Times Online reports that Tony Blair’s Labour Government…
… is discussing with airport operators plans to introduce a screening system that allows security staff to focus on those passengers who pose the greatest risk.
The passenger-profiling technique involves selecting people who are behaving suspiciously, have an unusual travel pattern or, most controversially, have a certain ethnic or religious background.
The system would be much more sophisticated than simply picking out young men of Asian appearance. But it would cause outrage in the Muslim community because its members would be far more likely to be selected for extra checks.
Officials at the Department for Transport (DfT) have discussed the practicalities of introducing such a system with airport operators, including BAA. They believe that it would be more effective at identifying potential terrorists than the existing random searches.
It’s encouraging to hear that finally someone has finally screwed up the political courage to even discuss the application of reality-based airport screening. As a relatively frequent flier, I’m ready to accept the heightened risk from blue-haired Texas grandmothers because airport security is waving them through in order to concentrate on 17 – 30 year old males fresh from finishing schools in Islamobad.
As always, YMMV.
Related – comments from John Stevens, former London police chief;
“stop the denial, endless fudging and constant wailing that somehow it is everyone else’s problem and, if Islamic terrorism exists at all, they are somehow the main victims”.
“Just wait until an aircraft is bombed which contains some left-leaning whacko … who wouldn’t be missed … We can only hope.”
I think I finally understand what’s going on here.
Basically, since right wing types are on the cusp of murdering everyone around them that doesn’t agree with them, or hoping for their death, or otherwise entertaining murderous thoughts about people (i.e. torture), and, since they are frequently religous christianists, they find that they are essentially the exact same as extremist muslims. I don’t mean moral equivelant, I mean, you are the same people.
Being the hardcore, born racists they are, they are so disgusted to find themselves the equivelant of a group of brown people that they lash out and project and just want everybody dead.
They also don’t want brown people to “win” their little extremist war so they call it “security” and “protecting the country” and turn to the left to shit all over somebody who questions their insanity.
I’m more frightened of crackpot murder fantasy “christian” CRAP party freaks every day.
I wish muslim extremists and your ilk find a big field somewhere and just have it out, so the rest of us can get on with our lives. Oh, wait Iraq. Oh, but most of you aren’t there – you’re behind your fucking keyboard.
Fundamentalist Christians don’t have much of a body count….Well, not lately, but only because they have been neutered by modernity. The impulse to impose their creed on the rest of society is never far from the surface.I offer the imbecile irwin daisy as a case in point.
All of this will shift the balance to show the Islamic world that fascism is not successful
As much as I usually agree with you, ET, and I’m admitting this as a Bush proponent of nation building, now becoming less optimistic, I don’t think that time is on the Islamic world’s side for an orderly internally driven transition to democracy. I think you are being naive. Fascism isn’t historically successful, but, sadly, it’s the fascists that are the last ones to get that message.
Iran is now the wild card. Put aside Afghanistan and Iraq for now. Iran is testing our weaknesses, resolve and responses via their proxy Hezbollah. Israel’s lack of a lethal final blow to them isn’t heartening. They have their tentacles into the Shiia population in Iraq and a big presence in Lebanon politically. We are now in a more troubling and complex phase of this war. This war is evolving. We have yet to see the West’s full comprehension of this and an acknowledgement with a cohesive counter-plan on the critical need to deal with Iran.
Angryflower:
They also don’t want brown people to “win” their little extremist war….
I don’t. Do you? Reply not needed.
Angry flower..Leftists are abject apologists for human kinds worst people and ideas.Indeed,they are a danger to themselves and doubly so to right minded people who wish to live in peace.
I and many others wish the “little brown people” would lose this war.By them doing so,and with the dismantling (read violent death) of such persons and ideaology,you will sleep safe in your bed at night.
Do you think that if you just stuck your head in the sand and wished it would all go away,that it would? The enemy has declared you a target ,and dis-believing or not,the grave is just as cold for you as the most ardent campaigner against the war on terror.
Iraq is not Canadas war..it really sits outside the realm of the global war on terror.Granted certain aspects of that conflict are in lockstep
with it,but in reality it is but one component.
It would be nice if we could fight this war on conventional battlefields.We would crush these murderous fools like the insects that they truly are.We can’t do this you see…they do not think like you or i,they do not extend latitude nor compassion and your way of life is anathema to theirs.They care not that you wish them to go away,and truthfully feel ideas of relativism and the people who stand behind them to be usefull (as well as ignorant ) idiots.
Because you care not for your life( or others..) why would you care if there was one less of you or not?
penny – I see your point. I think you are advocating a form of WWII, but in the ME rather than in Europe, which takes out fascism and enables democracy to develop. It might well come to that.
I agree with you about Iran; it’s the key node in the boiling oil.
My view is that the Arab States, SA, Jordan, Egypt,Iraq, won’t allow Iran to move into dominance. They may very well move against Iran. If they did this, they’d probably be ‘proxies’ of the West.
At the moment, we have Hezbollah and Hamas and Syria as proxies of Iran. Israel as itself and also, proxy for the West, which doesn’t want Islamic fascism.
Since Muslims in the West are so overwhelmingly silent on this ‘viper in their midst’, or, support Islamic fascism, or, complain that they are ‘peaceful’ and victimized by western police and security – then, they may not be of any help in this fight against Islamic fascism.
