Eltantawi More Interested in Dissing Dr. Pipes
Reader comment on item: The Guantánamo Arrests – What Do They Mean?

Submitted by Dan Bobinski (United States), Oct 2, 2003 at 05:03

I watched with interest Dr. Pipes' and Sarah Eltantawi's appearances on the O'Reilly Factor (30 Sept '03). What struck me most of all in my overall assessment of Eltantawi's segment was how much she focused on trying to discredit Dr. Pipes.

As a certified behavior analyst, I know that when someone goes for the character assassination, it's usually because the position they hold cannot stand on any truth or facts. Eltantawi spent entirely too much time trying to discredit Dr. Pipes, which explains much about her position.

However, what truly offended me was that her comment "The number [.21% of the 4200 Muslims serving in the US military] is too statistically small to vet American Muslims."

On September 11, 2001, it took only 19 militant Muslims dressed in civilian clothes to wipe out several thousand people and change the face of airport security in the world forever. We now search everyone to the 'nth' degree -- even 90-year old grandmothers flying to visit their grandchildren.

My response? The number [.00019% of the flying American public on a given day] seemed to be statistically significant enough to change the face of air travel. Therefore, .21% of of Muslims serving in the US military [who have ready access to military weaponry] is statistically significant enough to vet for loyalty.

Eltantawi appears to be much more interested in dissing Dr. Pipes than in preserving national security. Her true colors became quite apparent.

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