I read today that Dan Rather was given the extra security once-over at an airport gate recently.  You have likely read previously that Al Gore has gone through the process as well.  I am sure also that we have all seen old women and children wanded because we have to watch everyone, and in reaction to such stories, we have heard cries for letting the old ladies and kids through and concentrating on middle eastern looking men in their 20's.  It is said we need to profile better and concentrate on the real threats.

So which is it?  Do we screen everybody or do we profile?  Well, if we think the terrorists are serious, I say the answer to this either/or question is both.

It is obvious that most of the successful and unsuccessful perpetrators of terrorists attacks have been young men fron the middle east.  I think we all need to recognize that, given these facts, we do need to profile a bit, and give those matching this profile a second glance, if not a full look.

But if we truly believe the terrorists are serious, and most of us do, we need to recognize that as soon as we exclude a group from the potential of extra scrutiny, those who wish to do us harm will make every effort to exploit that exclusion.   Not to mention the problems in determining the precise parameters of the exclusion.  To use the "old lady" scenerio, at what age is a woman an "old lady?"  How will we determine how we determine who qualifies for our security exclusion?  Is it age?  Percentage of gray hair?  Number of pictures of grandchildren?  Color of hat?  Simply the presence of a hat?  As for kids, at what point will we move them from the "safe" column to the suspect column? 

I have not heard a lot about who was arrested in London, but I have heard that they are not all men and not all middle eastern.

I have been subject to additional scrutiny when boarding a plane and it is not an overly intusive experience so I have no problem with it.  I like that my safety is being taken seriously.  I also like that the person sitting near me in the terminal, looking for security breaches, is not seeing obvious exclusions to exploit.