July 07, 2008
— Gabriel Malor Yesterday, the Washington Post described the collaborative FBI and DOD efforts to collect biometric data on foreign fighters, detainees, and other potential enemies in the War on Terror. These types of promising, nonconfidential programs do not get enough press and it's nice to see this one in the Sunday Washington Post, even if it is paired with bogus discussion of "watch lists." However, the revelation that one out of every hundred foreign detainees is already in the FBI arrest database should be cause for concern.
"Frankly I was surprised that we were getting those kind of hits at all," recalled Townsend, who left government in January. They identified "a potential vulnerability" to national security the government had not fully appreciated, she said.The people being fingerprinted had come from the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan. They were mostly in their 20s, Shannon recalled. "One of the things we learned is we were dealing with relatively young guys who were very committed and what they would openly tell you is that when they got out they were going back to jihad," he said. "They'd already made this commitment."
One of the first men fingerprinted by the FBI team was a fighter who claimed he was in Afghanistan to learn the ancient art of falconry. But a fingerprint check showed that in August 2001 he had been turned away from Orlando International Airport by an immigration official who thought he might overstay his visa. Mohamed al Kahtani would later be named by the Sept. 11 Commission as someone who allegedly had sought to participate in hijackings. He currently is in custody at Guantanamo Bay.
This isn't about security at the southern or northern border, nor is it generally about immigration; these folks are entering and leaving our country legally with nonimmigrant visas. Student visas are especially prone to abuse, but the problem extends even to visitors from countries that are part of the Visa Waiver Program. Our entry and exit visa system is a mess and it is shameful that I'm genuinely surprised that the system managed to identify and turn away a potential threat prior to 9/11. But it is nice to see that something is being done.
Posted by: Gabriel Malor at
06:32 AM
| Comments (22)
Post contains 406 words, total size 3 kb.
When I read this yesterday, the first thought I had was, what would these guys have done if there were no war in Iraq or Afghanistan for them to go to. Do we believe they would have become a terror cell here in the US, or do we believe they would have somehow been more peaceful while the US was attacked but did nothing substantial about it?
My bet is that they would have been more inclined to be bad actors here in the US.
Posted by: bcismar at July 07, 2008 08:45 AM (zhVlW)
"Arrest" is one thing- "conviction" is quite another.
I would be prepared to bet any amount of money-
in Euros please: after a quarter century of leaving unattended the Great American Infestation of trickledownya Reaganomica termites & oversightnyeti Grinchia West Nile virus carrying mosquitos & Bill of Rights slaughtering Bushie locusts & two thirds of it spent watching a Republican dominated or filibustered Congress of Yes Men rendering permanent the idea of turning the Homeland into a classic imperialistic business paradigm- the US fundamentals are less promising than any of Darfur Niger Nigeria Zimbabwe-
that the "one in a hundred US arrest record" referred to here:
[1] is partially & significantly- or even mostly- explained by race-based police profiling approaches to arrests-
[2] is less than the rate for all US citizens in the US-
[3] shows for all those arrested a rate of arrests-to-convictions at measurably & significantly less than the arrests-to-convictiosn rate for all US citizens during the same period-
[by way of illustration: for every 100 arrested & 5 convicted the rate would be 1 in 20 or 5% - whereas for every 100 arrested & 15 convicted the ratio would be 3 in 20 or 15%]
[4] is measurably & significantly less than the arrest rate for all who post at Ace's place- &
[5] shows for all those arrested a rate of arrests-to-convictions at measurably & significantly less than the arrests-to-convictions rate for all of Ace's Tools.
I am even giving Ace's Place & his Tools a boost here because as a former federal prosecutor & had- still have- security clearance.
To make the point clear: over almost 40 years of adulthood I have been stopped or detained by police officers on no less than twenty six times . As to those 26 times- based on the facts known to the police who stopped me there was some kind of law in force that would permit the police who stopped me to arrest me in eleven of them- yet I was never arrested once & never charged with anything more serious than a speeding offence.