So- you may be right. It might have to be a major war in the ME, which takes out the tribal leaderships and enables democracies.
Where will this profiling stop?
Will the IRS start only auditing the rich?
Say it isn’t so!!!
The whole point of profiling, racial or otherwise, is to use limited security sources as efficiently as possible. It’s not that random screening should be completely abandoned; it shouldn’t be, precisely because if it were, the terrorists would then be able to focus their energies on sending through bombers who were outside the profile. However, focusing on the individuals fitting the high risk profile provides a greater chance of a positive yield and in turn forces the terrorists to expend greater resources and take greater risk of exposure in their attempts to circumvent it. If the terrorists are forced to attempt to recruit their bombers from outside their ethnic or religious group, they also raise their risk of being ratted out by people who don’t share their agenda. Watch them turn to gullible leftists.
Random screening is extremely important, because it cannot be evaded by any kind of disguise. If profiling is heavily used, it is easy to figure out the profile by doing “practice runs.” In the past, terrorist organizations have defeated profile-based screening by recruiting bombers who don’t fit the profile, such as young women. The other important thing about random screening is that it introduces “noise” into the screening process that disguises whatever profile-based screening is going on. Did the recruit you sent through security with tattoos and a mohawk get searched because they’re wise to this tactic, or was he just picked out randomly?
ET, you*ve got that right. 3:39 above. That is an accurate view that most of us would agree with. = TG
“The debacle of Iraq and now the failure to do more to secure an immediate end to the attacks on civilians in the Middle East not only increases the risk to ordinary people in that region, it is also ammunition to extremists who threaten us all,” said the letter, which was signed by three of four Muslim members of Parliament and 38 Muslim groups, including the influential Muslim Council of Britain.”
Yup. The ‘moderate’ Muslim element at work here.
The west is deluding itself if it thinks it can rely on so-called ‘moderate’ Muslims for any support in the war on terror.
ET, thanks for your post of 3:39 in answer to my questions.
I sure HOPE that you’re right. You’d think that their young people would prefer to move into the 21st century rather than strap explosives to themselves to bomb the heck out of their enemies.
I suspect that they have so many “enemies” because of a massive projection of their own self-loathing onto the rest of us, once they’ve figured out how out of the global loop, scientifically and technologicaly, they are.
But, I fear, they’re not that perceptive.
trrll: “Random screening is extremely important, because it cannot be evaded by any kind of disguise.”
“The Pink Panther Strikes Again” will become standard issue to Al Qaeda operatives everywhere to learn the fine art of disguise from the legendary french master. This will quickly lead to banning torpedo bras from carry on luggage(especially during Oktoberfest!). Also the visually well proportioned will be required to submit to medically supervised methodically intensive security screenings to make sure that any gel packs are internal only. This in turn will make the job of security screener much more stressful leading to yet more delays.
Yikes, what a world we live in…
Moderate islam only exists in the minds of those who have resigned themselves to eternally lubricating their nether regions to better acommodate their future masters..
maryjane, another nutty lefty sez:
“Fundamentalist Christians don’t have much of a body count…”
Body count? Is there any body count? I guess it’s kinda hard to prove the case if you can’t come up with the bodies, huh? But really, who needs bodies?
“Well not lately…”
Wha…since the inquisition maybe?…but wait…wasn’t that Catholic? Oh those fundamentalist Catholics from three hundred years ago really make my blood boil.
“…but only because they’ve been neutered by modernity…”
Like what? The Scottish enlightenment? Perhaps Princeton, Harvard, Yale and pretty much every other university in the free world? All of which were started by, dare I say, Christian organizations? Neutered by their own petard, I suppose.
“The impulse to impose their creed on the rest of society is never far from the surface.”
Yeah, so there…Just as bad as the fascist Muslims, without the bombs, the chopping off of heads, the honour killings…yet! But the Christian fundamentalist suicide bombers, head choppers and goat diddlers are coming. Believe you me, they’re coming…I know it.
Ergo the Muslim fascists and the fundamentalist Christians are morally equivalent.
Case closed.
angryflower nattered “Being the hardcore, born racists they are, they are so disgusted to find themselves the equivelant of a group of brown people that they lash out and project and just want everybody dead. ”
You really should get out more. Here in Toronto, white people like me live peaceably with hundreds of thousands of Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Pakistani, Korean, South American, etc. We have problems with small subsets of three ethnic groups – Vietnamese and Jamaican gangs, and Muslim extremists. I don’t wish ill on anyone, regardless of race or creed, unless they have a gun in their hand, and start shooting on Yonge Street, or they are busy plotting to destroy our civil society. If their aim is to use murder to get their way, then I think we have a right to use murder in self-defense, and I’d rather we exercise that right than they do.
They started it here in Canada. I’ve never shot anyone, black, white, or yellow. I’ve never denied anyone a job, a home, or a right to enjoy their lives. But if they want to start screwing around with my right to live my life in freedom and security, then they had better be ready for some stone cold fury, because I’m not giving that up without a fight.
Kursk at 3:19,
Moderate Christians too!!
Manzanar
True Social democrats are not Facist. Apply the right moniker properly. Extreme right wingers like our Alliance/Tory federal gov’t are traditionally Facist,sexist,anti labour,Homophobic
Xeno phobic party. Look up history. Mussolini,Franco,Hitler, Herohito……….all facists and all extreme right wingers like you bloggers. Get the facts staight before running off at the mouth.