U.S. to target Arab immigrants in stepped up security

[ibrodsky]

Attorney General John Ashcroft proposes to fingerprint immigrants from certain areas. This has various Arab groups up in arms. Doesn't the U.S. know that Arabs are no more likely than anyone else to be terrorists?

I am amazed when I see a sixteen year old blonde girl taken aside before boarding a plane for an extra, random security check. Meanwhile, an Arab passenger just behind her in line is allowed to go right on board.

Should profiling be used to help deter terrorists? Or should the U.S. pretend it has no basis for targeting people of certain nationalities?

[cerulean]

I don't really object to profiling. However, any set of exclusionary criteria just sets up a situation that terrorists can exploit.

Maybe a 16-year-old blonde girl is not a collaborating girlfriend of a terrorist, but it's possible a slightly older woman would be. As I mentioned before, a pregnant Irish woman was set up by her Jordanian boyfriend back in the 1980s to bring a bomb on board (fortunately El Al caught her).

I read that southeast Asian Muslim terrorists are being brought in by Al Qaeda to get around the fact that Arabs are highly suspect. It's difficult to distinguish a Malaysian or Indonesian at a glance from non-Muslim Asians.

[Mediocrates]

Profiling is what any police officer or DA would call circumstantial evidence. It's what allows most legal systems to operate. And it is at the heart of almost all prosecutions. To say that you can't profile is to say that w/o a confession and a video tape you won't prosecute someone.

99 people wave a gun around a liquor store and rob it the- odds are the next person will too.
14 out of 15 people who piss on a police car are drunk
The woman running down the street with her face bashed in was probably beaten by someone she knows like a husband or boyfriend
Most children are molested by a family member
Most drunk drivers are in fact alcoholics

That's what profiliing is. You go with whatever evidence you have. Is it subject to abuse? Yes, anything is subject to abuse.

[elke]

Richard Reid, UK passport, looks like he couldn't tie his own shoe laces, let alone blow up anything... come to think of it, he couldn't :p

I saw an interview with an El Al security expert. He said something that really stuck in my mind: he said that they don't do just racial profiling, but also behavioral. They look for certain signs, twitches, whatever, when they check someone out. Even so, I wonder how they caught that Irish girl. I guess, we are probably better off not knowing all anyway.

[cerulean]

Originally posted by elke
Even so, I wonder how they caught that Irish girl. I guess, we are probably better off not knowing all anyway.

I did a quick lookup on this. I was amazed to see (well not really), numerous Arab sites that claimed the whole thing was an Israeli plot to make Arabs look bad. So too was Pan Am 103, according to these sites.

[cerulean]

I haven't seen a picture of the suspect recently captured who wanted to set off a dirty bomb in Washington, but I see his birth name is "Jose Padilla." He was born in Brooklyn and lived in Chicago. He was a former Chicago gang member who converted to Islam in prison. Clearly, this man would not have been caught if Arabs were exclusively targeted.


http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/10/national/10CND-TERROR.html

Interesting to note that Richard Reid, the would-be shoe bomber in December 2001, was another non-Arab criminal (a robber) who converted to Islam (in England).

[Mediocrates]

OK so let's not exclusively target them. I get pulled out for multiple searches and Q&A sessions everytime I fly. I get 'randomly' searched every single time I come back to the US. I have been detained in Austin, Dulles, National, Heathrow and DeGaulle.

And other than the grey buzzcut, IDF hat, dark glasses, fistful of one way tickets and emotionless monosyllabic answers I'm as innocuous as any traveller. :mad:

Point is, start somewhere. Go with what you know. Believe me in 35 years when there is a radical Hispanic seperatist movement in the SW US we'll start looking at Hispanic muslims too. :eek:

[elke]

Originally posted by cerulean
I haven't seen a picture of the suspect recently captured who wanted to set off a dirty bomb in Washington...,

I have, and it's ugly! :D

You are right though, Israeli security services have stated in an interview I saw that they do more than just racial profiling: they look for certain behavior patterns and other things as well (they did not divulge what, actually). It was reported that The Nincompoop (a/k/a Richard Reid) was not only detained by the Israelis, but also had a full-blown Marshall sitting next to him on his El Al flight.

[cerulean]

Here's another example of a non-Arab (anglo-American jailhouse convert to Islam) who was trained in bin Laden's camp. He says he's reformed, but note the references to the SS. Maybe the majority of Islamist terrorists are still Arab at this point, but I doubt that will be the case in ten to fifteen years or so.

