Looking at my UPI article of October 23, 2000, "Arab and Armenian Immigrants Gain Clout," I noticed something that you might think would have been considered relevant after 9/11, less than a year later, but simply never ever has entered the public conversation:
To gratify Arab-American voters in the swing state of Michigan, in the October 11th Presidential debate Republican nominee George W. Bush called for weakening two counter-terrorism policies. "Arab-Americans are [racially] profiled in what's called secret evidence. People are stopped, and we got to do something about that," Governor Bush said. "My friend, Sen. Spence Abraham [the Arab-American Republic Senator from Michigan], is pushing a law to make sure that . . . Arab-Americans are treated with real respect."
Although Governor Bush conflated two issues, Arab Americans appreciated the gesture. According to a spokesperson for a leading Arab-American organization, their highest domestic priority is the repeal of the "secret evidence" section of the 1996 Anti-Terrorism Act. To prevent terrorist gangs from murdering U.S. government secret informants, this law allows the government to provide evidence from unidentified moles in the immigration hearings of foreigners suspected of terrorist links. The government has deported or detained a number of Arabs hoping to immigrate to the U.S. due to testimony by witnesses they were never allowed to confront.
Similarly, people of Arab descent are stopped and searched at airports more often than many other ethnic groups. This is because the secret "profiles" given security workers advising them whom to watch most closely are believed to refer to the fact that a disproportionate number of hijackers and bombers have been Arabs.
The day after Governor Bush's remarks, 17 American sailors died in a terrorist attack in the Arab nation of Yemen. The bombing of the U.S.S. Cole, however, did not stop Vice President Al Gore from echoing Bush's calls to end these two anti-terrorist techniques in a meeting with Arab-American leaders on October 14th. Ironically, on October 20th an Egyptian-born immigrant Ali A. Mohamed plead guilty in Federal District Court to helping Osama Bin Laden plan the 1998 bombing of the America Embassy in Kenya. ...
The success of Arab-Americans this year in rallying heavyweight politicians against "secret evidence" may mark a turning point in the long, previously one-sided political struggle between Arabs and Jews in the U.S. Arab-Americans seem to be on the verge of wining on an issue opposed by leading Jewish powerhouses. On May 23, the Anti-Defamation League gave testimony before Congress, co-signed by the American Jewish Congress and B'nai B'rith, in favor of keeping some version of secret evidence.
There is some room for compromise on secret evidence and airport profiling. A Jewish counter-terrorism researcher suggested, for example, that airport security personnel should be trained to be more courteous. Nonetheless, anti-terrorism policy remains essentially a zero-sum contest between Arab-Americans and Jewish-Americans. The stronger the measures, the more innocent Arabs who will be harassed. The weaker the measures, the more Jews who are threatened by political violence.
Besides their ever-increasing numbers, Arab-Americans are gaining power because they've now mastered the traditional liberal Jewish vocabulary that elevates what might seem like practical clashes in power politics into tests of moral principle. On secret evidence and airport profiling, Arab lobbies have put Jewish organizations in the uncomfortable position of championing law and order over civil liberties, racial equality, and immigrants' rights.
The Bush Administration conducted a study in June 2001 to ascertain whether airport personnel had stopped subjecting Arabs to more security scrutiny.
We now know that the airport ticket agent who checked in Mohammed Atta on the morning of 9/11/2001 said to himself, as he told Oprah in 2005:
"I got an instant chill when I looked at [Atta]. I got this grip in my stomach and then, of course, I gave myself a political correct slap."
Michael Touhey told a reporter:
Then Tuohey went through an internal debate that still haunts him.
"I said to myself, 'If this guy doesn't look like an Arab terrorist, then nothing does.' Then I gave myself a mental slap, because in this day and age, it's not nice to say things like this," he said. "You've checked in hundreds of Arabs and Hindus and Sikhs, and you've never done that. I felt kind of embarrassed."
It wasn't just Atta's demeanor that caught Tuohey's attention.
"When I looked at their tickets, they had first-class, one-way tickets - $2,500 tickets. Very unusual," he said. "I guess they're not coming back. Maybe this is the end of their trip."
Indeed, it was.
My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer
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9 comments:
Let's be honest here:
$secret_evidence == ' '
ie no evidence
Nobody cares whether informers get wasted or not.
Spies' lives are cheap, and that's no cliché.
In the history of politics, no president has had a less coherent political philosophy than George W. Bush. For the most part, in fact, he doesn't really have one, except in some neofeudalistic sense where the goal is to increase the wealth and power of the rich and well connected.
Early in the first Bush Administration I remember reading a lot of conservative commentators comparing him favorably to Ronald Reagan. Well. Bush never was a Ronald Reagan. He is, in fact, the Republican Bill Clinton, willing to do or say anything to get elected. Normally what people say to get elected yields at least some insight into how they'll govern. Not with Clinton, not with Bush.
If they get "wasted" you can't use them again.
And now we have the Patriot Act and legalized government spying on it's citizens free of any of the traditional American checks and balances. Who do you think this is primarily directed against (at least initially)?
