Should racial profiling be used to stop terror?

[sarah]

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2316888&page=1
What do you think?
Is racial profiling a valid tool for weeding out potential terrorists?

 

[vicki2]

I don't think there's any way around using racial profiling as a tool. Afterall, who commit these crimes? They're fundamentalist Muslim men usually within a certain age group. If that's known, how can you not be accused of racial profiling in dealing with looking for them?

 

[palefrost]

YES YES YES!! Great topic!! ITs all over the news at the moment!

No way around it racial profiling is the way to go. People need to stop getting all bent out of shape on this issue and realize its the only way we can handle this problem.

 

[capitalist_junkie]

If we were to use racial profiling, we'd have to be profiling every single person around. Middle Eastern people aren't the only terrorists out there.

 

[kokotai]

I think that racial profiling is sickening. Just because I look a certian way I must be suspect. Bush looks like an idiot, should we put him on the short bus.

 

[sarah]

I think bush needs to ride the short bus for a while.

 

[vicki2]

I think that racial profiling is sickening. Just because I look a certian way I must be suspect. Bush looks like an idiot, should we put him on the short bus.

If most terrorists are Middle Eastern, then logic says that the police should be looking for people of Middle Eastern origins. There's no way around that even if it does sound like racial profiling. Are we supposed to ignore facts that we know???

 

[OneofaKind]

I think it is only practical to use it, but I don't think it should be over relied upon

 

[sarah]

the question that should be important here is, where do we draw the line?
at what point will it be considered over relied upon?

 

[kokotai]

If most terrorists are Middle Eastern, then logic says that the police should be looking for people of Middle Eastern origins. There's no way around that even if it does sound like racial profiling. Are we supposed to ignore facts that we know???

I think you have to redefine what profiling is. Should it be racial, no but if the guy who committed the crime is Middle Eastern that should not be the only definition. If a white guy commits a crime we don't arrest all white guys. It has to be redefined.

 

[vicki2]

Well, of course there's definition to the profiling or else it wouldn't make a lot of time efficiency sense at all. I don't know the exact profiling they are using but would assume that it's something like men, 18-36, Middle Eastern descent, known fundamentalist connections, etc. etc. etc.

 

[sarah]

I think it is more a standard of where you come from and or live, ethnicity, age, and mannorisms. if someone is coming over on a visa from the middle east obviously that person is of more suspicion than his counterpart who has lived in the US for 10 years.

 

[kokotai]

And that is the problem, the government isn't just profiling such as this. They are picking up everyone and asking questions later. I understand that there are people being held currently who are of middle eatern decent but have never been out of the country. The act of profiling is only as good as the perameters set.

 

[vicki2]

Thing is, I'm not certain we know the exact perameters that they are using. One thing which came to light here in the UK after last week's activities is that many of the people arrested were Muslims born and educated in the UK.
I was just listening to a radio show talking about how they recruit, and it's largely from univerisities here. Many of the recruits seem only to have being Muslim in common including some converts. It is said that Al Qaeda likes these recruits because they often aren't suspected.

 

[sarah]

Obviously a large part of the parameters are that the person be Muslim, and/or of Middle Eastern decent. And after all isn’t that the issue up for debate here, wither or not that should be used to determine who requires further inspection.