Re: Mineta Out, & Pipes on Profiling
Reader comment on item: [Not Profiling at Airports:] A Deadly Error

Submitted by Dr. Howard D. Garber (United States), Jul 10, 2006 at 00:37

From: Dr. Howard Garber

To: Daniel Pipes

Subject: Anti-profiling Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta

Thanks for your hard hitting, sensible writings and significant efforts re our War against global Islamic Tyranny and Terrorism. The following relates to your "Pipes on Profiling" piece.

In my opinion Bush's worst appointment was anti-profiling Transportation Secy Norman Mineta -- and Mineta's absolute opposition to the use of any profiling by US authorities for national security purposes, even in wartime. We hope his replacement will understand the need, and reverse Mineta's unfortunate policies here. His years of emotional but illogical opposition to "racial profiling" (and to the Patriot ACT) has greatly jeopardized US national security in many ways.
It was and is, without doubt, related to Secy Mineta's distain for FDR and his (essential) West Coast WWII relocation policy following Pearl Harbor.

Facts: Mineta was only an 8 year old during WWII at the time his family chose voluntary relocation at Heart Mountain, under FDR's 2/19/42 Executive Order 9066. Years later, (while in congress and as a spokesman for the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), he often falsely referred to his and family's "incarceration in a US concentration camp"!

In 1989 he and rep. Matsui (only 10 months old at the time of relocation at Tule Lake) gave related testimony at a congressional subcommittee hearing demanding a "US apology and reparations" for such allegedly "unconstitutional wartime treatment". I also testified at the time opposing the totally unwarranted PL 100-383, representing "Americans For Historical Accuracy". (Also as a Jew whose relatives left Europe by way of "smoke stacks".)

Though he and Matsui and their families would each receive $20,000 (and each did), committee chairman Neal Smith ignored our formal protest against such recipients of the proposed legislation testifying for the bill. I can document these and related facts.

PS: I was one of six veterans representing Americans For Historical Accuracy when I testifified against PL 100-383 (the "J-A Apology-Reparations Bill") in 1989 before Neal Smith's Congressional Appropriations Committee. A biased Chairman Smith refused to consider our formal protest against the testimony of Mineta and Matsui. Our testimony was recorded and published in the Congressional Record.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.