Intelligent profiling

The abysmal failure of US security to prevent a putative suicide bomber from boarding Northwest Airlines international flight 253 on December 25, 2009, highlights the need for intelligent profiling on passenger flights. Note I said "intelligent profiling "; paying particular attention to young males with Islamic-sounding names is not, and never has been, sufficient. The silliest comment I heard in this respect was on today's Radio 4 Today programme, when one contributor stated that particular attention should be paid to holders of Iraqi and Afghanistan passports. These are precisely the passport holders who have never been, and will never be, airline bombers. On the other hand, recall the Irish girl, pregnant by her Palestinian lover, who after profiling, that is, background analysis, was prevented from boarding an El Al plane while carrying both her unborn child and the bomb put in her luggage by her lover.

Once after a scientific visit to the Haifa Technion Chemistry Department, where I was collaborating with a colleague who was actually a physicist, I was stopped by a young female security officer. Officer:"What were you doing in Israel?"Me: "Visiting the Chemistry Department of the Technion."Officer: "Prove it."As it so happens I had to hand a preprint of a paper we had just produced on the subject of SU(2) - a technical subject in mathematical physics. I proudly produced the same.Officer: "SU(2) - that's theoetical physics, NOT chemistry!"
At this point I was so flabbergasted that I had to admit that it was a fair cop, guv. Further explanations were necessary. (The girl happened to be an ex-student of my old professor, the celebrated Israeli physicist, Yuval Ne'eman.)

Now that is what I call "intelligent profiling".