Sometimes the knee-jerk conclusion is right.

Submitted by SallyVee (United States), Mar 26, 2003 at 00:07

<< All of which reinforces what I wrote in January: "There is no escaping the unfortunate fact that Muslim government employees in law enforcement, the military and the diplomatic corps need to be watched for connections to terrorism, as do Muslim chaplains in prisons and the armed forces. Muslim visitors and immigrants must undergo additional background checks. Mosques require a scrutiny beyond that applied to churches and temples." >>

Seriously, Dr. Pipes, who is qualified to reliably perform this type of background check? You might be one of a handful but I doubt you'd be tapped for the job or willing to take it on. I hate myself for even suggesting it, but aren't those of us who are connecting the dots fast coming to the conclusion that all Islamists in the U.S. are suspect and nearly impossible for western minds to comprehend, much less evaluate in any meaningful way?

I've been on a roller coaster since 9-11-01. I've tried to find a balance and a logic to settle on. Every time I get close, an Abdel-Hafiz or a Hasan Karim Akbar surfaces and reduces me once again to an outraged... hyper-suspicious mess.

I hadn't thought about the incident at the El Al counter at LAX in months--and doesn't that say a lot. When it happened, I remember clearly experiencing and resenting the gross propaganda as it happened, in real time. But it passed, as the questions faded to silence and all that remained was the official story.

Then I forgot about it altogether.

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