Saturday, August 12, 2006

Those who don't learn from history...

Patriot Post has a helpful history lesson in the form of a quiz that ends up with more D's than a Playboy Mansion party:

In 1968 Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by:
(a) A salesman from Utah
(b) An construction worker
(c) A college student on Spring Break
(d) Middle Eastern male Islamist between the ages of 17 and 40

In 1972, 11 Israeli athletes were killed at the Munich Olympics by:
(a) Your grandmother
(b) A Midwest auto-parts dealer
(c) A mom and her 6-year-old son visiting from Indiana
(d) Middle Eastern male Islamists between the ages of 17 and 40.

In 1979, the U.S. embassy in Iran was taken over by:
(a) A bluegrass band
(b) Dallas Cowboy fans
(c) A tour group of 80-year-old women
(d) Middle Eastern male Islamists between the ages of 17 and 40.

During the 1980's numerous Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by:
(a) A family on their way to Disney World
(b) Jesse Ventura
(c) A Boy Scout Troop
(d) Middle Eastern male Islamists between the ages of 17 and 40.

In 1983, the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by:
(a) A pizza delivery boy
(b) The UPS guy
(c) Geraldo Rivera making up for a slow news day
(d) Middle Eastern male Islamists between the ages of 17 and 40.

In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked, and a 70-year-old disabled American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard by:
(a) A girls' choir
(b) A hardware store owner
(c) A secretary
(d) Middle Eastern male Islamists between the ages of 17 and 40.

In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a U.S. Navy diver was murdered by:
(a) A Marine officer with two weeks leave
(b) A plumber going to visit his mom
(c) A Catholic nun
(d) Middle Eastern male Islamists between the ages of 17 and 40.

In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by:
(a) A college-bound freshman
(b) A cardiac surgeon on his way to Houston
(c) A waitress
(d) Middle Eastern male Islamists between the ages of 17 and 40.

In 1993, the World Trade Center was bombed by:
(a) A starving actress
(b) A mom with a newborn
(c) Twin six-year-old boys
(d) Middle Eastern male Islamists between the ages of 17 and 40.

In 1998, the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by:
(a) A local TV weatherman
(b) A dad and his two sons on a ski trip
(c) A widower going to visit his grandchildren
(d) Middle Eastern male Islamists between the ages of 17 and 40.

In 2000, 17 sailors died in an attack on the USS Cole (DDG 67) in Yemen by:
(a) A child in a stroller
(b) A high school class on their way to visit Washington, DC
(c) Newlyweds on their way to Miami
(d) Middle Eastern male Islamists between the ages of 17 and 40.

On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked -- two flown into the World Trade Centers, one into the Pentagon and one into the ground in rural Pennsylvania. They were hijacked by: (a) A retired police officer on a mission trip to Haiti
(b) A firefighter going to Maryland for training
(c) An paramedic on his way to vacation in Hawaii
(d) Middle Eastern male Islamists between the ages of 17 and 40.

In 2002 the United States liberated Afghanistan from:
(a) USAID relief workers
(b) Jewish Pilgrims
(c) Christian missionaries
(d) Middle Eastern male Islamists between the ages of 17 and 40.

In 2002 reporter Daniel Pearl and other Westerners were kidnapped and beheaded by:
(a) The Peace Corp
(b) Scottish clansmen
(c) Cuban refugees
(d) Middle Eastern male Islamists between the ages of 17 and 40.

In 2002, more than 330 hostages in Beslan and 130 hostages in Moscow were murdered in sieges by:
(a) Russian exchange students
(b) The Red Guard
(c) Church planters
(d) Middle Eastern male Islamists between the ages of 17 and 40.

In 2003 the United States liberated Iraq from "The Butcher of Baghdad," but most American military personnel were killed by:
(a) Iraqi school-girls
(b) Street vegetable venders
(c) Women without burkas
(d) Middle Eastern male Islamists between the ages of 17 and 40.

In 2004, more than 200 Spanish civilians were murdered on trains by bombs in Madrid, detonated by:
(a) Morning commuters
(b) A three-year-old Chinese girl
(c) Flamenco dancers
(d) Middle Eastern male Islamists between the ages of 17 and 40.

In 2005 more than 50 UK citizens were killed by bombs on trains in London, detonated by:
(a) Rail workers
(b) Those unable to hail taxis
(c) Wheelchair-bound grandmothers
(d) Middle Eastern male Islamists between the ages of 17 and 40.

Right now, Islamist terrorist cells in the United States are composed of:
(a) Southern Baptists
(b) Athletes for Christ
(c) Campus Crusade
(d) Middle Eastern male Islamists between the ages of 17 and 40.

Between 1970 and 2005, there were about 60 other notable examples of terrorism perpetrated by Middle Eastern male Islamists between the ages 17 and 40, but we think you get the point. Singling out "Middle Eastern male Islamists between the ages 17 and 40" is not "ethnic profiling," it's "terrorist profiling" acting on prolific evidence.

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1 Comments:

At 8/14/2006 5:35 PM, Blogger Gary Collard said...

I provided a link from which the source material came, making it clear it was not mine.

It is true that some tiny minority of contemporary terrorist actions have been from groups other than young Muslim men. It's also true that some KKK-style cross burnings have been carried out by those other than white males, but if I was trying to prevent future cross burnings I think I would pay more attention to white males than to black females, for example. You obviously disagree, and that's cool.

Your position seems to be that with profiling your chances of catching a terrorist in an airport are microscopic, which may be true. But you are a couple of orders of magnitude more likely to find said terrorist with profiling than you are without it. I find the "you only changed the odds from needle in a haystack to baseball bat in a haystack, so why bother" argumnet uncompelling.

 

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