~CAN PROFILING BE USED TO CATCH TERRORISTS? Glitterspree says hella noooooooooooooo...
The concept of profiling may have been born in the minds of literary geniuses such as Edgar Allen Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but over the decades it has become revered through its association with real and imagined murders. Melodramatic novels and films like Silence of the Lambs and Copycat, alongside contemporary public fascination with real crime and police procedure have inspired a vast array of entertaining yet illusory television programs like Body of Evidence. Consequently the usefulness of profiling has been blown out of proportion when there are few experts and even less credible literature on the subject. Nevertheless it is being heralded as profitable in historys biggest manhunt, for elusive terrorists. This review seeks to demystify profiling, the extent to which it can be applied to terrorists, problems with utility and proposals for obtaining global peace.
The world has changed since September 11 2001, Muslims and Christians are divided, racism is rife, mass paranoia is universal and violence has escalated extensively. "The strong are attacking the weak for their possessions. Nations are threatening pre-emptive and preventative strikes against other nations in order to disable them from striking first. A spiral of fear, violence and vengeance seems to have taken hold" (Faruqi 2003) and President George Bush Jnr. is self-appointed conductor of the chaos. "The rise in ... terrorist crimes and the ruthless ... unprincipled manner in which the war against terrorism is being conducted prompt several objections from the human rights, rule of law and democratic points of view" (Faruqi 2003). Outrageously the barbarism displayed by the Coalition of the Willing goes unpunished while the Muslim community endures a witchhunt, similar to that suffered by Communists previously.
There is hope in the battle against evil and solutions are relatively obvious, however the problem exists that measures will not be taken because terrorism cloaks the American governments stratagem toward world domination. Operation Enduring Freedom is really about oil, vengeance, and a feasible strategy to combat Third World liberationists and justification for a global military eclipse. Leading terrorist President Bush and his supporters are civilisations true nemesis, because they advance an "economic system that put profit ahead of human value" (Holmes 2001, 15). Presumptions that ethnic profiling may narrow the field of terror suspects are absurd because the worst offenders are the ones hunting them, furthermore terrorism is not racial but an ideology proposing fighting oppression with whatever means available. Usama bin Laden declared war upon America in 1996, in 2001 he explained "the US wants to occupy our countries, steal resources and impose agents to rule us... if we refuse it will say you are terrorists" (Bergen 2001, 22-23). The half a million Iraqi children who died because of US sanctions equally disgusted him, bin Laden is not alone.
" ... Some human beings have reached such depths of desperation that they are prepared to blow themselves up ... in order to express their anger, frustration and desperation" (Faruqi 2003). Profiling is intriguing and attractive to the public but it will not correct the current dilemma, it may sell films and better television ratings but as an investigatory tool it is not serviceable to tracking radicals. Profilers are not psychics but inquisitors of criminal behaviour, their skills are " ... based in experience and knowledge about previous crime scenes and offenders" (Ramsland 2001, 168). Petherick (2002) describes profiling as an "educated attempt to provide investigative agencies with specific information as to the type of individual who would have committed a certain crime". It additionally assists police in " ... refining their suspect list so they can direct their resources where they might do the most good" (Zeitung 2000). Mind-Hunting is not an exact science, "not everyone will interpret the clues in the same manner ... , in a series of murders attributed to the Boston Strangler in the mid-1960s, the psychiatric profiles were contradictory. That case, ... highlighted some of the problems with the system ... " (McCrary & Ramsland 2003, 21).
"The FBI began its profiling program in the early 1970s when Special Agent Howard Teten used what he knew about crime analysis to teach a course called Applied Criminology at the FBI National Academy" (Ramsland 2001, 167). The Behavioral Science Unit was then cultivated by Special agents John Douglas, Richard Ault and Robert Ressler who developed a criminal data bank by interviewing select serial killers like Ed Kemper and cult leader Charles Manson. Profiling had been employed earlier in attempts to apprehend Jack the Ripper and Adolf Hitler, but its greatest success has been in identifying serial killers, paedophiles, stalkers and offenders with habitual elements to their modus operandi. Criminal logic is not advantageous to solving all types of crime however, "it took nearly two decades before Theodore John Kaczynski was identified as the man responsible for the Unabom ... His attacks followed an erratic pattern with unpredictable gaps in time, so it was difficult ... to pin him ... " (Ramsland 2001, 229).
Criminal Investigative Analysis is only a step in the process of inquiry and should be used carefully, updated regularly and preceded by a disclaimer:
... the attached analysis is not a substitute for a thorough and well-planned investigation and should not be considered all inclusive. The information provided is based upon reviewing, analyzing, and researching criminal cases similar to the case submitted by the requesting agency. The final analysis is based upon probabilities. Note ... that no two criminal acts or criminal personalities are exactly alike
and, therefore, the offender may not always fit the profile ... (Petherick 2002).
This information is extremely important but not always included with analysis, perhaps in a bid to boost its credibility. Misrepresentation of a profiles accuracy can lead to offenders walking free while innocent people are harassed, precious time and resources are wasted. In this time of global unrest, racial profiling will only exacerbate suspicions that a terrorist is lurking behind every beard or burka.