The Jews have done an end around the Arabs yet again - you can't criticize or win public sympathy for something no one knows about or for someone labeled a "terrorist". Look for any uppity Arabs to be on the next camel to Cairo or slow boat to E. Europe where our "rape rooms" are outsourced.
Arabs out maneuvering Jews, Piffle.
Had the ticket agent acted on his impulse about Atta, what would he have done? Stab him? The fact is that Bush dropped terrorism from the list of national priorities. He stopped "shaking the trees" as Clinton had done. Because of this, Atta would have sailed right through any airport inspection triggered by his racial profile.
Furthermore, I don't understand why Sailer is arguing by anecdote. It's pretty shocking, giving his constant railing against this very technique. At the very least this Tuohey character needs to be investigated before his testimony is accepted. Is he Jewish? Is he one of the many ignorant people who thinks that 9/11 came out of the blue, that Muslims attacked us first?
Two Words: Grover Norquist.
This was 100% his doing.
In fact, now that I've googled it, you even wrote an article about it a few years ago:
Rove Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry
By the way, Norquist has since married a Muslim woman:
http://www.google.com/search?safe=off&q=Samah+Alrayyes
Since Islam forbids its women from marrying outside the faith [if she did, her brothers and/or her father would be required to perform an honor killing], then either this woman's family is not observant [unlikely, since she worked for the Islamic Institute], or else Norquist has converted to Islam.
There was another story about Atta applying for a governemnt loan to buy a crop duster for flight training. He threatened the women, and threatened to fly an aircraft into a building.
The government employee, one time-server, PC numbed woman named Johnelle Bryant - failed to do anything about it.
Johnelle Bryant, the ticket agent, the movies on Haditha and other alleged crimes, the open borders shenanigans, ad infinitum - the people of the Middle East are all laughing at us. Perhaps a people as stupid and naive as modern Westerners don't deserve to have their civilization survive.
Anon -- the Patriot act does not "spy on you" ... that's Google or Visa which will sell your most private information to the highest bidder, including Chinese and Russian syndicates.
The Patriot Act allows, with strict guidelines and reporting to Congress (as oversight authority), collection of electronic data including IM, cell/satphone calls, e-mails, and the like when one target is abroad and involved in terrorist activities.
If anything, the Patriot Act is too restrictive. DCI McConnell, a non-partisan General, testified under oath that each warrant takes over 250 man hours to produce. A (Clinton appointee) FISA court judge ruled that ALL communications passing through US "wires" MUST require a warrant. When Iraqi AQ terrorists kidnapped our soldiers in Iraq (including local guy Pvt. Joe Anzack), the NSA was REQUIRED BY LAW to obtain a warrant, and could not collect data until the warrant was applied for and a judge signed off (under the ruling). This led to a delay of more than 72 hours ... to tap IM messages going back and forth from Iraqis in Iraq (but routed through US fiber optics). This is INSANE PC nonsense.
I assume you are neither stupid or naive. Either the US government steps up to it's responsibility to stop political acts of terror (message: your government is illegitimate because it cannot protect you, it's primary function) or people will act as vigilantes to burn out every Muslim they can. One of the primary motivations for internment of the Nisei was to preclude vigilante action which was a real threat in the views of internment supporters such as Earl Warren!!
We can be safe by: 1. reasonable US government action to monitor and stop terrorists ala the way Mastercard watches your Credit Card to monitor fraud/identity theft; 2. legal action to deport/intern all Muslims (highly unlikely); 3. ugly vigilante action.
I'll choose #1 and checks and balances thank you very much.
Steve -- you forget the over-riding reason why Jews succeed in lobbying and Muslims fail.
Jews embrace America and American patriotism and nationalism. It's their shield and sword. Captain America, Superman, and the Fantastic Four (and many others) were all created by Jews. Jews enthusiastically adopted American customs as their own.
Muslims on the other DEMAND abolition of US culture and customs. Muslims demand banning of pork and booze in stores they work at, or refuse to scan them for customers. Muslims dress provocatively in tents or white robes (suggesting rejection of American culture and values). Muslims won't pick up passengers who are gay, or carrying alcohol, or with guide dogs. Muslims demand abolition of Halloween and Christmas in schools and government offices. Muslims overtly side with terrorists who kill Americans (the Holy Land Foundation, CAIR, etc). Muslims demand the US submit to Sharia Law.
These are all well-publicized political and cultural demands from Muslims that in their essentials boils down to abolishing American culture and laws for ... Muslim ones.
This is ludicrous. The terrorists flew airliners from American Airlines and United on the morning of 9/11. American Airlines proudly announced in the Dallas Morning News on 9/11 the appointment of a "Latina" as VP of Diversity. (I will provide the link to anyone interested).
Gee, imagine that! Not a month earlier actor James Wood noticed something amiss about the behavior of swarthy men from the Middle East. No action was taken, no doubt due to concerns about "profiling."
It's mind boggling that the very airline that willingly profiled a brown "Latina" could not profile brown folks from the Middle East.
Politically correct behavior and affirmative action will prove to be the death knell of this country.
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