But as soon as we start to rely on a pattern, the terrorists will try to change it, especially since the NY Times will be sure to tell them what our pattern analysis is.
That's OK, we can adjust accordingly, but for now, to deny what the pattern was and not follow it,, well, we are lucky that the egyptian youths have so far proven toothless.
some of the converts arrested here very recently have a look to them that is fairly recognzable as well, beards, goatees, etc.
the common theme, ROP influence
Profiling makes sense, just as if it were WWII and we were looking for Germans and Japanese. Young Muslim males are the most likely terrorists, as shown by the facts over several years. This does not mean we can ignore all others.
The Federal government's main role, in my opinion, is national security. So agents should have maximum authority to watch, listen to, track suspected terrorists. I'd rather have a phone call of mine listened to (I have nothing to hide) than go down on Flight XYZ crashing into the White House, the Pentagon, NYC, or Disney World simply because government agents didn't have enough authority.