June 10, 2002

Without Immigration Cut-Off, Racial Profiling, “War On Terror” Just Means Bigger Government

My September 12 column predicted that the U.S. would prove to be too “politically correct” to be able to deal with the terrorist threat.

The admission that I was right came on June 6 from FBI director Robert S. Mueller III when, according to the Washington Times, he told Congress that fears of racial profiling did impede the FBI’s terrorism investigation of Arab men.

After admitting that the FBI was too politically correct to do its job, Mr. Mueller gave Congress assurances--to the great relief of Wisconsin Democrat Russell D. Feingold--that the FBI “is against, has been and will be against any form of profiling.”

With this assurance, Mr. Mueller placed the privileged status of “preferred minority” higher than citizens’ safety.

Some situations are too absurd for comment. In the name of “the war on terrorism,” the U.S. government kills Muslims in Afghanistan who have never lifted a finger against the U.S., but refuses to profile Muslims on its own territory who might be planning terrorist incidents.

FBI field agent and whistle blower Coleen Rowley revealed that agents in the field were alert to the flight-training activities of suspicious Middle Eastern men. Yet, headquarters not only refused to act, but blocked the agents from following their judgment.

After the FBI, CIA, Immigration Service, and State Department fiascos that alone made the events of September 11 possible, why does any sane person think a “Homeland Security” department will provide any protection against terrorist acts?

Why assume that putting all the fools under one roof will reduce the foolery?

Most air travelers regard “airport security” as a bad joke. It is worse. It is an insult. The refusal to focus on the group to which Muslim terrorists are known to belong treats native-born citizens as the enemy and ensures the lack of security.

Pointless searches of grandmothers, young children, U.S. Representatives, presidential appointees, pilots, and Marine generals divert resources from security and send the message that the government has no idea whatsoever who terrorists might be.

On my last air travel, eyes rolled and heads shook when a feeble, elderly couple were selected for search. Everyone knows that these mindless, insulting searches provide no security to anyone but terrorists. Yet, the President of the United States and his cabinet lack the wits to fire the fools who have made air travel safe for terrorists by refusing to profile.

Searches of individuals and carryon luggage are nothing but an opportunity for petty pilfering by security personnel. Personal objects are taken from harmless people and even charms stolen from bracelets. One security idiot tried to steal a war hero’s Medal of Honor because the medal is affixed with a pin. While passengers are harassed with this mindless nonsense, checked luggage and air freight are loaded without security checks.

If truth be known, nothing is done to protect passengers. The purpose of passenger searches and the no standing rule within 30 minutes of Washington DC is to protect the government from terrorists seizing control of an airliner and flying it into a government building.

Despite the terrible events of September 11, the United States government continues to issue hundreds of thousands of visas to young Muslims. We have no idea who these people are and are unable to track them once they arrive on our shores. The visa process is corrupt and replete with bribes. Bin Laden himself could enter the U.S. today on a visa.

Faced with the incongruity, the U. S. attorney general has proposed fingerprinting Middle Easterners who enter on visas. Opposition has risen to this politically incorrect proposal. But the unasked question is why is the U.S. allowing any visas to be issued to Muslims?

If the threat of terrorism is so great that constitutional restraints must be removed from police and a new, expensive, cabinet position of “Homeland Security” must be created, why are visas issued to potential terrorists?!

Why is President Bush creating an incipient Department of Secret Police when nothing is being done to curtail the inflow of potential terrorists?

President Bush should not be surprised if millions of Americans come to the conclusion that the “war on terror” is nothing but a propaganda cover for increasing the police powers of the government over native-born loyal citizens.

Paul Craig Roberts is the author of The Tyranny of Good Intentions : How Prosecutors and Bureaucrats Are Trampling the Constitution in the Name of Justice.