It’s a tough topic. What do you do when 5% of the people from country A have such strong hate that they will act against your country if given the chance while in country P 15% of it’s people would act against your country if given the chance? Should you treat the peopel from either country with exactly the same amount of attention? Should you pay extra attention to those who come from country P? Or should you ban anyone from country P from coming to your country?
Re: Profiling
A government's obligation is to its citizens. If it seems to be hard to outsiders, so be it. The real difficulty occur when "citizens" of the involved country feel themselves more alined to another country than their own. In this case, the government has the difficulty of also acting against it's own population and that might create major problems.
Re: Profiling
Banning people from country P won't help when the Jamaicans come a-bombing.
Besides which, what about the people from country S who came a-hijacking?
Profiling breeds complacency. The attacks will then come from those who don't fit the profile and who aren't being checked because of the assumption profiling will stop all.
Profiling brown guys after July 7th would have done nothing to stop the black guys on July 21st.
Re: Profiling
America has turned terrorism into a commercial asset...
Let's hope the supply doesn't overcome the demand...:D
But seriously...I really think profiling should start the world over starting with America...
Since the label of the largest mass scale brutality and murder of this century was quickly snagged by America, so wherever Americans go, they should be seriously profiled...
Daniel Pearl was profiled, but too bad he succumbed to collateral damage...
Re: Profiling
Yes so it’s a % game, that’s what profiling is all about, if old grannies start to bomb then more resources to give them attention would occure. If old grannies, men, women, and children all start to bomb that’s when profiling would become defunct, that’s not happening though.
Re: Profiling
You’re not talking about the elderly though.
So far, alleged terrorists include
- 1 white-looking guy (Richard Reid) caught lighting a bomb in a plane
- A couple of white guys (that American Taliban and the Aussie guy) accused of being terrorists
- 3 Pakistanis alleged to be the London bombers
- 1 caribbean guy accused of being a london bomber
- 4 black guys (east africans) accused of being the london bombers
- 19 Saudis
If you look at attacks in britain, for instance, over half the alleged Muslim bombers have been blacks who, when in western dress, are visually indisintiguishable from Christian or Afro-Caribbean blacks. In fact, one alleged bomber WAS an afro-caribean black.
Over 50% of people believed to engage in terrorist attacks in Britain in July were black, and less than 50% of them were brown.
Does this mean that Britain (and the USA) should start profiling all black males as potential terrorists? Should black people be viewed as a greater risk to public safety than brown people or white people?
Re: Profiling
The majority listed have ties to Arab/Muslim countries, if anything that strengthens the argument to profile those coming from/connected to those countries.
Re: Profiling
Nonetheless, you cannot tell that visually. And you ignore the July stats.
Given that the main visually distinction of the majority of the alleged July attackers in Britain is that they are black, does that mean that people who look should be prioritised for screening as potential terrorists where judgement calls are made on looks alone?
Re: Profiling
based on looks alone isn't really happening MS, it goes beyond that, more Thursday.
Re: Profiling
^ i agree
Re: Profiling
^^
Zeher ka gola multinick...
Your avatar reminds me of someone...Are you her?
Re: Profiling
All profiling is racist in origin. Now if you accept that the government will establish an institutional system to discriminate against a select miniority by their race, color or creed, that is following in the lines of facsism and nazism. If the govt and people have no problem with that so be it. But then do call yourself a racist and intolerant society.
Re: Profiling
And what is the one predictable common thread to the people above? Hmmm…
Re: Profiling
True, but you can’t tell that from looking at them, and you can’t tell that always from the name. I mean, Lindsey Germaine, the late husband of Samantha Lewthwaithe or something like that, is allegedly a suicide bomber.
Mr Richard Reid is another case.
Put a baseball cap, a sweatshirt, jeans, and nikes on someone else like them, and he could easily slip by any security people who are standing around profiling just guys in, say, long flowy clothes and turbans with big beards.
Re: Profiling
Profiling is more than skin color. And, past religious terrorists have made an effort to blend in by shaving their beards. You are simply taking the most simplistic possible view of profiling, and obviously that is flawed.
Re: Profiling
Really how do you tell what religion some is? Do they have a big sign painted on their forehead? 
Re: Profiling
Odd, as Pakistan is the one country where it is actually now required on new passports.
Re: Profiling
They are all Muslim.
Re: Profiling
It's necessary to keep an eye out on people who can possibly cause harm.