Sparse
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2005
- Posts
- 510
Time for Profiling?
Is it time for profiling? A touchy subject to say the least, and I know fully well why our nation has resisted the practice and rightfully so. Because of my limited knowledge of the practical aspects of profiling and even less knowledge of the legal aspects surrounding profiling, I am sure there are plenty of experts that can shoot holes all through my position, but in light of recent developments, I think we need to give serious consideration to limited profiling.
What I am about to say will probably strike a nerve with some people. Being a white male it is easy for me to question why some get there panties all in a wad over the subject. What’s the big deal anyway? But then the only profiling I might be subject to is that of being accused of holding conservative Christian values, and belonging to the Republican Party simply because I am a middle aged white male. Proudly I do hold to Christian values and I have to admit I am fairly conservative but I am not a Republican and I am proudly independent. I have never had to worry about driving through a particular area of town and looked upon as one who might be involved in the trading of illicit drugs or prostitution, both stereotypical viewpoints many people hold of young black males. I have never been viewed as an illegal alien, because I am a hard working Hispanic at a construction site. These are prime examples of why our nation has resisted profiling because it could unfairly indict honest, law abiding citizens as lazy, unlawful members of our society based on skin color, socio-economic status, or ethnic background.
On the other hand, we find ourselves in a complicated war, with radical Islam, carried out mostly by young Arab males, usually between the ages of 17-40. They are so committed to their cause that they are willing to use any and all means to inflict harm on our way of life with no regard for innocent life. Thank God for the excellent work of British intelligence, with assistance from the Pakistanis, in foiling what could have been a massive and coordinated effort to down numerous aircraft over the Atlantic Ocean.
Many will agree that while; illicit drug use, prostitution, and illegal immigration may be a drain our society and government resources, they do not threaten our way of life or our democracy. The goals of radical Islam however do. The old saying, “where there’s a will, there’s a way” has to be viewed seriously with this threat. Maybe a better saying is, “where there’s a will there’s another way”.
The terrorists seem to be fascinated with taking down an airplane and we have to stay focused on preventing that. Is it still possible to get a liquid based explosive device onto an airplane? I think so. A couple of months ago, while waiting for a haircut I picked up a magazine to read. It was Sports Illustrated, a magazine I rarely read. There I found an essay on the high price of beer at sporting events and what one fan decided to do about it. The piece was so well written and humorous I was laughing out loud in the waiting area. I started thinking about that article just yesterday as I stood in the “selectee” line at the TSA screening area in Orlando. I travel frequently in my current employment. Up until a year ago, I was a pilot with a major airline, flying to many domestic and international destinations. Since my tickets are mostly last minute and one way, I spend a lot of time in the “selectee” line.
You see this guy in the article had figured out how to smuggle a six-pack of beer into the ball game undetected. He was using a device available on the web for purchase, named the “Beer Belly”, Google it, I am serious, it exist. It is a bladder like device worn on your belly under a loose fitting shirt that can easily go undetected at the gate. It has a tube that runs down into your pants and exits at the fly. It even comes with a cold pack that goes inside the bladder to keep the beer nice and cold. What would prevent a terrorist from using a “Beer Belly” to get an explosive liquid on board an aircraft? The only thing I can think of is at least a pat down, but if you are not singled out for special screening, you won’t get a pat down. Only 80-year-old grandmothers and honest law-abiding travelers, some with TSA approved ID badges routinely get the old pat down. But let‘s just say a sharp TSA person thinks an individual looks a little suspicious with an unusually large gut for a skinny little Arab guy and decides he will single him out for a pat down. Is that profiling? Wouldn’t the fat-people’s movement have something to say about that?
Once again I will refer to the Sports Illustrated article. There’s more. The same guy, the one who didn’t want to pay inflated prices for his beer, also doesn’t want to miss one second of the game. Think about it, it’s the 9th inning of last year’s Braves/Diamondback’s game when Randy Johnson was about to make baseball history, pitching a perfect game and you have to go. What’s a guy to do, especially one with all that brought-from-home, cheep beer? Time for another Google search, enter “The Stadium Pal”. This unique little device is a plastic bladder that straps to one’s leg with a tube routed through the pants leg to a condom like attachment that will provide hours of relief and no interruption in the live action. There is even a “Stadium Gal”. So in the event our young terrorist feels it a bit risky to have an unusual bulge in his belly, a stadium pal like device would certainly go unnoticed and there again, an explosive liquid could get past the TSA. All he needs now is an ignition source (readily available in the many battery powered devices allowed on the aircraft) and boom; there goes a gaping hole in the side of an aircraft.
So how do we battle this problem? We could require the marketers of “the Beer Belly” and “The Stadium Pal” to report all sales to Homeland Security. But these people are pretty crafty at dreaming up ways to bring down an aircraft, I am sure they would develop their own. The only answer I can come up with is “terrorist profiling”. We’re going to have to do it. How many more attempts, or worse yet successes, is it going to take for we as a people to face up to the fact that there is a force that wants to do us harm. They want to kill us without regard to race, religious affiliation, national origin, political affiliation, gender, age, or any other classification you care to mention. They will even kill their own to further their cause. They want to end our way of life, as we know it.
A process for profiling people prone to terrorist acts needs to be developed now. It needs to be developed so the inevitable court battles can begin and hopefully with success we can provide the TSA with another tool to help keep our airways safe.
