IT'S NOT SOCIOLOGICAL PROFILING

Whenever Muslims in America are arrested for terror-related activities, CAIR and its fellow-travelers accuse the authorities of "profiling."

What they mean is "racial profiling," as described in this Wikipedia article:

Racial profiling, also known as ethnic profiling, is the inclusion of racial or ethnic characteristics in determining whether a person is considered likely to commit a particular type of crime (see Offender Profiling). Towards the end of the 20th century in the United States, the practice became controversial among the general public as the potential for abuse by law enforcement came to light.

To decide a priori that all Muslims are terrorists is obviously wrong.

However, to describe Al Qaeda, Hizb ut Tahir, Jaish al Islami, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the many, many other self-avowedly Islamic terrorist gangs as "Muslim terrorists" is NOT racial or ethnic or religious profiling.

It is merely taking seriously what they themselves say about themselves and their motivation.

Those who doubt that the leaders Al Qaeda, for example, are motivated by anything other than their particular version and vision of Islam, might try reading Raymond Ibrahim's new book, The Al Qaeda Reader. You can find it on Amazon, B&N, Borders, Powells, or any other online bookseller. From the book:

Despite our tendency to dismiss Islamic extremism as profoundly irrational, al-Qaeda is not without a coherent body of beliefs. Like other totalitarian movements, the movement’s leaders have rationalized their brutality in a number of published treatises. Now, for the first time, The Al Qaeda Reader gathers together the essential texts and documents that trace the origin, history, and evolution of the ideas of al-Qaeda founders Ayman al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden.

This extraordinary collection of the key texts of the al-Qaeda movement—including incendiary materials never before translated into English—lays bare the minds, motives, messages, and ultimate goals of an enemy bent on total victory. Al-Qaeda’s chilling ideology calls for a relentless jihad against non-Muslim "infidels," repudiates democracy in favor of Islamic law, stresses the importance of martyrdom, and mocks the notion of "moderate" Islam.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of these works is how grounded they are in the traditional sources of Islamic theology: the Koran and the teachings of the Prophet. The founders of al-Qaeda use these sources as powerful weapons of persuasion, reminding followers (and would-be recruits) that Muhammad and his warriors spread Islam through the power of the sword and that the Koran is not merely allegory or history but literal truth that commands all Muslims to action.

In addition to laying bare al-Qaeda’s ultimate motives, The Al Qaeda Reader includes the organization’s propagandist speeches, which are directed primarily at Americans, Europeans, and Iraqis. Here, al-Qaeda’s many "official" accusations against the West are meticulously delineated, from standard complaints such as the Palestinian issue and Iraq to wholly unexpected ones concerning the U.S.’s exploitation of women and the environment.

Taken together, the Theology and Propaganda sections of this volume reveal the most comprehensive picture of al-Qaeda to date. They also highlight the double-speak of bin Laden and Zawahiri, who often say one thing to Muslims in their religious treatises ("We must hate and fight the West because Islam commands it") and another in their propaganda directed at the West ("The West is the aggressor and we are fighting back merely in self-defense"). [Emphasis added.]

We're not making it up. It's time for all of us to be waking up.