When PC Hits Reality

Am I the only one out here who thinks that the Transportation Security Administration needs a change in policy regarding the use of “profiling” as part of our screening for terrorists attempting to fly into the United States post 9/11?

Profiling is “bad.”

Oh, really?

It is politically incorrect. It can (and historically has, in many notable and horrible instances) be abused. But profiling isn’t bad per se. It’s a tool, and one that countries like Israel use to great effect.

Instead of setting up a system that puts in checks and balances so that profiling doesn’t get abused, our TSA has instead chosen to use a system that is politically correct. We don’t screen travelers based on “profiling.”

Gee, how’s that working for us?

Here are brief profiles of two individuals I know personally who were selected out from flight lines for special extensive screening in the last year, based on the TSA’s current screening methodology. Both were plucked out of their passenger queues and escorted into private rooms for a thorough physical check, all their carry on and checked baggage was completely gone through, and both had extensive questioning and had records checks done on them before they were allowed to board their flights.

Person #1.

• Gender: Female
• Age: 75+
• Race: Caucasian
• Religious Affiliation: Mormon
• Education: High School
• Occupation: Retired homemaker
• Citizenship: United States (natural-born)
• Criminal History: none
• Group associations: Volunteers at Mormon temple regularly
• Round-trip ticket: Yes
• Luggage: Yes
• Bought Ticket with cash: No

Person #2.

• Gender: Male
• Age: mid-50s
• Race: Caucasian
• Religious Affiliation: Episcopalian
• Education: Master’s Degree in Theology
• Occupation: Priest
• Citizenship: United States (natural-born)
• Criminal History: none
• Group Associations: President of Episcopalian seminary, member of Jaycees, etc.
• Round-trip ticket: Yes
• Luggage: Yes
• Bought Ticket with cash: No

Now, let’s bump these profiles against known facts of the profiles of terrorists trying to destroying airplanes or use airliners as missiles during 9/11 and after.

Hmm. Just for starters, I don’t recall any aged women hauling around bombs, regardless of race or education (or religious affiliation) or even country of origin. Ditto regarding Episcopalian priests. Add into that the information on the rest of these bare minimum profiles and the chances of either of these individuals being bomb-carrying terrorists statistically approaches zero.

Now, who wasn’t checked?

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, whose own father had contacted the USA to say his son was a potential terrorist.

Abdulmutallab, who had a profile that was, not surprisingly, nothing like the two individuals listed above and was instead well-matched to other terrorists and was in a database of potential terrorists.

Abdulmutallab, who had known characteristics on top of the above (just to name a few: British visa that American visa was based on had been revoked upon reapplication, no luggage, cash paid for a ticket) that should have had him ripped out of a passenger queue and examined.

A system that chooses a practicing Mormon and an Episcopalian priest as potential terrorists. in preference to hunting for individuals like Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, is seriously flawed. If Abdulmutallab’s detonator hadn’t malfunctioned, the system would have been fatally flawed for the passengers on Northwest Airlines Flight 253, and countless others that the plane’s wreckage would have rained down on in the Detroit metropolitan area.

Maybe it’s time to reconsider profiling, as part of a revamp of the TSA’s system. Build in the checks and balances to do it right, instead of staying with a system that’s politically “safe”–and horribly flawed.

Just sayin’