Originally posted by Corbett: ...Islam is a terrorist religion.
wow. what an extremist pov. if you're serious about what you've said, then you've completely discredited yourself and your pov.
not only is it completely unsubstantiated, but it isn't supported any fact. not even president bush or anyone in his administration would agree with you. as a matter of fact no one with any kind of knowledge about islam or religion in general would back up your statement.
to label a whole religion as "a terrorist religion" because of a few idiots is so unbelievably ignorant it's hard to believe you seriously meant that. this is one of the main concerns with profiling in any form, people would turn to making these types of blanket assumptions.
Way to take it out of context. You completely mixed up my words. I suggest you go read the Koran to see what it says before you start calling people who HAVE read it ignorant.
i mixed up your words? lol, it must burn having to re-read what you've said and realizing you're completely wrong. don't wussy out now, man up and accept that this is your stance. the way i hear it this is the reason you think profiling is warranted, because muslims follow a religion/islam which has advocated violence in some part of their doctrine. how novel. not to mention there are examples of extremist in every religion.
the large majority of 'muslims' (arabs,indians,persians,asians, etc) i've worked with and know on a personal level have always been positive and dependable people. even though they may not agree with some of the decisions our gov has made, they are not sympathetic to or supporting of extremist/terrorist actions in any shape, form, or fashion. they are actually very upset that a few islamic scam artist are causing people like corbett to play the birds of a feather rule. well i can say that in my experience they've had the same commitment to peace as a the most 'christian like' christians. i know what the koran says and have read the passage you so annoyingly refer to, but i'm basing my opinion on real world experience and interaction rather than a narrow and shortsighted interpretation of one passage out of thousands.
you need to stop viewing everything as captain literal and accept that the koran is up to interpretation just as any other book. again just for clarification, for you to even remotely infer that islam is a terrorist religion is completely wrong and yes...ignorant.
Originally posted by JaTo: My entirely unwarranted (and possibly unwanted) .02 cents:
Racial profiling will work to a limited degree, but only for a while and ultimately, IMHO at too great a cost in terms of public opinion of the government and law enforcement. There needs to be a balance; as it stands today, law enforcement does have their hands tied in areas of investigation due to Constitutional rights that ARE NOT negociable, but they damn-sure need more leeway in their methods of surveillance. Finally, much more sophisticated tools are needed over racial profiling to where race is but one of many variables that are considered. Travel, buying habits, race, religious persuasion, birth origin, scholastic pursuits, reading habits, internet habits, etc., etc. Of course, it takes an Act of God to obtain warrants to the level needed to dig that far today, but there does need to be a greater degree of tracking along those lines...
Originally posted by BP:...not sure how effectivene it would be in the US in a post 9/11 environment. everyone keeps a close eye on people of ME/arab appearance. they are under a very close microscope by the general population as well as security forces. suspected terror cells/groups can still be investigated through the patriot act.
jato, i would say we've already reached that balance you speak of. implementing official policy that supports profiling isn't necessary imo since we're already doing it. and to your other points, the changes we've made in intelligence gathering since 9/11 as well as extending the patriot act (i think) are proving to be effective in keeping track of and pro-actively pursuing suspects. imo we need to invest more into securing our vital infrastructure where security and disaster recovery plan is very weak. realistically there's only so much you can do outside of martial law to closely monitor some of these organizations.
Originally posted by JaTo:Racial profiling would possibly nab a few nutcases up front, but I fully believe that it won't do anything to stop the really worrisome events that keep the Intel communities up at night. Al-Qaedas leadership remains intact and regardless of one's thoughts towards their goals, they have some fairly smart SOB's running the show that have managed to elude the largest manhunt in the history of the human race. Yes, it's been Arabs that have been the poster-children of terrorists, but locking a great many eyes on all Arab gentlemen would QUICKLY steer Al-Qaeda to other methods and other races to carry out their desires.
Originally posted by BP:...i doubt john walker lindh was taken in by the taliban and terror affiliates by chance...
another reason it won't work.
Originally posted by JaTo:Finally, racial profiling plays right into what Al-Qaeda wishes most; a larger and spreading rift between Western cultures and Islamic ones, thereby polarizing more and more moderates of both sides.
exactly. so why does this seem to be a non-issue for those advocating systematic profiling.
not to mention there are examples of extremist in every religion.
