Friday, August 25: Thanks for the link and fair reading of the post, Will. 
Thursday, August 24: Julie Gorin writes: “If terrorism indeed has a distinct appeal to the average Muslim, and yet the religion is not the cause, then what is? Genetics? Is it time to start talking about the terror gene — and asking the uncomfortable question: Do they choose it, or are they born that way?
And if Islam isn’t the cause of murderous proclivities, have we considered that at the very least it must be a symptom?”
Wednesday, August 23: I agree with Daniel Pipes. It’s going to take thousands more dead Americans for the government to profile the way it knows it ought to. He writes:
“Noting the limited impact that losing 3,000 lives had in 2001 and building on my ‘education by murder’ hypothesis — that people wake up to the problem of radical Islam only when blood is flowing in the streets — I predict that effective profiling will only come into effect when many more Western lives, say 100,000, have been lost.”
I also agree with Walter Williams. I wish this country fought wars the way it used to.
Later…Can’t wait to find out who these fools are. Take a wild guess. Are they Christians or Muslims?
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When I read that passengers on a British flight refused to fly with two Middle Eastern men on board, I knew we’d finally reached the point of no return. I’ve been waiting for something like this to happen.
Welcome to the age of terrorism.
A flight from Málaga, Spain, to Manchester, England, was held up for three hours after passengers became suspicious of two men of Middle Eastern appearance speaking what they believed was Arabic. The men were “escorted” off the airplane.
I’m as “tough on terrorism” as any red-blooded American, but I cringed when I read the story. It’s come to this. I want people to be free and happy and left alone to live their lives in peace, but that’s not the way the world works. The men likely were not terrorists, but people are fed up with this stuff. There is evil in the world, and that evil is intent on destroying as many people as it can.
It is unfortunate that Muslims with no terrorist intentions get singled out, too, but the fact is that mostly young, Middle Eastern, Muslim men are responsible for worldwide terrorism. (Including this latest attack?) That’s indisputable. So what are the rest of us supposed to do? Ignore it for the sake of political correctness?
People just don’t trust the government. Glenn Reynolds writes:
The two guys were likely entirely innocent, and didn’t deserve this, but this is the kind of thing that happens when people don’t trust the authorities to protect them. Over time, I fear that excessive political correctness on the part of governments will breed the reverse elsewhere.
Last night I watched CNN for the first time in years, and there was report about the lack of security at airport cargo holds. The CNN crew was able to drive up to cargo containers, which are loaded onto passenger planes, with no security personnel in sight. Even worse, a couple of disguised whistle-blowing employees said that most of the time, the cargo itself is not screened.
There aren’t enough resources, presumably, to watch everything all the time. Bureaucratic, soft-stepping government agencies are virtually hamstrung to do what really needs to be done. The problem is deep and cultural, and taking off our shoes at airports is as effective as trying to lift a boulder with a feather.
Muslims on a Plane: A Personal Account
Last year while on a flight back to D.C. after a road trip, I saw several men I suspected were up to no good. They were young men of Middle Eastern appearance, and one in particular was acting suspiciously. I was in an aisle seat on the right side, and he was a few seats in front of me on the left sitting with another Middle Eastern-looking man. I noticed that he kept looking back, smirking, and nodding his head at two other young men of Middle Eastern appearance several rows behind me.
It’s an understatement to say the guy was strange. He was too far away to actually talk to his companions, and I didn’t hear him speaking to the man he was sitting with. He just kept turning around, smirking, and nodding during the entire flight. My imagination kicked into overdrive. Was that a signal?
I remained alert, just in case…I don’t know. If I were mistaken, I had nothing to lose but the enjoyment of a good book. If I were right, I and everyone else on board had a lot to gain. But the flight was uneventful. I guess the man was remembering some inside joke or had forgotten to take his meds.
On a different flight, I sat a few seats behind two young men of Middle Eastern appearance. This time I wasn’t worried. Directly in front of them sat two men I believed with 90 percent certainty were air marshals. They had that look, know what I mean? Anyway, they were sitting right behind the bulkhead, and one got up to use the first class bathroom. Upon his return, he did a double-take at the men, eyeing them in a subtle but definitely alert manner. Again, the flight was uneventful, expect for a little turbulence.
I’m not sure that what happened with the Málaga-Manchester flight would happen here just yet, this being a neurotically politically correct, don’t-hurt-their-feelings kind of country, and all. People who aren’t raising a ruckus, or who merely speak in Arabic or look Middle Eastern typically don’t get thrown off planes in this country. But I’m certain I’m not the only passenger in America who’s ever suspected Middle Eastern-looking men on a plane. One day we’ll read about passenger revolts on American flights.
Do you have a “Muslims on a plane” story?
Related sources:
- Passengers explain pair’s removal
- “Islamofascism”: Beware of a religion without irony
- Islamic Fascists? What’s in a name?
- UK terror plot suspects charged with conspiracy to commit murder
(Photo source: Daily Mail)
Update: Blogger Toothpick Johnny comments:
There are over a billion Christians in the world, and only a few dozen have ever bombed and abortion clinic. More Muslims have bombed places than Christians. Again, when the IRA was very active, the British profiled people with Irish names and appearances. I have a Celtic name, so I was examined more thoroughly than most. So what? A few more minutes of my time were taken, but I wasn’t harmed. Being subjected to closer scrutiny is hardly a breach of the Constitution, and as I have already pointed out, this was a British flight, not an American one. We are not losing the “war†because we are more aware of our surroundings and more suspicious of people. As for Jose Padilla and John Lindh, they were practicing Muslims and dressed and acted in accordance with that belief.
Emphasis added.
Someone calling himself anonymous muslim writes in comments:
I sort of agree with the premise that some rational profiling should be done maybe using the acual passport information. The problem is most Westerners have no idea what a Middle easterner is. You guys keep using that word when the supects the last few months have be predominately Pakistani, which is a South Asian country.
Can’t speak for anyone else, but I use the term “Middle Eastern” as a synonym for “Muslim.” Probably not the most precise term, but there are only a few choices, semantically speaking: 1) We can profile “Middle Eastern-looking” young men; 2) Young men of Middle Eastern descent; or 3) Young men who may be Muslims.
It doesn’t matter to me which one you pick, but in this age of terrorism, it has to be one of the three, combined with background checks and behavior pattern recognition. I didn’t start this fire and certainly can’t put it out, so don’t take out your frustration on me. 
