Al-Queda Case Study

On December 25, 2009, an al-Queda affiliate in Yemen ordered the Christmas Day plot against a U.S. airliner, Detroit bound Northwest Flight 253. The al-Queda man trained and armed the 23-year-old Nigerian man accused in the bombing. President Obama, speaking at an administrative review regarding how intelligence agencies failed explained, "This is not the first time this group has targeted us" (AP - USA Today 1/2/10). President Obama emphasized that the United States would continue its partnerships with friendly countries to fight terrorists and extremist groups. On September 20, 2001, just eleven days after the terrorist attacks on New York City's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington D.C., President Bush told America, "Every nation in every region now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." A year later, the American tone was still clear, as President Bush again shared with America, "As Americans, we want peace -- we work and sacrifice for peace. But there can be no peace if our security depends on the will and whims of a ruthless and aggressive dictator. I'm not willing to stake one American life on trusting Saddam Hussein". Amid broad support for the controversial practice of ethnic profiling in airline security, it is clear that a debate and philosophical divide still exists in America. In a recent USA Today / Gallup Poll, most Americans were in favor of Obama's choice to intensify security checks in airports if they fit a profile of terrorists based on age, ethnicity and gender. This poll also discovered even stronger support for the use of full-body scanners at airports even if they conflicted with passenger privacy. But the question is, is this philosophy the right thing to do?

It is because of our historical backdrop that we encounter post-9/11 efforts by singling out terrorist activity on American soil, and examine the role that race should play in an effective effort to deter future attacks. Of course every person with a Middle Eastern sounding name or Muslim name will get upset that they are being targeted. The argument being that not all Middle Eastern or Muslim people want to hurt Americans, or other democratic nations for that matter. They would be right of course. Not all Muslims want to blow up buildings or planes. Not all middle easterners want to stop the American way of life. But a lot of them do, and that's the issue.