Empirical evidence denounces the use of criminal profiling in the apprehension of unlawful combatants, not least because of problems associated with defining the term terrorist. Ethical dilemmas regarding racism, discrimination and harassment must be considered and to encourage ethnicism will feed resentment and inspire injustice. Citizens of Arab appearance have come under fire but a specific terrorist typology does not exist, they vary in nationality, sex, age, conviction and attacks occur internationally. There is also the obstacle of characterising terrorist acts while protecting civil rights, genuine democracy is questionable when governments can classify protests and civil disobedience as terrorist attacks when they see fit. Like wars terrorist attacks are planned in advance and therefore predictable to some degree, the key is observing communications because extremists are clearly targeting nations involved in the war against terror. The Orients angst has gone unheard for decades, but Middle-Easterners have found a voice in terrorism that cant be ignored and they will continue to assault Western populations until America surrenders its grip.
Racial profiling is controversial and sometimes lethal, as was illustrated recently when a case of mistaken identity led to "British police ... killing ... an innocent Brazilian whom they mistook for a would-be suicide bomber" (NineMSN News 2005). One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter and while America demonises other nations, they have tyrannised, slaughtered, tortured, pilfered, bullied for decades and continue to manufacture weapons of mass destruction. Not everyone intending "to further a political, religious or ideological cause through intimidation" (Golder & Williams 2004) is an Islamic Arab, David Hicks and Jack Roche for example were white Australians. American John Walker was also a Caucasian fighting for the Taliban and two of the USAs worst domestic bombings were perpetrated by citizens on their own soil. The Okalahoma bomber wanted " ... to teach the government a lesson. He intended to strike back for Waco, ... Ruby Ridge, ... high taxes [and] ... gun laws ... " (Readers Digest 2004, 126) and the ex-Desert Storm trooper was not secretive about his views. Timothy McVeigh was arrested promptly and his T-shirt spelt out his intentions "the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants" (Readers Digest 2004, 127).
"The meaning attributed in law to terrorism is crucial to establishing (and limiting) the scope of serious criminal sanctions as well as the capacity of the State to infringe upon ... the right to privacy. Due to the legal, political, social, cultural and economic consequences of describing someone as a terrorist, or an action as terrorism, lawyers must seek to describe the concept with as much precision as possible" (Golder & Williams 2004). The hypothesis is that there are definite flaws in the useability of behavioural analysis in pursuit of terrorists and the evidence can be found in The Psychology of Terrorism. Dr. John Horgan (2003) reports that racial profiling is " ... lacking in long-term scholarly investment, limited theoretical progress, [is] unsupported by empirical research, lack of solid conceptual base [and] the identification of terrorism". Dr. Horgan cautions that "terrorism [is] often rooted in legitimate grievances [and] State provocation can act as a catalyst for terrorism", he concludes that in his learned opinion "no homogenous profile exists".
Most experts agree that ethnic profiling is distasteful but executive director of the Domestic Preparedness Session at Harvard Universitys Kennedy School of Government, Juliet Kaymen insists " ... its completely ineffective" (Ifill 2001). Conversely columnist Stuart Taylor believes that ethnic profiling is appropriate " ... depending how you define it, at airports, people getting on airplanes, or giving special scrutiny to people who look Arab, ... may be a justifiable exception to the general rule ... " (Ifill 2001). Law Professor Gail Heriot agrees that " ... searching the baggage of certain passengers ... , impose not very great costs upon those passengers, but on the other side of the balance, we have thousands and thousands of lives at stake" (Ifill 2001). Professor Frank Wu of Howard University Law School concedes " ... we have to fight back. But when we fight back we shouldnt lash out at ourselves, and thats what Arab Americans are ... they live here, theyre part of our way of life. And who ... better to help us in this war than individuals who understand the cultural background that were contending with....Racial profiling sweeps too broadly ... its simply wrong" (Ifill 2001).
Taylor and Heriot fail to realise that terrorists can easily use racial profiling to their advantage, recruiting members that do not match the definitive description and by adopting unexpected behaviour. Organised terrorists already know the importance of being a chameleon and increasingly employ less predictable and detectable methods of attack. This became apparent when a lengthy document confiscated from al-Qaeda in 2004 disclosed " ... a scenario for using limousines to deliver bombs equipped with cylinders of a flammable gas" (Morgenstern 2005). Sleepers patiently operate as productive community members for years and presently hold positions in intelligence, Counterterrorism and nuclear science, they do not fear death but invite it so what can be done other than wait for the unexpected? America and her allies should immediately release the Middle East, cancel foreign debt and stop furnishing fundamentalists when its useful. The American government is antagonistic, incites fear amongst civilians " ... in order to secure unlimited power" (Pollock 2004, 226) and justifies pre-emptive strikes by spreading false propaganda, this war is illegal and should not be tolerated.
Preferable to ostracising ethnics is understanding the causes of terrorism, such as " ... lack of democracy, civil liberties and rule of law, failed or weak states, rapid modernisation [and] extremist ideologies (secular or religious). Historical antecedents of political violence, civil wars, revolutions, dictatorships or occupation, inequality of power, illegitimate or corrupt governments, repression by foreign occupation, experience of social injustice [and a] presence of charismatic organiser/leader [are] triggering events ... " (Horgan 2003). Holy War Inc. (Bergen 2001) is fought in the name of Deities by desperate and greedy hypocrites, but in the end the winner will be the " ... peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God" (Bergen, 2001, p.256).
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