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Airports should use racial and religious profiling to prevent terrorists causing new atrocities

When Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Muslim from Nigeria, tried to set off explosives strapped to his body on board a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day, he sparked controversial new plans to prevent terrorism from governments around the world – including attempts to identify potential terrorists on the basis of race, religion and other characteristics.

Are these measures a crucial addition to security technology and intelligence work? Or will they simply encourage terrorists to recruit women, or the elderly, leaving Muslims aggrieved at the indignity without making us any safer?

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Daniel Stevens
Profiling antagonises everyone that is profiled. It is prejudicial assumption.
Daniel Stevens
The US should profile Americans as potential terrorist bombers under this form of thinking. Consider the Uni Bomber and Tomothy McVehy. Profiling assumes group tendencies where none can be assumed. Terrorists arise amongst human beings due to specific circumstances, some include just being nuts.
Daniel Stevens
A drunk is crouched under a street light. Bystander: "What are you doing?" Drunk:"Looking for my keys". Bystander: "You dropped them here?" Drunk: No I dropped them over there but the light is better here". That's a use of scarce resouces (search time and light) in a focussed and directing way. It is not going to be successful. Yesterday's "terrorist profile" is not today's. Today the Irish Christian Granny may bomb a flight in protest to acts in parliament. Thinking on this has to remain fluid.
Daniel Stevens
This is not an example of profiling. The agents used intelligence to identify a suspect without specific knowledge of the actual person, just a general description. That is ordinary police work. Profiling would be to have a permanent watch on all pregnant Irish women without any specific lead.
Daniel Stevens
All security forces take advantage of their intuition, but intuition can be wrong. Requiring them to examine others that would not be suspect will turn up the odd surprise, otherwise the filter will be full of holes.