Terrorism suspects don’t come from central casting

WASHINGTON — It took the case of “JihadJane” to illuminate what should have been obvious by now: Anyone who claims to be able to identify a potential terrorist by appearance or nationality is delusional. There’s a reason why all of us have to take our shoes off at the airport.

For years, some voices on the right have argued forcefully for racial-ethnic-religious profiling. After the Christmas Day attempt to bomb an airliner, Newt Gingrich wrote that the time has come “to profile for terrorists and to actively discriminate based on suspicious terrorist information.” Gingrich groused that “because our elites fear politically incorrect honesty, they believe that it is better to harass the innocent, delay the harmless, and risk the lives of every American than to do the obvious, the effective, and the necessary.”

If the former House speaker were manning an airport metal detector, he’d supposedly give extra scrutiny to anyone who resembled Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab — the Nigerian accused in the Christmas Day attempt — while essentially giving a pass to someone like Colleen LaRose, 46, of Pennsburg, Pa.

Which, as it turns out, would have been a dangerous mistake.

According to a federal indictment, LaRose was a regular on radical Islamist Web sites who sometimes called herself JihadJane. She allegedly had expressed a desire to become a martyr for Islam, and prosecutors charge that before her arrest last October she was actively plotting to kill a Swedish artist who had drawn a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a dog.

Now, it has to be pointed out that if the story told in the indictment is true, LaRose does not seem to have been the brightest bulb in the jihadist firmament. In her Internet postings she appears to have made little or no attempt to hide her identity, aside from choosing a nom de guerre that is the equivalent of a flashing red light. But Abdulmutallab was hardly a diabolical mastermind, either. What the two have in common is that they both seem to have been lonely and alienated, to have been searching for meaning in their lives, and to have made terrible choices.

What they don’t have in common is anything else. Abdulmutallab is a young, black, wealthy, foreign man with a Muslim-sounding name. LaRose is a blond-haired, blue-eyed, middle-aged white woman who grew up in Texas, dropped out of high school, married and divorced a couple of times, met a boyfriend from Pennsylvania and ended up living unremarkably in a small town 50 miles from Philadelphia, where neighbors say they often heard her talking to her cats.

On the Internet, she allegedly boasted that her appearance and nationality would allow her to travel freely and without scrutiny as she went about her mission — apparently self-assigned — of killing Swedish artist Lars Vilks. There is no indication that she had any actual contact with al-Qaida, which has put a $100,000 bounty on Vilks’ head. According to the indictment, LaRose traveled to Europe to meet with unnamed, like-minded individuals, and also allegedly stole her American boyfriend’s passport with the idea of giving it to a fellow jihadist to use. But it does not appear she had the slightest idea of how to kill anybody.

Still, aspiring terrorists can stumble into becoming real ones. And what profile would have picked her out of the crowd?

LaRose may be unique because of her looks, but she is hardly the only American thought by officials to have been seduced by the ideology of jihad. Omar Hammami, who as a teenager was president of his sophomore class in Daphne, Ala., is a key figure in al-Shabab, an Islamist insurgent group in Somalia that is affiliated with al-Qaida. In December, five young men from Northern Virginia were arrested in Pakistan and accused of trying to join al-Qaida.

“Washington is still avoiding being intellectually honest about the war we are in,” Gingrich claims. But intellectual honesty requires taking into account the fact that terrorists and would-be terrorists don’t come from central casting. This means that at airports and elsewhere, there has to be equal-opportunity scrutiny.

To “actively discriminate,” as Gingrich and others recommend, would do more than single out a lot of innocent people. It would guarantee that we miss the next JihadJane — who might be taking instruction from leaders more nefarious than her cats.

Eugene Robinson is a Washington Post columnist. His e-mail address is eugenerobinson@washpost.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Opinion

toon
Editorial cartoons for Thursday, Feb. 13

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

People walk adjacent to the border with Canada at the Peace Arch in Peace Arch Historical State Park, where cars behind wait to enter Canada at the border crossing Monday, Aug. 9, 2021, in Blaine, Wash. Canada lifted its prohibition on Americans crossing the border to shop, vacation or visit, but America kept similar restrictions in place, part of a bumpy return to normalcy from coronavirus travel bans. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Editorial: U.S. and Canada better neighbors than housemates

President Trump may be serious about annexing Canada, but it’s a deal fraught with complexities for all.

State single-payer health care bill offers many advantages

I was excited to read in Will Geschke’s report (“Everett lawmakers back… Continue reading

Important national story missing from Herald

I couldn’t find a report in The Herald that the Trump administration… Continue reading

Comment: Trump’s ‘Man-of-Steel’ shtick will make U.S. weaker

Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum will harm allies we need and won’t help industries here.

Comment: AG Bondi’s DEI memo more messaging than lawsuit threat

Talk of criminal investigations is intended to panic corporations into abandoning their DEI programs.

Goldberg: Why Musk, Vance went to bat for self-desribed racist

While a former Trump official is on the outs for doing his job, a proud racist gets his job back.

CNA Nina Prigodich, right, goes through restorative exercises with long term care patient Betty Long, 86, at Nightingale's View Ridge Care Center on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Editorial: Boost state Medicaid funding for long-term care

With more in need of skilled nursing and assisted-living services, funding must keep up to retain staff.

bar graph, pie chart and diagrams isolated on white, 3d illustration
Editorial: Don’t let state’s budget numbers intimidate you

With budget discussions starting soon, a new website explains the basics of state’s budget crisis.

Curtains act as doors for a handful of classrooms at Glenwood Elementary on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024 in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Editorial: Schools’ building needs point to election reform

Construction funding requests in Arlington and Lake Stevens show need for a change to bond elections.

toon
Editorial cartoons for Wednesday, Feb. 12

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Welch: State Democrats’ bill would undermine parental rights

The bill would allow kids as young as 13 to make mental health decisions without notice to parents.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.