2006 transatlantic aircraft plot / United States should impose racial profiling at airports

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"Of course the Israelis check for bombs and weapons too, but always with the understanding that things don't hijack planes, terrorists do -- and that the best way to detect terrorists is to focus on intercepting not bad things, but bad people."

From What Israeli security could teach us, by Jeff Jacoby (The Boston Globe, 23 August 2006 00:00:00) (view)

"We don't know the details of the British intelligence work that nabbed the 24 Muslims. But it is a fact that you could not catch 24 Muslim terrorists by surveilling everyone in Britain equally. Without the ethnic profiling going on outside of airports, no security procedure currently permissible inside airports would have prevented a terrorist attack that would have left thousands dead."

From Terrorists win!, by Ann Coulter (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 20 August 2006 00:00:00) (view)

"Nobody is suggesting using ethnicity or religion as the only -- or even the primary -- factors in profiling possible terrorists. But it also makes no sense to take zero account of the fact that every suicide attack against U.S. aviation to date has been perpetrated by men of Muslim origin. While al Qaeda is no doubt seeking recruits who don't obviously display such characteristics, that doesn't mean we should ignore the likeliest candidates."

From The 'Profiling' Debate, by The Wall Street Journal editorial board (The Wall Street Journal, 19 August 2006 00:00:00) (view)

"I know that's mean, but believe me when I tell you that if the Irish Republican Army were attempting to blow up American planes, I'd have no problem being patted down before I stepped on a plane. I would understand and appreciate the common sense behind the close look. I would not consider myself a victim but would be furious that my ethnic cousins were causing so much trouble."

From Profile in Sanity, by Bill O'Reilly (Human Events, 19 August 2006 00:00:00) (view)

"The Israelis are generally regarded as having the safest air travel in the world because, instead of searching for weapons, they use profiling to search for terrorists. It isn't as controversial as it sounds. We're talking behavioral profiling here, not racial profiling."

From High Profile, by Jonathan Last (The Weekly Standard, 01 September 2006 00:00:00) (view)

"The feds should avoid racial profiling because it breeds discontent without enhancing security. Strict profiling can't work, as it will prompt terrorist cells to recruit outside the profile. They already are."

From Go Ahead, Search Granny, by Debra Saunders (San Francisco Chronicle, 18 August 2006 00:00:00) (view)