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08/03/2005:

"The Faulty Logic of "Terrorist" Profiling"

by Tim Wise
Growing up in the South, I often heard folks criticize others for being "common." To be called common was to be vilified as trashy and unworthy of respect. Putting aside the elitist implications of such a slur, the pejorative nature of the term has always stuck with me, so much so that when I hear something described as "common sense," I instinctively assume that while it may indeed be the former, it is rarely ever the latter.

There is no better example of this truism than with the desire of so many to endorse racial and religious profiling of Arabs and Muslims so as to thwart terrorist attacks. In the wake of the London subway bombings, the call for profiling is being heard once again (as it was after 9/11), and once again those proposing such measures are cloaking their demands in the garb of "common sense," while mocking as politically correct fools, anyone who dares criticize the idea.
Full: counterpunch.org

As Tim Wise points out, 'dedicated terrorists' will always find a way, profiling or not. But the other weird angle of this is the obssession with 'safety.' The only way a government can provide some measure of safety to its people is to pursue humane policies. The same people who are making it unsafe for everybody are in charge of 'homeland security.'
Ha.Right now, the least 'safe' people in the Western world are young men with dark skin.

Safe