Meanwhile- according to statistics I have gathered from my clients & maintained during the 23 years of my professional practice where I was defending rather than prosecuting- the rate at which my clients who self-identified as African-American were arrested & kept at least overnight in jail was over 70% regardless of their individual criminal convictions records & a number of them on the first occasion of being stopped for something on which not only was there no conviction & no charge more serious than a speeding office- but no charge was ever filed.
The equivalent rate for all my immigrant clients- which would include those of African descent from for example France & Brazil & parts of Asia & of course countries in Africa- but for the most part was made up of those of non-African Hispanic descent- was almost 20% less than for African-Americans- & I mean African-American US CITIZENS!
The equivalent rate for all my clients who self-identified as non-African-American US citizens was under 25% regardless of prior arrest or conviction record [That would include those of Hispanic-descent- though in fairness at least a third of my client base over the years has been "white color crime" who I would expect- I don't have the stats- would turn out to have been mostly white-skinned & of European descent.
My point over all: arrest records are unreliable except perhaps a secondary indicator of the color of one's skin.
Posted by: Diderot's dog at July 07, 2008 10:46 AM (otzBo)
I am outraged that you would demonize those hardworking immigrants who would come to this country to better themselves by studying electrical engineering or chemical engineering or aeronautical engineering or flight training.
For shame Gabriel, for shame. How soon you forget your own troubles as a student after you graduate.
I weep for this country.
Posted by: Khalied Shiek Mohammad at July 07, 2008 10:50 AM (0gDAL)
Posted by: Leftist Idiot at July 07, 2008 10:56 AM (HrVHr)
But let us determine who to expose as the real bad guys.
We held a meeting, and the villain is Bush.
Posted by: The Deciders at July 07, 2008 10:57 AM (wnU1W)
Posted by: Foreign Detainee at July 07, 2008 11:13 AM (ao5cQ)
Posted by: Ben at July 07, 2008 11:56 AM (i44gD)
Well...
Posted by: ParisParamus at July 07, 2008 12:06 PM (zk5Q7)
Posted by: Warden at July 07, 2008 12:11 PM (KXbGD)
It's amazing that these homeland security retards are surprised that innocent sheep herders absconded by our military in Afghanistan could have criminal records in the USA.
Have they heard about endless visa overstays? Can somebody brief them on that? Soon?
Posted by: Eddie Baby at July 07, 2008 12:21 PM (a1oRP)
Did-rot once again demonstrates the lefts inability to recognize a significant data point while leaping to conclusions and persecuting straw men.
The important part isn't criminality or arrests or profiling or any of your other laundry list of watery thin talking points.
The important point is, they were HERE in the US, or trying very hard to get HERE.
Now maybe *you* think they were just coming here to get their film developed at the one hour photo lab but I rather have my doubts about that.
Posted by: bcismar at July 07, 2008 12:22 PM (zhVlW)
And yes that was blatant link-whoring but when I am writing stuff at 0220 I want it read damn it.
Posted by: chad at July 07, 2008 12:45 PM (lNQg8)
Posted by: mikey at July 07, 2008 01:19 PM (+cFcP)
the rate at which my clients who self-identified as African-American were arrested & kept at least overnight in jail was over 70% regardless of their individual criminal convictions records...
looks like we've lumped non-criminals with the usual suspects to get our 70%. what percentage of that 70% had criminal records?
Posted by: Nigel Powers at July 07, 2008 04:09 PM (EVmYn)
If I were to hazard a guess, Nigel, I'd say approximately 70% had priors, pending arrest warrants, or were too disorderly with the arresting officer to avoid being taken into custody.
In the bad old days of Jim Crow, black folk were raised to avoid getting rowdy with cops because it increased your risk of death or injury. In the bad old days of 'Liberal' Fascist Democrat political plantations, black folk are encouraged to get rowdy with the cops, because it increases the chances of hitting the PR/Lawsuit Lottery Jackpot without greatly increasing your risk of death or injury.
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