With the recent attacks on soldiers in the UK and France, combined with the Boston bombings, it's clear that, contrary to the administration's contentions, Al Qaeda is not on the run or decimated. Al Qaeda is crowing about the attacks, declaring that they force the West to always be looking over its collective shoulder for the next attack.
Is it wrong, then, to look askance at Arabs who may pose a threat to us? Is profiling a social evil that is necessary albeit illegal? Is it fair to look not only at Arabs but anyone professing to be a Muslim? News today came that a woman from Michigan died in Syria fighting the Assad regime. Is it not possible that a native-born American radicalized by Islamic fundamentalists would try to infiltrate our communities and attack to spread terror in the name of jihad? Would profiling such a person be allowable or per se illegal?
As an attorney, I know the answer. But as an American citizen, I also have an opinion. I don't think it's necessarily wrong for the authorities to look at suspicious individuals based on their race or their professed religious beliefs if their actions give sufficient reason to believe they pose a threat to us. It's one thing to pull an Arab out of a line simply because he's Arab. It's quite another to pull him out of line because he's looking around and carrying a backpack.
Moderate Muslims need to do a better job of policing themselves. They need to cooperate with authorities and stop aiding and abetting the Islamofascists with their silence and active support. Otherwise, they have no reason to gripe when they're unfairly profiled. It's an unfortunate consequence, but in this country at least, I believe they have a civic duty to help protect the country that has given them the freedoms and opportunities it has.
(c) 2013 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
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