A Bold Step

2001-10-1 00:40:00

First, I want to give a big welcome back to Tracey. Old timers will remember that she was one of the founding members of the Keys.

And Larry, I wasn't attempting to indicate the similarities between the two bombings. My point was that significant damage can be created without the assistance of pre-planted explosives.

Of the five possible terrorists categories mentioned it is now obvious that the extreme Moslems pose far and away the greatest clear and present danger for the American people as well as the civilized world.

In the current age of political correctness this is a disturbing truth to deal with.

Why?

For years now, civil rights activists have been battling against racial or other types of profiling, and rightfully so. The reason such profiling is wrong is because members of all races and all religions commit crimes in the normal sense of the word.

But in this case the situation is entirely different. To insist that there should be no profiling in search for terrorists is to insist that authorities spin their wheels looking where the problem is not, at a risk to millions, to satisfy the politically correct crowd.

Unfortunately, there are those who insist that a Buddhist, Christian or American Indian should be just as much of a suspect as a Moslem who is not an American Citizen.

We have to be real here and look for potential terrorists where the terrorists may be. Some may think that if we single out the Moslems for investigation, this shows our true colors of discrimination, but in our overall recent history we have given the Moslem people apparent favoritism.

We fought the Gulf War to liberate Kuwait, a Moslem nation. After this we established a no-fly zone to save the lives of the Moslem Kurds Saddam Hussein was attempting to destroy. Then, we, who are largely a Christian nation, fought in Kosovo to save Moslems from Christians who were in the wrong. Then in Serbia and now Macedonia we have troops to protect Moslems.

In addition, many forget that Moslem Afghanistan who now seems to hate us received many millions in arms and assistance to defeat the Soviet Union. Even today where there is a drought and the people desperately need food - who sends it to them? Is it their rich Moslem friends they claim to love? No. It is the United States who they claim to hate. Even now, in this day where millions are calling out for revenge against those terrorists within our borders, we are giving them 90% of the aid they are receiving

We have gone out of our way to assist the Moslem countries and their people and if in this day of danger if we should seek to defend ourselves by weeding out the rotten apples of this religion within our midst then this one just act should not be grounds for accusing us of injustice when the whole picture is perceived.

The big question is how do we go about finding the fanatical Moslems without infringing upon the freedoms of the many law abiding peace loving Moslems that live in this country?

First, we must examine common threads among the 19 hijackers and known suspected accomplices.

(1) We now know they were all fanatical Moslems. But this was not obvious before the disaster for part of their training was to act normal and blend in. Some even did acts contrary to the Moslem faith (drank, went to strip joints etc.) to insure they could appear normal and complete their mission without suspicion.

Therefore, it is not feasible (in looking for potential terrorists) to seek out wild-eyed and fire and brimstone preaching fundamentalists. The common thread here is that they were merely Moslems.

(2) Because Afghanistan, which harbors Osama Bin Laden, is such a poor country some may expect that the terrorists would be poor and uneducated, but such is not the case. Some of them are well educated and come from wealthy families.

(3) Not a lot is known about some of the hijackers, but it appears that none of them were American Citizens and some of them were here illegally.

(4) As far as I can discern none of them were long-term residents here. Some may have been here a couple years at most.

(5) A number of them moved around a lot and traveled abroad. Traveling abroad was necessary for some so updated instructions and training could be obtained.

(6) It appears that most of them did not come here because of family links in the states, but for some reason other than linking up with a close relationship

(7) They were seeking training in a skill that could be used for some type of terrorist attack. In this case it was learning to fly a commercial airline, but we must extend our suspicions to other areas such as, but not limited to: (A) Flying spray plane (B) Training with nuclear reactors. (C) Knowledge of dangerous chemicals or contaminates. (D) Knowledge of explosives.

Taking this under consideration, let us first select those of the Moslem faith who would rank low on the suspect list:

Those who are American citizens living normal lives. Other minimal suspects would be long term residents here with close family ties of solid United States citizens.

On the other hand, those high on the suspect list would be Moslems who are not U.S. citizens or have been in the country short term. If they have training for a skill that can be used against us or do significant traveling the red flag goes higher still. Then if he is an illegal alien the risk is also obvious.

So what shall we do with those who fit into this latter category?

The answer is simple.

Send them home and pay for their ticket.

This would not be nearly as much inconvenience for them as it is for us to live in a state of anticipation of some disaster that may look like the Twin Towers look like mere preparation - such as a suitcase nuclear explosion in Washington DC.

We cannot allow fanatical political correctness be the cause of the destruction of our way of life.

To minimize the inconvenience for those who may be harmless, a committee could be set up to evaluate exceptions. Before one can even apply for exception he would have to have a certified document signed by three Moslem and three non-Moslem U.S. citizens who would vouch for his harmlessness. In addition, he would have to pass through numerous other criteria the committee would have. If it is finally concluded that he can stay he would have to swear an individual oath that he has only positive feelings toward the American Way of life and is committed to its preservation.

While it is true that some terrorists may take such an oath for the end glory of Allah, some who abide by their principles would not be able to. It would be like a Christian stating that he is committed to preserving the kingdom of Satan.

This would be a bold move in this sensitive age, but on a scale of one to ten it would rate a 2 in relation to interning Japanese citizens in camps during World War II. We're not talking about faithful citizens here, but are speaking of those who have taken no steps to prove their allegiance to the support of the United States and perhaps civilization itself.

"YOU must become so notorious for bad things that when you come into an area people will tremble in their sandals. Anyone can do beatings and starve people. I want your unit to find new ways of torture so terrible that the screams will frighten even crows from their nests and if the person survives he will never again have a night's sleep."

These were the instructions of the commandant of the Afghan secret police to his new recruits. (Reported by the Daily Telegraph of the UK 9/30/2001)