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."
Yeah, right. The lady in Florida who rented the apartment to Mohammed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi thought they were a couple of nice, clean-cut friendly guys too.
Al Capone was finally imprisoned for tax evasion after years of painstaking investigation. The FBI was never able to get enough evidence on him for all the murders he ordered. Similarly, any remaining terrorists in the U.S. are not going to be found making bombs in broad daylight or meeting in a public place to plot their next murders; they will be discovered only through small pieces of information pieced together through painstaking investigation. If it takes interviewing 5,000 people, 4,996 of whom are innocent, to nail the 4 who are planning the murders of thousands, that's okey dokey with me!
No they aren't. All we need is some backbone from our elected officals to ship these ingrates back to where they came from. If it was Americans running around in Saudi Arabia killing people you can bet that every American would have been rounded up, jailed, beaten up and deported.
Clause 11: To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
I also note that no where in the Constitution is the President authorized to declare war. He may convene the Congress at his discretion for such purposes, but he is not authorized to declare war. Only The Congress may do this.
Now you can cite precedent all you want. We also have a precedent for slavery. It does not make it right. We also now have a precedent for federalizing schools, which is also blatantly and completely unconstitutional.
While we're on the subject of UNCONSTITUTIONAL actions, which are so readily accepted around here by "conservatives", the PARTRIOT BILL is one of the most Orwellian, UNCONSTITUTIONAL and over-reaching pieces of legislation to hit the books en masse. Usually the Democrats and Republicans do such things piece-meal -- one law at a time, until one finds out that their body is no longer unalienable -- now it belongs to the state (unless that person wants to murder their unborn child -- then suddenly, she has the RIGHT because it is her body)
Yep the Prez and The Congress really whipped people into a frenzy! Now they'll swallow ANYTHING, as long as we have a Republican President. (Move over Monica were ready to swallow the government's big fat intrusive Nazi games so mind the stains.) Conservatives and Liberals alike are practically breaking their arms to pat one another on the back. Oh, how very patriotic.
If it were Bill Clinton conducting this "bogus" non-war, he would be doing everything EXACTLY the same way, and most people would be screaming to high heaven. Since it is a Republican -- well, everything is AOK. Hypocrisy is the word, which comes to mind.
I do not object to our national defense, but it MUST be done per the Constitution, or I will NOT support it. I swore an oath to uphold and protect the CONSTITUTION of the UNITED STATES. Should the President or The Congress choose to ignore it, I am under NO obligation to obey -- and I will not. I am a LOYAL American!
Now flame away. I have discovered that the constitution is an inconvenient document to 99.9% of the people in this country (unless it is something "they" want a.k.a. MOB RULE). Which means that there are a lot of treasonous individuals running around, waving the flag, as if that somehow makes them loyal.
I have found that "Conservatives" have a great deal in common with the "Liberals", in that they give far-reaching authority to government (if it isn't in the Constitution then it IS allowed unless it says it isn't) -- while at the same time, destroying the rights of the individual, by saying that privacy, property and other rights aren't really rights because it isn't in the Constitution -- when NOTHING could be further from the truth!
Our public schools have done a real mind job on THE PEOPLE. It has effectively convinced the masses that the omnipotent state has power when ever it says it has, even though NO ONE can quote the authority per the Constitution. At the same time "those individuals over there" should NOT have "rights" because they are doing something in pursuit of their happiness, which purverse voyeurs find objectionable, even though it is peaceful and private.
Since no war was declared, then no end must be acknowledged. And just like the drug war, whose pattern they are using to conduct this War on Terrorism, it will still be going long after you're dead. Not to worry, the PATRIOT ACT has all the bases covered. By then your children will be used to armed military everywhere. They will be used to cameras everywhere. They will be used to unwarrented searches and seizures. They will be used to body cavity searches, and a complete reversal of common law, on which the Constitution was patterned. Now you will be guilty UNTIL and UNLESS you can prove your innocence. They probably won't mind too terribly much when ever they are stopped outside their sector, and asked for their papers either. People adjust. I WILL NOT!
Please don't tell me this can't happen to "Americans". Many of these things already do. Legislation has been purverted beyond pale. ASScroft has ALREADY used RICO (a bill designed to go after Mafia Dons) to persecute pro-life protesters. And warrentless searches and seizures, once reserved only for drug king-pins, is commonly practiced today for a variety of crimes (oh did I say crimes) I meant, if any old agent of the omnipotent state suspects you are committing a crime. There used to be a time when these thugs of government had to go before a judge and present evidence. Not anymore!
Now that our TREASONOUS President has signed the Patriot Bill, it will only get much, much worse.
"Conservatives" are engaged in the whole sale slaughter of our rights, while at the same time giving unconstitutional authority to the government -- and yet they continue to wave that flag. The terrorists WON!!! They won big time! Most people are just too blind to realize it.
Nope. I do NOT support the prez. or anyone who thumb their nose at the Constitution. I am not required to be loyal to him. I am required to be loyal to that great document.
Yes. Like trashing the Constitution. The terrorists won.
Well, then any act of force is unconstitional. There are no buts.
"Remember Pearl Harbor."
I do remember Pearl Harbor -- and the Congress made an OFFICIAL declaration of war.
That is correct.
When Swedish bikini models in the USA start crashing American airliners into American skyscrapers, we will start racially profiling them too.
Clarify that statement please.
Mega Bump.
I thought is was clear -- Declare War.
Without a declaration, this war can go on as long as the the prez. wants, because there will never be a declared victory. Think about it -- living with armed guards all over the place. Americans being clasified as terrorists simply because they exercise the right to express their views. The possibilities are endless. The terrorists won!
And when a white man blows up a building in Oklahoma....no wait...never mind.
I couldn't have said it any better!!
We need to pick up and question little old blue-haired ladies who go to Baptist churches instead! The ACLU wouldn't bitch about that, they hate Christians.
When a white man blows up a building in Oklahoma, white men are profiled too.
Between April 19, 1995, and April 21, 1995, federal law enforcement officials traced a Vehicle Identification Number appearing upon the axle of the truck believed to have carried the bomb to a Ryder rental truck dealership in Junction City, Kansas. The FBI prepared a composite drawing of "unidentified subject #1" based upon descriptions provided by witnesses at the Ryder rental dealership. By showing the composite drawing to employees at various motels in Junction City, Kansas, the FBI "determined" that the drawing resembled a man named Timothy McVeigh that had been a guest at the Dreamland Motel in Junction City from April 14-18, 1995. A records check then revealed that a man named Timothy McVeigh was in custody in the Noble County Jail in Perry, Oklahoma, facing state misdemeanor charges.
The witnesses at the Ryder dealership described a white man and the police then narrowed their search to white men.
The police did not go looking for Blacks, Orientals, Middle Easterners, Indians, Eskimos or Samoans.
What, exactly, was your point?
In other words, they need to see the reason behind it and learn to live with it. I'm not willing to risk my next air flight on someone's foolish notion of political correctness.
And if I saw a man I knew to be from Oklahoma hovering around the waterways that feed my drinking water, or any number of potential threats, then I would damn sure call in the Feds.
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