Interesting thoughts some of these...
Reader comment on item: Should airport security procedures include ethnic and religious profiling?

Submitted by D Williams (United States), Nov 15, 2006 at 22:07

While we stand here as a nation witnessing our midnight hour, it amazes me that there is such great debate over these topics.

We will take advice from amnesty international as though they have our best interest at heart. There are 300 million Americans… well really only about 275, the rest are illegal aliens and infiltrators that have been streaming over the borders for years. Amnesty claims that profiling is ineffective yet it is used by every law enforcement agency in the world, to very effective results. Profiling was actually a great step forward in law enforcement, and can be an extremely cost effective method in which to curb crime, or find your perpetrator. God lord, there are even TV shows that show how well it works.

Hershey states that looking for bearded men and Arab women will be ineffective, as if these are the only criteria used, but she fails to mention the hundreds of other aspects that go into profiling. As I believe Hershey is an intelligent woman, this leaves me with the natural feeling that she has some ulterior motives in stating a complex issue in such a simple manner. While we struggle in our own country to maintain security and freedom, people like Hershey continue to spin lies about profiling. There are far more aspects involved in profiling than looking at skin color, religious belief, facial hair, and burkas.

I believe Hershey knows this and, that she also knows it is an effective tool. So assuming she does know this, why would she want that taken away from our tool chest in the war on terror? This is a question that should haunt you. Assuming she does not know there are more factors than those mentioned in profiling, she really should not comment as an expert in areas she knows nothing about, it is dangerous, and foolish, and we have too many people doing it already.

Point of discussion: has profiling been wrong and made some mistakes? Answer: Yes, it is ludicrous to expect any system to be perfect. This system requires the perpetrator to make common errors, and to do the common things that would give them away. No, I will not name those here, and I will not give them a chance to change strategies. Every system requires time and implementation to perfect and fine tune, not using it because you are afraid to offend someone is exactly the sort of thing that makes this country foolish and vulnerable. It is what our enemies are counting on. Great job Hershey, you and yours make us more vulnerable all the time. Hmm… I wonder how much funding Amnesty International gets from the Middle East.

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