This story at the LA Times reveals the politically correct agenda that mars so much of their reporting: Terrorists Are Difficult to Profile. The article itself makes a very good case for exactly the opposite conclusion. For instance:

“What do you need, a neon sign not to let him on the plane?” a Western law enforcement official wondered. The official ticked off the warning signs: Reid’s Koran, a new British passport obtained in Belgium, no luggage, a ticket bought with cash days earlier.

Of course, the LAT implicitly assumes that anything said by a “Western law enforcement official” can be dismissed. (And what makes him/her “Western?” Stetson? Chaps?)

Then they brush aside Reid’s encounter with Israeli security, on what may have been a test run to see how well he held up under questioning:

His cool may have been refined with practice and coaching, police said. In July, Reid flew to Israel on El Al, the Israeli airline renowned for aggressive security screening. Law enforcement officials think he chose El Al to test himself against the best interrogators in the airline business. After a thorough questioning and search, El Al allowed him on the plane.

Right; but they fail to mention that after being searched head to toe (including his shoes), he was placed in a window seat at the rear of the plane with an armed agent right next to him in the aisle seat.

When you’re trying to promote a “profiling is bad” agenda, some inconvenient little details can be left out, I guess—like the fact that Richard Reid was caught by El Al’s profiling methods.

A better headline for this one would be: Some Terrorists Are Incredibly Easy to Profile.