This answer will be considered to be politically incorrect because it is a simple common sense approach to insuring that Homeland security can be an effective agency. I believe that some form of racial profiling should be conducted at all US airports, bus terminals and other public transportation where there are huge volumes of people gathered in one area.
The Terrorists have won because they have succeeded in changing how Americans travel in and out of the US. Americans have lost their sense of security and now they are losing their dignity and privacy at US airports because of an invasive security procedure by TSA agents. The fact that TSA agents are allowed to fondle passengers in the name of security is outrageous because this screening process does not locate chemicals or explosives. It is an invasive procedure that lacks common sense because elderly people in wheel chairs have been subjected to this procedure, even small children and babies.
The government lacks common sense in trying to be politically correct because they do not want to single out one racial group in particular. Racial profiling is considered illegal although it occurs among minority populations with law enforcement across the country. If this concept is applied to Muslims, then the media instantly reports on this topic. It is not racial profiling, if the TSA agents were to ask questions to all travelers that may have some red flag issues at the airport.
An example, a young man travels with no suit case, pays all cash for his ticket, seems nervous or anxious. These are obvious red flags; or the person being questioned may have traveled to a region such as Pakistan or Afghanistan. It is reasonable for the authorities to ask why they have travelled constantly to the region and ask more probing questions. The method is considered as racial profiling and disturbs Americans greatly; because we are a melting pot of different cultures and we believe in fairness.
Unfortunately, many in the regions of Africa and the Middle East blame America for our policy of supporting Israel. Many Muslims practice their religion, there is a segment of the Muslim community that has become radicalized and that is a threat that America can’t ignore. There is a threat of Americans becoming Islamist extremists, again the common thread is the religion of Islam. America can’t continue to ignore that Islam has elements that cause extremists to interpret the Koran to incite terror violence more than any other religion.
The Americans that have been arrested for terrorism are Muslims born in the US or have converted to the religion of Islam. Israeli Air Security has the best airport security around the world and has not had a Terror incident at their airport in over twenty years.
The US government says that the Israeli security system would not work in American airports due to our traffic volume. The TSA has not made American airports safer because one person managed to get on an airplane with a fake id, an expired airline ticket. The passengers alerted the airplane staff that the person had an odor and behaved suspiciously. The passenger was a homeless man trying to get back to his native Nigeria. The man was not a Terrorist but this demonstrated that the TSA is not making the US any safer. It will only be a matter of time before another brilliant idea from Terrorists to circumvent our security system occurs, that is why the TSA should consider the Israeli Airport security system procedures.
Some form of racial profiling should be allowed to make the whole traveling community safer, because scanners and intrusive body searches does not make us safer, instead it has made terrorists more bold.