What does it say about our country when six Muslim Imams are removed from an airliner because a fellow passenger feels they are acting in a suspicious manner?  If you ask me, it says that the American people have a higher level of situational awareness than they did five years ago.  From a security standpoint, I think that’s a good thing.

Apparently, a passenger became suspicious during the pre-boarding process of US Airways flight 300 from Minneapolis to Phoenix on November 21.  When she heard the Imams speaking in a mixture of Arabic and English, the woman construed the content of their conversation as being an anti-American discussion of the war in Iraq.  Her suspicions grew when, on boarding the aircraft, the men continued their “peculiar behavior”.  Acting on her suspicions, she passed a note to a member of the cabin crew who, in turn, delivered the information to the pilot.  The pilot was sufficiently concerned to alert airport officials, refusing to push his aircraft away from the terminal until airport police removed the men from the aircraft.

Following questioning by local police, the FBI, and federal security officials, all six clerics were released.

Naturally, this incident raises the specter of profiling.  And in true fashion, the Council of American-Islamic Relations was quick to shout “foul”.  But Islamic clerics aren’t the only people who face inconvenience nowadays when travelling by air.  Every single American who boards an aircraft faces increased security measures and restrictions.  And most people accept these inconveniences as being a necessary component of security in a post-9/11 world.  It’s also an unfortunate fact that the perpetrators of 9/11 were Islamic radicals.  By virtue of that fact, it’s only a function of human nature that Islamic figures might come under closer scrutiny in certain security-sensitive situations (such as commercial aircraft operations).

There’s something inherently disconcerting about hurtling through the skies in an aluminum tube at 30,000 feet, especially when men with weapons leap up from their seats and declare that they’re in charge of your fate.  Thankfully, I’ve never been in such a situation, but I’ve seen two films about United flight 93, and I certainly wouldn’t want to try it.  With that in mind, I think the crew of US Airways flight 300 did the only thing they could.  It was a laudable performance, the way I see it.  The captain of the aircraft is charged with far more than the sensibilities of six Muslim Imams.  The captain of a commercial airliner is charged with delivering each and every passenger—who frequently number in the hundreds—safely to their destination.

And to their families.

Oh, yeah.  The Imams, too, are safely at home with their families this morning.  All perceived insult aside….

Technorati Tags: Muslim, Imam, airliner, passenger, suspicious, American people, situational awareness, security, US Airways, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Arabic, English, anti-American, war in Iraq, peculiar behavior, cabin crew, pilot, airport officials, local police, FBI, federal security officials, profiling, Council of American-Islamic Relations, Islamic, post-9/11, 9/11, radicals, scrutiny, United flight 93

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