(In)securityMike Rappaport

I hadn’t heard about this.  Not very encouraging:

Mustaf Jama, a Somali ”asylum seeker” in Britain wanted for themurder of a policewoman, fled the country by taking his sister’spassport, wearing a niqab (the full Islamic head-to-toe get-up thatcovers everything but the eyes) and passing unhindered through thecheckpoints at Heathrow.

How about that? It turns out we are profiling after all, but we’reprofiling everybody except Muslims. Your wizened l’il ol’ gran’ma on aYuletide break to London is bent double and out of breath struggling totake off her coat and shoes. The officials sternly scrutinize herpassport to check that the picture matches her flustered and bewilderedface. All around her hundreds of women are doing the same, mutelyshuffling through the scanner in their stocking feet. But Britain’smost wanted man is breezing through because he took the precaution ofdressing as a Muslim woman. And it would be culturally insensitive toexpose them to the same scrutiny as your gran’ma.