Edit: Oops, left out the link.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58768-2002Jun27.html

[James]

Originally posted by ibrodsky
Attorney General John Ashcroft proposes to fingerprint immigrants from certain areas. This has various Arab groups up in arms. Doesn't the U.S. know that Arabs are no more likely than anyone else to be terrorists?

I am amazed when I see a sixteen year old blonde girl taken aside before boarding a plane for an extra, random security check. Meanwhile, an Arab passenger just behind her in line is allowed to go right on board.

Should profiling be used to help deter terrorists? Or should the U.S. pretend it has no basis for targeting people of certain nationalities?

I hear the U.S. is consulting with Israel about how they profile certain people passing through customs. Maybe the Palestinians are going European, blondes, blue eyes. Ashcroft seems to well informed about terrorist plans. Maybe he is being informed by various (non Muslim) countries about security profiles?

[ibrodsky]

Originally posted by James


I hear the U.S. is consulting with Israel about how they profile certain people passing through customs. Maybe the Palestinians are going European, blondes, blue eyes. Ashcroft seems to well informed about terrorist plans. Maybe he is being informed by various (non Muslim) countries about security profiles?

That's good to hear. And for the record, I think John Ashcroft is one of our finest public servants, despite being villainized by leftists.

[James]

Originally posted by ibrodsky


That's good to hear. And for the record, I think John Ashcroft is one of our finest public servants, despite being villainized by leftists.


I agree.

[cerulean]

U.S. Holds Suspected Al Qaeda Trainee
$12 Million in Fake Checks Are Seized
By Douglas Farah and Allan Lengel
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, July 20, 2002; Page A01
U.S. Customs agents have arrested a Jordanian-born man who was allegedly carrying $12 million in false cashier's checks, alarming counterterrorism officials who said the suspect may have been trained in al Qaeda terrorist camps in Afghanistan.

U.S. officials said the name of Omar Shishani, 47, who was detained Wednesday as he arrived at Detroit Metropolitan Airport from Indonesia, appears on a watch list of people trained in Afghanistan by al Qaeda. Shishani's name turned up in documents captured in Afghanistan, sources said.
...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34752-2002Jul19.html

===
How fortunate this man used his real name. Notice from his picture that he would probably not be picked out as "looking" like an Arab (and there is no specific appearance anyway). In fact, he was born in Jordan, but his family is from Chechnya, and he was traveling from Indonesia.

[cerulean]

http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/52929.htm

AMERICANS WHO ANSWER THE TWISTED CALL OF JIHAD

By NILES LATHEM
July 21, 2002 -- WASHINGTON - Hundreds of Americans have left behind freedom to join Osama bin Laden's international jihad over the past two decades, according to government estimates.
[...]
The FBI estimates as many as 2,000 Americans left the country to join the jihad movement in the '90s - many to fight in Bosnia, Kosovo and Chechnya, conflicts where the American government was on the side of Muslim fighters.

Information uncovered since Sept. 11 reveals that least 400 Americans have received training at al Qaeda terror camps and religious schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
===

This number would include both Americans who were born Muslims and those who converted to Islam. I don't see a numerical breakdown between the two groups here. Thus far, at least, though, these American-born jihadis have not demonstrated the same urge to commit suicide attacks, which may make them slightly less dangerous than their Arab counterparts. Of course their appearances may make them more dangerous, since they can infiltrate wherever they want more easily.

[cerulean]

http://www.stratfor.com/fib/fib_view.php?ID=205544
Discovery of Non-Arab Militants Means Trouble for Security Efforts
1 August 2002

Russian media reports say that a Japanese militant is part of a group of around 100 Muslim fighters who crossed from Georgia into the breakaway republic of Chechnya July 29. Two militants captured by Russian forces said there were several mercenaries in the group, including a Japanese convert to Islam who was trained by instructors of Chechen warlord Ruslan Gelayev, ITAR-Tass and the Kommersant daily reported.

Although the existence of the Japanese militant is unconfirmed, it potentially could further complicate counterterrorism operations around the world. As the number of alleged al Qaeda operatives and other Muslim militants coming from places other than the Middle East or South Asia rises, a key tool used to identify potential terrorists -- racial profiling -- may become even less effective.
...

========
The article mentions the Chechnyan-Al Qaeda link and the multi-ethnicity of Al-Qaeda fighters.
I'm not suggesting that anyone should always look for zebras instead of horses upon hearing hoofbeats. But the key concern is radical Islamic ideologies and outlooks rather than Arabs specifically.