Fear is a Mutha…
Two months ago, the world was unfortunately fascinated by the Ft. Hood Army base slayings allegedly committed by Nidal Malik Hassan, and now we once again revisit the realm of Islam and terrorism; added in with another caveat – race – in the case of 23 year-old Nigerian national, Umar Farouk Abdulmuttallab and his face being on the cover of Newsweek.
Umar, who was apprehended on Christmas Day (2009) for allegedly trying to set-off an explosive device in his underwear on Northwest Airlines Flight 253, en route from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, is not what you consider a “typical Muslim, hell-bent radical.” In fact, Mr. Abdulmuttallab comes from a wealthy Nigerian family. However, the most interesting thing about this case is not that Umar’s own father (Umaru Abdul Mutallab) allegedly tried to alert Nigerian and CIA officials about his son’s movements/ideological positions or that the country of Nigeria (the most populous and one of the wealthiest sub-Saharan African nations) itself will now receive some “justified,” as well as undue, scrutiny. On the contrary – the interest is about the so-called “face of terror.”
In examining the reasons why a small group of Muslims may resort to such actions should no longer be restricted to prejudicial assumptions – i.e. “its them Arabs…” Or, “those Black Muslims.” Those simple, dismissive generalizations don’t do justice to analyzing why individuals or organizations believe such violent actions are called for. And when the media sensationalizes terrorist activity by creating these “faces” of phenomena or ideology that many Americans do not fully understand, it engages in its own practice of racial/ethnic profiling – never really getting to the heart of the problem.
“Why would a young man coming from a moderate and financially well-off Muslim family want to commit such a heinous act” is the question that should be asked. This is something serious to ponder because Umar Farouk is not the first of its kind. Osama bin Laden comes from a wealthy Saudi family, and many suspected and convicted terrorists are highly educated. But I guess it’s so much easier to “Willie Horton” the religion of Islam.
We don’t need to profile!
We don’t need to profile. At the Center for Aggression Management, we use easily-applied, measurable and culturally-neutral body language and behavior exhibited by people who intend to perpetrate a terrorist act. This unique methodology utilizes proven research from the fields of psychology, medicine and law enforcement which, when joined together, identify clear, easily-used physiologically-based characteristics of individuals who are about to engage in terrorist activities in time to prevent their Moment of Commitment.
Since the foiled terrorist attack by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian national on Northwest Flight 253 to Detroit, the President has repeatedly stated that there has been a systemic failure as he reiterates his commitment to fill this gap in our security. This incident, like the Fort Hood shooting, exemplifies why our government must apply every valid preventative approach to identify a potential terrorist.
The myriad methods to identify a terrorist, whether “no-fly list,” “explosive and weapons detection,” mental illness based approaches, “profiling” or “deception detection” – all continue to fail us. Furthermore, the development of deception detection training at Boston Logan Airport demonstrated that the Israeli methods of interrogation will not work in the United States.
All media outlets are discussing the need for profiling of Muslim Arabs, but profiling does not work for the following three reasons:
In practice, ethnic profiling tells us that within a certain group of people there is a higher probability for a terrorist; it does not tell us who the next terrorist is!
Ethnic profiling is contrary to the value our society places on diversity and freedom from discrimination based on racial, ethnic, religious, age and/or gender based criteria. If we use profiling it will diminish our position among the majority of affected citizens who support us as a beacon of freedom and liberty.
By narrowing our field of vision, profiling can lead to the consequence of letting terrorists go undetected, because the terrorist may not be part of any known “profile worthy” group – e.g., the Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh
Our unique methodology for screening passengers can easily discern (independently of race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, age, and gender) the defining characteristics of human beings who are about to engage in terrorist acts.
The question is when will our government use true “hostile intent” through the “continuum of aggressive behavior” to identify potential terrorists? Only when observers focus specifically on “aggressive behavior” do the objective and culturally neutral signs of “aggression” clearly stand out, providing the opportunity to prevent these violent encounters. This method will not only make all citizens safer, but will also pass the inevitable test of legal defensibility given probable action by the ACLU.
As our Government analyzes what went wrong regarding Abdulmatallab’s entrance into the United States, you can be assured that Al Qaeda is also analyzing how their plans went wrong. Who do you think will figure it out first . . . ?
Visit our blog at http://blog.AggressionManagement.com where we discuss the shooting at Fort Hood and the attempted terrorist act on Flight 253.