The Profiling Debate

Soft souls and aggrieved targets detest the very thought of heightening alerts for people who may pose a threat to society as a result of their psycho-social pathology relating to violent Islamic jihad expressed as a virulent hatred leading to suicide missions to eradicate the lives of as many target populations as possible. It is not enlightened, not humane, not at all kind, to identify an ethnic or religious or physically identifiable group for special attention.

Since not all those within that particular group are profiled, the argument is rather absurd.

Profiling targets a quite specific group within a much larger group. Basically, young men who exhibit tendencies that would arouse the suspicions of those tasked to ensure that the public is safe from attack. Young man of Arab descent, or Muslims from Islamic-majority countries who behave erratically, who arouse suspicion by their behaviour, by certain tendencies that experienced monitors are capable of recognizing are those who are primarily targeted and for good reason.

It's that old distinction between the group and the individual; the aggregate that is law-abiding, peaceful and perfectly amenable to living comfortably among others who do not share their beliefs, and the discrete individuals who feel victimized, angered, aggrieved and intent on achieving the revenge of delivering death to those whom they insist have dishonoured their religion and their traditions.

Screening and avoidance of potentially lethal acts of mass murder have become a prime necessity. And that necessity has arisen out of a collection of atrocities unfailingly committed by a singular global demographic; horribly deranged minds determined to commit themselves to the vicious targeting of human beings simply because they represent a religion, an ideology, a society, and politics that are not their own.

Since the type of violent radicalization with which jihadists are identified represents the very nadir of human disorder and vicious distemper, we can feel relieved that this horror is represented by a relatively minuscule proportion of a larger group within a religion and society. But the fact is it doesn't take all that many psychopathic killers to wreak havoc in society and throughout the world.

It's past time for common sense to prevail in this issue. The facts cannot be argued with, they represent reality. And the real issue is that the world cannot continue to exist on tenterhooks of terrifying potential without assuming responsibility for protecting itself. To that end, it makes unerringly good sense to profile potential assassins, to take adequate precautions to ensure that worst-case scenarios do not prevail.

Until and unless resolute and determined, informed and intelligent action is undertaken on a global scale to battle and expunge this deadly scourge, the world will continue to be held to ransom by a handful - and growing - element of fanatical deliverers of death on behalf of a warped vision of religion.