Posted on 08/14/2006 6:06:47 PM PDT by Agent Smith
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?
Or "Pet the Airline Pig"?
If you throw a rock into a pack of dogs, the one that yelps is the one that got hit.
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.
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.
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...
The only travel they should have is back to sand land!
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?
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.
The first stirrings of common sense.
Well, if you want to see signs of that kind for real, go to Saudi Arabia (an "ally" in the war on terror).
Now if only they would do this here in the US too...
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.
Did they get permission from the Muslims first?
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.)
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.
If we didn't do it after 9/11, we certainly won't do it now.
We are suicidal.
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