Profiling is easy, but wrong answer

By Mr. Jamesdenton Wyllie (IMCOM)January 19, 2010

On Jan. 6, a federal grand jury in Detroit indicted a 23-year-old Nigerian citizen, Umar Farouk Abdulmuttallabon on six charges for his alleged role in the failed bombing attempt of Northwest flight 253 Christmas Day.

In response to calls for increased security, the Transportation Security Administration announced Jan. 3 that travelers flying to the U.S. through or from 14 "countries of interest" will now face additional security screenings at checkpoints.

This list includes nations Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen - as well as four nations known to be sponsors of terrorism - Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria. Now, spurred by the implementation of these new regulations, the question of whether it is within the keeping of American ideals for the United States to profile people based on their country of origin, and potentially, their religion, creed or other characteristics, has become a point of heated contention.

Specifically, does the safety of the many outweigh the feelings of the few'

Does the government have the right, if not the responsibility, to do what is necessary to keep its citizenry safe, even if it is politically incorrect' In today's America of al-Qaida, plane hijackings, violent Islamic extremists and two ongoing military operations, is profiling justified'

I say it is not.

I did not come to this conclusion right away. I must admit that when I first learned of the new guidelines, I had no problem at all with the profiling of people from hostile nations. After all, it seemed like common sense that people from countries that sponsor terrorism and harbor strong anti-American sentiment were more likely to commit attacks against America.

Rather than conducting random searches that could include everyone from senior citizens to Soldiers in uniform, it seemed to be more logical for security forces to conduct searches targeting people from places that pose a risk to America.

Following this chain of thought, it would be downright irresponsible of the government to not use profiling.

I am no stranger to profiling. As an American of African descent, I have been stopped, searched and detained for reasons that I believe had to do with nothing but the color of my skin. I have been pulled from lines for "random" screenings with what seems to be a disappointing regularity. I have been followed by security. I have been asked to empty my pockets. I have been pulled over and asked what I was doing in the neighborhood I was in. I have experienced that peculiar mixture of humiliation and anger that comes with being stared at by onlookers who may assume that I've done something wrong based on their uninformed observations.

Sadly, it has become a part of my life to expect and be aware of being judged for what, instead of whom, I am.

Still, I was in support of the profiling of others because I wanted to feel safe. However, after my initial reaction, I started to think about how successful profiling would actually be at keeping America secure.

First and foremost, I thought about terrorists. My time as a Soldier in Afghanistan taught me that while the enemies we fight might not have the same level of resources, they are far from stupid.

With absolutely no degree of admiration, I will admit that they continue to search and find ways to circumvent, manipulate, evade and repel our security efforts. I do not think that motivated enemies would limit themselves in a way that would give us such an advantage. Additionally, with today's technology, terrorists are not bound by traditional geographic borders.

They can plan and launch an attack from countries that aren't on any list. Realizing this, would it really work to profile people from just 14 countries when terrorists are capable of operating world-wide'

I don't believe it would. I also thought about the stereotypical "Islamic terrorist." At its core, profiling makes wholesale judgments based on generalizations. So what about terrorists' Is there truly a way to look at a group of people and know which among them look like Islamic terrorists'

I can tell you that I have met Muslims that have blond hair and blue eyes, red hair and green eyes, full beards or are clean-shaven, and everything in between. Furthermore, Islam is a religion, not a race. Like Christianity, it is not exclusive to one specific group of people. Contrary to some stereotypes, not all Arabs are Muslim, and more importantly, not all Muslims are terrorists. In fact, with Islam being the world's largest religion, there are practicing Muslims of almost every nationality on Earth.

Abdulmuttallabon was born to a wealthy Nigerian family, attended college in England and wrote on Internet message boards about his love of European football. Somehow, I don't think that "wealthy young man who loves football," is on the list of things to look for on the TSA screening list.

So the question becomes, "Does it make sense to profile people when there is really no such thing as a typical terrorist'"

I don't think it does. Lastly, I thought about the un-Americaness of profiling. I have written before about how America is a land based on the principles of freedom. This freedom exists in our interactions with each other, between the citizenry and the government and with our nation and the world.

In a way that is unique, America stands as a reminder to our enemies that a life of freedom is better than a life of oppression and fear. By refusing to compromise, we expose the cowardice of their actions. Our enemies do not have the strength to beat us, not just militarily, but culturally and mentally, as well. America holds to the self-evident truth that all people are created equal.

That means we don't generalize. We don't experience life through a narrow gaze. Our eyes are wide open, and that allows us to see everyone for the friend or foe they may be. It is one of our greatest strengths.

So in the end, is using an ineffective safety method that is not in keeping with our American way of life worth the illusionary feeling of safety' I say no. Now I do believe that we shouldn't be naAfA-ve to the realities of the world. We should absolutely explore every possible way to keep ourselves safe.

Also, the safety of our Families, friends and everyone we care for should be of the highest priority for our government leaders. And yes, we cannot always be so idealistic that we become incapable of making the hard decisions when necessary. However, when we do, we should at least make sure that it will be successful. And that's my biggest problem with profiling. Because profiling isn't just un-American, it simply doesn't work.