claimed the sky is blue.

[ladyinred]

Yes, I did see that. Amazing isn't it? And yet they want to blame the President for not doing anything about this. It is the Clinton administration they should be focusing on, but I am convinced this commission's objective is to cover up for and protect the Clinton's to keep Hillary viable for the Presidency.

[ladyinred]

I assume the WHAT? is in reference to the article and not my ranting post? :-)

[GAGOPSWEEPTOVICTORY]

The Slimes is a disgusting piece of liberal propoganda.

Does anyone really believe the Times would have endorsed a policy pre-9/11?

This Monday morning quarterbacking about 9/11 is really pissing me off. It happened. Bush missed the threat, Clinton missed the threat. It's over and done with. For the Rats and their media partner Slimes to demonize Bush is disingenuous.

[dixiechick2000]

I was just about to post that. I'm glad I read the thread first. I will add just this...

"That was it, Lehman said, "because of this political correctness that became so entrenched in the 1990s, and continues in current administration. No one approves of racial profiling, that is not the issue. The fact is that Norwegian women are not, and 85-year-old women with aluminum walkers are not, the source of the terrorist threat. The fact is that our enemy is the violent Islamic extremism and the overwhelming number of people that one need to worry about are young Arab males, and to ask them a couple of extra questions seems to me to be common sense, yet if an airline does that in numbers that are more than proportionate to their number in particular line, then they get fined and that is why you see so many blue haired old ladies and people that are clearly not of Middle Eastern extraction being hauled out in such numbers because otherwise they get fined."

Now, we know why little old ladies with walkers are searched before boarding a plane.

Thank YOU, Bill Clinton and your PC police.

[DIM1]

GAGOPSWEEPTOVICTORY,
Thank you for your reply.
I fully agree with you. The problem is how do we get the message of hypocrisy like this out to those not yet decided on whom to vote for?
Be Well,
DIM1

[DIM1]

gimmebackmyconstitution,
Thank you for your reply.
They are Biased and slanted, but they do, for the most part write well, are fairly educated, and cover stories in depth. What we need are a. more conservatives in Journalism, and b. more mainstream media outlets. Perhaps the WT, NewsMax, and others could combine to put something on the cable or the air. And soon.
Be Well,
DIM1

[DIM1]

ladyinred,
I know exactly how you feel mame.
We need to do something though. Have a plan and develop an organization so as to bring awareness of this kind of blatant hypocrisy to all those who are yet decided on whom to vote for in November. Maybe a new “mainstream” conservative media outlet, maybe some of the same types of “independent” production companies as the Dems have, such as MoveOn etc. Companies which can quickly turn out quality ads that get our side of these stories out. Whatever it is though has to be done now. Call the RNC. Tell them.

[Luis Gonzalez]

"Can you imagine how they would have berated him for daring to profile Muslim's before 9/11?"

It's an impossible thing to do.

There are Muslims of every nationality and every ethnicity.

The idea that Islamic extremist terrorists entering the US on a suicide mission would check the "Yes" box on the "Are you now, or have you ever been a member of a Fundamentalist Islamic terrorist organization?" just doesn't hold water.