SACRAMENTO, CALIF. – The nation’s largest pro-troop organization, Move America Forward, fired back at one of the country’s most visible Muslim organizations, CAIR, on Tuesday. Taking issue with the Council of American-Islamic Relations officials who appeared on cable news networks claiming that new airport security measures amounted to racial and religious profiling targeted Muslims.
Move America Forward responded, “If CAIR is upset about airport security, they aren’t the only ones. Americans are upset that so many travelers now have to go through extreme security measures because of an extremely small yet identifiable minority,” said Shawn Callahan, Executive Director of Move America Forward. “We still stress the need for law enforcement to follow up leads on anyone who we have behavioral information on, but let’s be honest; we know exactly who we are looking for. What needs to happen is for law enforcement to have the freedom and ability to scrutinize and follow up on anyone without fear of being labeled a ‘racist’ or ‘profiling’.
Yesterday CAIR told news agencies, "Under these new guidelines, almost every American Muslim who travels to see family or friends or goes on pilgrimage to Mecca will automatically be singled out for special security checks -- that's profiling," said Nihad Awad, the council's national executive director. "While singling out travelers based on religion and national origin may make some people feel safer, it only serves to alienate and stigmatize Muslims and does nothing to improve airline security."
“The Council just isn’t being honest about terrorism,” said Callahan. “Whether you call it profiling or whether you call it statistical probability, we know from the attempted Christmas day bombing and the Fort Hood shooting just last month that security is failing and we have to ask why. Part of the failure is due to hypersensitivity and political correctness.”
“CAIR and some other groups such as the ACLU are one of the principal offenders; they are the ones keeping airport security from being honest, efficient, and common-sense.” said Callahan. “They are so quick file lawsuits, to cry racism or claim religious discrimination. What we need is a common sense security policy that targets the most likely threats and not innocent travelers who we know pose almost no risk.”
