AZredhawk, I asked about race because it was one of the first details you gave us, and because you said it's the reason you suspected terrorism.
Not to unfairly tie Brad Johnson to my secret CAIR mission, but I think he's asking you the same questions I was asking and in the same light. This:
From that I have to presume that there will be a number of swarthy-skinned people who may, or may not, be of middle eastern origin. Dark or olive skin with black hair and exotic facial features covers a lot of territory. I also have to go on sheer statistical probability ... two guys, one with a backpack, nervously walking around a Wal-Mart, then leaving without visibly purchasing anything leads me to one predominantly probable conclusion. Common shoplifters.
Is exactly what I was thinking when I read the OP. It doesn't look like a case of terrorism, nor is the walmart a likely scenario for an attack. As I said before, if this were the same story but set on the whitehouse lawn, I'd think you acted appropriately. There's a lot more risk involved there and suspicious behavior of any kind should be taken more seriously than you'd take it at a local walmart.
Another issue is that I question the effectiveness of racial profiling to combat it anyway. And what's why I asked you how you knew the guys were middle eastern.
I repeat the question: How did you know what race they were? And I repeat it because, if you can't come up with reliable indicators as to who is or is not a middle easterner...how can using race to identify terrorists be effective
and not become simply suspicion of all people with darker skin and hair?
That's the risk here-letting fears of terrorism drive us to be suspicious of, and possibly report to the FBI, every shady looking person who happens to be a darker shade of tan. In my book, that means fears of terrorism have gone too far, and are doing more harm to civil society than good.
This logic in particular is troubling:
While not all muslims are terrorists, and not all terrorists are muslim, nowadays most terrorists are muslim.
Imagine the tables turned-"while not all rampage shooters are gun owners, and not all gun owners are rampage shooters, nowadays most rampage shooters are gun owners. So the next time I see a guy loading a rifle into his trunk, I'm going to call the cops and let them know...not saying arrest him, not saying abridge his rights, I just think the cops should look into it because most rampages are carried out by gun owners."
In other words, this kind of profiling is a dangerous road to take, for all of our freedoms.
