Since October of last year, a suburban Pennsylvania woman who operated under the name "Jihad Jane" has been in federal custody for plotting with foreign Islamic fundamentalists to kill a Swedish cartoonist. The cartoonist was the creator of the infamous cartoon which depicted the face of the Muslim prophet Mohamed on the body of a dog.
"Jihad Jane" traveled to Europe and trained with terrorists to kill the cartoonist, and even ultimately moved into his artist enclave after joining his online community. "Jihad Jane" first declared her desire to participate in violent Jihad in the Summer of 2008. Perhaps we would have caught her sooner if, as some ethnocentric fearmongers propose, we had been engaging in ethnic profiling. Yeah, that would have caught this blond haired, blue eyed, caucasian woman:
But it really can't be said enough that not only is systematic formal discrimination against Muslims an ethically troubling concept, but the strategic costs of becoming a country that engages in systematic formal discrimination against Muslims are rather high. I would like to live in a country where if a teenage American Muslim reads on a message board somewhere that the United States is a racist country hell-bent on persecuting Islam that he thinks "no it isn't" not "that's why I got singled out for strip searches when we went on vacation last winter." Nor do I want the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority to come under political pressure at home to divest from US firms because Emirati citizens who visit the US are being treated unfairly.
This is all on top of the fact that profiling generally wouldn't work.
As you have probably all heard by now, on Christmas day a would-be terrorist (here forward known as "the crotch rocketeer") attempted to detonate an explosive device sown in to his underwear during the final decent of a flight into Detroit. The plan was foiled, however, when this Busch Leaguers' balls failed to explode, and with the operation lacking the redundancy of a standard al-Qaeda mission, no one was harmed. Once the flight landed and the Crotch Rocketeer was taken into custody, he began responding to questioning and acknowledged that he received the balls-of-fire device from an al-Qaeda franchise in Yemen. The Crotch Rocketeer made this confession without the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques", revealing the information simply by responding to the questions posed by his interrogators.
In spite of the utter failure and elementary level of this operation and the effectiveness of humane interrogation, we are being told by a chorus of bed-wetters that we must engage in Bush/Cheney-esque rape of American civil liberties through activities such as torture and profiling.
Just take a look at this video of Tom McInerney indicating that we should begin strip searching every Muslim air traveler:
Apart, for the xenophobic implications, what a ridiculous idea. Watch this: I just converted to Islam. When I go to the airport in a couple weeks will I, with the name Richard Allen Smith, be strip searched being that I converted to Islam three minutes ago and am now a Muslim? My guess is no. What about Mirsad Bektasevic, the Balkan terror cell leader or the other "white Muslims" extremist organizations are attempting to recruit? Will they be profiled if they do not have a Muslim name? Or how about comedian Dave Chappelle who is also Muslim? My guess is since xenophobes would be unable to profile him as Muslim, since he doesn't have what they feel is a "Muslim name", Dave wouldn't be strip searched either. Or How about U.S. Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN)? Will he be profiled with his "traditional" name? If so, are we really going to start strip searching members of Congress due to their religious affiliation?
So I'm not sue what is actually being proposed here. Do the bed-wetters want all whites, African-Americans, Arabs (and Persians?), and those of Balkan decent to be strip searched? Or being that that would be ineffective, are we to create a national registry of the religious beliefs of all Americans?
This is all starting to sound like something out of Germany in the 1930s.
I really, really hope that the Commanders of these Forts or any other military installation reconsider the decision to allow Sarah on base to sell her book.
In a press conference on Thursday SECDEF Gates and CJCS Admiral Mullen specifically stated that diversity is the strength of our military. That they want Muslims to feel comfortable serving in uniform. They went on to say that we shouldn't point our fingers at certain groups of people.
This says to me that the official policy in the Military is zero tolerance for PROFILING. Nobody should find their statements as new news.
Sarah has stated quite emphatically that she believes in profiling. This alone should keep her off our military bases. 'Cause that is not the "real America", whatever she thinks. It certainly does not reflect the policy that the DoD is promoting to help our troops heal.
They say they are trying to avoid the "anti-Obama" crowd from making statements. Will they let those wearing T-shirts or having bumper stickers that say "Pray for Obama, Psalms 109:8-9" on base?
"8 Let his days be few and let another take his office.
9 Let his children be fatherless and let his wife be a widow."
As a footnote I add this vid clip that ends with Suhail Khan who worked in the Bush White House talking about the need for good, honest people to stand up against those who exploit tragedies for their own political gain. Military bases should be the first to stand up.
"The welcome mat for memoirs by veterans of operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom might never wear out so long as they write with the savvy of Brandon Friedman . . . Friedman's take is vivid, frank, precise and dramatic."--Military Times
"Add Brandon Friedman's The War I Always Wanted to the ranks of outstanding non-fiction produced by officers from elite combat units in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Always truthful, often excruciatingly so, The War I Always Wanted rises at numerous points to the level of literature."--Steven Pressfield, author of Gates of Fire
"A Time To Lead confirms the rewarding benefits of military service at a time when such service is experiencing considerable strain. It also includes a comprehensive description of America's current national imperatives, which deserve serious consideration."--General Alexander M. Haig, Jr., former Secretary of State
"This is a primer on leadership forged in battle and by decades of experience. . .This isn't just a book; it's a manual for leading people and living a good life."--Barry McCaffrey, General, USA (ret.)
"Whip smart, sassy, with a mouth as foul as a sailor's, 28-year-old Sergeant Kayla Williams. . .tells what it's like to be a female soldier in Iraq."--Booklist
". . .echoes military memoirists from Julius Caesar to Ernie Pyle."--Publishers Weekly
". . .a shocking, on-the-ground view of one military woman's experience in Iraq."--Bookmarks Magazine
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