Posted on 11/16/2001 5:26:42 PM PST by Roy Tucker
DALLAS (AP) - Arabs and Muslims expressed outrage Friday at the U.S. Justice Department's plan to interview 5,000 young male foreigners, who are not suspected of any crimes, as part of the terrorism investigation. Civil rights activists say the action constitutes racial profiling.
"Unless the government has credible evidence that all these 5,000 men were involved in terrorism, which is very unlikely, then what Mr. Ashcroft is advocating is racial profiling at its most fundamental level," said Ramzi Dakour, vice president of the Arab American Students Association at the University of Texas at Austin.
Attorney General John Ashcroft announced Tuesday that the Justice Department has distributed a list of 5,000 men it wanted to interview about the Sept. 11 attacks. The list comprises men ages 18 to 33 who entered the United States since Jan. 1, 2000, from certain countries.
The countries represented were linked to the hijackers in the Sept. 11 attacks or were waystations for the terrorist organization, al-Qaida. The department acknowledges the men are likely to be Arab and Muslim, but says the list wasn't based on ethnic origin.
"This is yet another example of the heavy-handedness that's being used without any rhyme or reason," said Sohail Mohammed, an immigration lawyer in New Jersey. He represents several men who were questioned shortly after the attacks and are now jailed on immigration charges.
Mohammed said he would advise people to cooperate with questioners "if there's a good, well-articulated reason other than just a general fishing around."
Earlier interviews seemed to be just that, he said, "Stupid questions like, 'What do you think of American civilization?' and 'Why do you pray five times a day?' If that's what they're going to ask this time, people will say, 'No fishing in this house.' "
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas is distributing hundreds of pamphlets, some in Arabic, explaining civil rights under federal and state law.
The Justice Department interview initiative is "formalized, black-and-white stated policy directing law officers to racially profile," said William Harrell, executive director of the state ACLU.
Hana Saleh, a member of the Muslim Student Association at the University of Texas at Dallas, said students are increasingly concerned about racial profiling.
"You can't just say that because a person is from this part of the world, they will act this way," she said. "People who know us personally would never approve of this. As human beings, we all want freedom."
Najat Elsayed, president of the University of Houston's Council of American-Islamic Relations, said people with no connection to the attacks may feel nervous about talking to investigators for fear a miscommunication could land them in jail.
"We want to help as much as possible, but we haven't done anything wrong and we are legal, productive citizens," she said. "We don't see why we should be subjected just because someone from our race did something."
Did they round up all white men. That's a bit of news I missed.
You missed it because they scrutinized the white men that fit the profile: Young, white men staying in motels in Junction City, Kansas near the time of the Oklahoma City bombing.
You are simply setting up and knocking down your own Strawman Argument. There are 6 million Muslims in the USA. The FBI is questioning an extremely small percentage of them that fit the profile of a possible terrorist.
If you compare percentages, the percentage of Muslim men being profiled for this questioning would be much smaller than the percentage of young white men that stayed in motels in Junction City, Kansas near the time of the Oklahoma City bombing.
Are the attendants there now? Perhaps, they will wheel you out for some fresh air? A little sun might help.
Not only would should we surrender, but those islamic muslim wierdos would have us burn all our money and return to the pre-industrial age era. What idiots.
Well now that speaks volumes, doesn't it?
Out of 7 million Muslims in America, they want to question 5,000. That is being selective. We are not becoming a police state. We are trying to get the handcuffs off from the policemen; handcuffs put there by those who defend criminals on technicalities.
Despite what's said publically about Islam, most Americans know the truth. Consider youself lucky this is all you have to put up with.
Hey, if those islamic muslim weirdos have their way, tens of MILLIONS of us Americans will be dead, and a "police state" will be one of the last things on our mind.
They aren't rounding up ALL arabs either I'm sure. They have to do something obviously. Nothing was done about the 1993 attack on the WTC so this time it was much worse. I very much doubt there's no evidence at all about those 5000 they're questioning. I'm sure there's some who are talking, also I'm sure citizens have been reporting suspicious activity. From what people have been telling me, they've been catching plenty trying to come over from Mexico still, even before they make it to the border and the Mexicans turn them over to the INS. I think these 5000 will claim to be innocent but I bet a large number of them know an awful lot.
On Sept 11, I don't believe the intention was just to hijack those 4 planes and bring down the US economy, the Pentagon, Congress and probably the president too, I think they had much much more in store. I think just in the first hour, they intended to pretty much bring down the federal government and military. They know there are state and local governments. It was interesting here on Sept 11, one of the first things that happened was the closing of ALL government buildings. I have a feeling there were Muslims in this town and many others all ready for a signal to go into those buildings, kill the security guards and take them over. Otherwise why with a national crisis in process were all government buildings immediately shut down?
No we should not surrender. I have NEVER suggested such as thing. What I have said all along is that we have a Constitution. It is being ignored for the sake of expediency.
It is ignored whenever the US Government says it should be ignored, and they do not need a "national emergency" to do it. With every single Socialist program they dream up, it is ignored. With every nanny-state interventionist ideal, it is being ignored. And in sending our sons off to die without a constitutionally authorized formal declaration of war, it is being ignored.
Let us not also forget, that when our government does this, they are not required to provide our young men with ANY of the benefits due them when fighting a constitutionally declared war.
I cannot understand these attacks. I honestly cannot. I have NEVER said that the United States does NOT have the right to defend itself. That is the purverted message that people who worship government, want to make it out to be.
The Constitution is the SUPREME foundation of this nation. If you tear down (even ONE part) you open up the ENTIRE document to abuse.
Please don't tell me that the "nature" of this attack, gives the Congress an exception. Since this act was so grievous, the Congress should have ABSOLUTELY no problem getting the votes necessary to formally declare war.
The idea behind this constitutional MANDATE, is so that no ONE MAN can send our troops into hostile territory willy-nilly, and no ONE MAN can suspend the Bill of Rights for his personal pleasure. It is called checks and balances.
So now ask yourself -- why are you willing to put your faith in a government which allowed KNOWN terrorists to infiltrate this country in the first place?
Had they been doing their JOB, 911 would not have happened.
Now you want to place your faith in the same people who contributed to this mess in the first place. I honestly don't understand it. With the LONG history (since the new deal) that this government has of abusing the constitution, we should be fearful and untrusting.
Why are you so complacent? Do you not believe in self-defense?
If the government had been doing its job, these KNOWN terrorist would not have been here in the first place. Now you want to give these same dead-beats run over your life.
Yeah. Let's fire the government and give JRadcliffe the job of protecting our borders. That's the ticket.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.