The thwarted suicide bombing has renewed calls for full-body scanners.
The scanners are able to detect weapons and explosives in places security screeners are not allowed to touch in physical pat-down searches, such as the groin area and even body cavities where items could be concealed.
Must we surrender our dignity in the name of political correctness? Are we going to subject little old ladies to getting their rear ends searched, ask children to undergo uncomfortable scans, and pretend that black men are potential suicide bombers — in the name of a lie?
We know who the potential suicide bombers are: they’re the ones coming from the Middle East and Northern Africa, who have names like Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalib. They are young, they are male, and they are Muslim.
Here’s where the inevitable crying begins: what about Timothy McVeigh? What about the female suicide bombers we’ve heard about?
Well, what about them? It’s like replying to the contention that most corporate CEOs are old white guys by pointing to Meg Whitman as “proof” that there’s no such thing as a “profile” of a corporate CEO. Yes, of course there are exceptions. To repeat: there are exceptions. An exception also implies a rule. Exceptions don’t mitigate the fact that there’s a general trend.
Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalib said that others are plotting. Do you think that they’re elderly Christian Hispanic women? Let’s let them through with a standard check and start double-checking the young, non-American Arab men. Almost none of them want to blow up planes. But absolutely no else at all is trying to.
Talk to Alex Knepper at apkkib@aol.com
December 29th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/11/palin_on_nidal_hasan_profile_a_1.asp
December 29th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
You and Buchanan on the same page.
December 29th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
2 – Hey, if he’s right, he’s right. I’ve read one of his books (Death of the West); he’s not wrong about everything. If Stalin says the sky is blue, you’re not obligated to oppose him.
December 29th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Umm, checking “young, non-American Arab men” wouldn’t have helped in this case. Haven’t you noticed that Umar is of African (Nigerian) descent – not an Arab? There’s a difference…
December 29th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Well put, Alex.
December 29th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
4 – He’s of Arab descent, he’s Muslim, and it’s still in that general hot-spot.
December 29th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
A few problems with your ideas: It only takes one exception to hijack a plane and kill hundreds of innocent people. Part of good security should be protecting against the unexpected, not just against what’s already happened. To just prepare for the usual and expected tragedy is to give a green light to any terrorist that doesn’t fit the normal descriptions. Just because Arabs are the main terrorist group of today doesn’t mean some other group of crazies won’t decide blowing up a plane is a good idea – and once again it only takes once for a whole lot of blood to be shed. Another potential problem with your plan is that it leaves an open door for terrorists to buy off or terrorize people of other races to take weapons on planes. Your plan would be fine though if people never tried anything new and we didn’t care about just a few hijackers that slip through the cracks.
December 29th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
7 – So we should subject everyone to degrading and anxiety-inducing scans “just in case”? I could justify practically anything if we use the “just in case” criterion. Face it: Hispanic grandmothers ain’t gonna blow up planes.
December 29th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
8. Well when the “Just in case” is about blowing up planes…
And it seems like having to go through some body scanner is a lot less degrading and humiliating than being blown to pieces. Also its not like there’s just Arabs and sweet little ladies. There’s plenty of crazies out there who are not Arabs and just because they haven’t attacked yet’s no guarantee that they won’t in the future, especially if we give them a free pass.
December 30th, 2009 at 2:01 am
How many planes are actually blown up? This was what — one out of the last five hundred thousand flights or something? You have a way better chance of dying in a car crash.
I’m sorry, but there’s only so much I’m willing to give up for safety. It’s just like with car crashes. There are a million and one things we could do to make ourselves safer in cars, but after a while, we accept the risk and settle for less.
Life is filled with trade-offs, not problems and solutions.
December 30th, 2009 at 9:30 am
I am a Nigerian descent and I am proud… No one should judge a country with almost 160million people by one “Fool”. Do I believe there are terrorist in Nigeria? “yes, they could even be here in America” It is very hard to label someone until act of violence is committed……….
To all America… Be at peace…. Nigerian are not evil: Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalib made is own personal decision to do what he did. But with exception, It is the responsibility of the “securities in charge” to keep the innocents safe. Many of them failed….
I believe after the 9-11, Many have slacked on their duty. I hope this wake up “Smarts” and the “Dumb”. All of us need to face reality….. even your own family could turn to a terrorist tomorrow.
December 30th, 2009 at 9:33 am
6. “He’s of Arab descent, he’s Muslim, and it’s still in that general hot-spot.”
Nigeria is in West Africa, you ignorant cretin.
December 30th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
The real story of this case is not the lack of profiling (which almost everyone applies with their own judgement every day…) its the complete incompetence of NTSC, CIA, FBI customs and homeland security to have:
1) ONE DANG WATCHLIST from which red flags can be raised
2) East access to this list. The 500,000 number keeps being bandied about as if thats friction or a hold up. How many subscribers does VISA have? Comcast? Citibank? Ticketmaster? Sorting on an order of 500K is meaningless today and quite trivial. Anyone who throws that around should be laughed at and fired.
3) Total communication between us, the brits, the rest of NATO and all global intelligence services on people of interest (he used a fake school to get a brit visa. After 9/11 isnt that an automaticlly red flag on this side of the atlantic?@!#$#@!)
God, we really dodged a bullet here. He got so close….
December 30th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
I meant to say “Easy” access in 13.2 above. Damn keyboard