What’s In a Name?

  
At the risk of being declared bigoted, racist, prejudiced, and a complete diversity dunce, I would suggest an observational exercise for the Department of Homeland Security. Rather than seeking silver-haired grannies from Dubuque and red-headed little kids to harass during pre-flight inspections, might they try reading a list of actual terrorists who have put your country and its citizens in danger over the last few years. Just glance at it and see if you don’t agree that they share certain characteristics that might warrant additional scrutiny.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
Mohamed Atta al Sayed
Waleed al-Shehri
Wail al-Shehri
Abdulaziz al-Omari
Satam al-Suqami
Marwan al-Shehhi
Fayez Banihammad
Mohand al-Shehri
Hamza al-Ghamdi
Ahmed al-Ghamdi
Hani Hanjour
Khalid al-Mihdhar
Majed Moqed
Nawaf al-Hazmi
Salem al-Hazmi
Ziad Jarrah
Ahmed al-Haznawi
Ahmed al-Nami
Saeed al-Ghamdi
Abdul Raheem
Nazamuddin Mohammidy


Sounds pretty much like the starting line-up for the Green Bay Packers, right? Maybe it’s closer to the membership list at your local Baptist (Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, etc.) Church. Oh, I know; it’s your Christmas card list.

Is there a chance that there might possibly be a common thread here? Not in the totally ridiculous world of today’s bureaucrats. They were all weaned on a steady diet of diverse attitudes which provoke ignorance of the actual world in which they live. You don’t have to be carrying a prayer rug and a Koran to be identified as an Islamist—or, be a client of Hertz-rent-a-camel. Your driver’s license is sufficient to at least warrant a nod from the most clueless airport inspector with TSA.

I have, in thinking through the problem, finally figured out a way to insure absolute security for those in the endless lines at the airports. On a purely random basis, select a TSA employee to take the next plane out along with those he has just cleared as not presenting a danger. That should take the emphasis off maple syrup and hair gel and bring a new level of actual security measures into the arena. Prompted by the fear of death at the hands of a likely suspect and not some businessman with a pint of scotch secreted on his person, they might come to realize the importance of racial/religious/national associations. One slip-up by an inspector would then become a matter of concern for each person involved in the process. Profiling might well become the order of the day if the screener’s own precious life is on the line.

You and I don’t invite every nut we can find to ride beside us in our automobiles, why should we condone a lesser security on an airplane? I do not propose this change facetiously. Come at dawn and grab Janet Napolitano and take her to the airport for a ride and watch our internal security improve exponentially. Suddenly, those passengers with residual sand in their shoes would become more obvious candidates for extreme examination.

I am grateful to Hack Wilson for providing the above list of terrorists who posed a threat and met with varying degrees of success in attacking “the great satan.” Check his website for more, and maybe even better, ideas to combat the perils facing America in today’s very dangerous world.


In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon