At last, some common sense on profiling

Well, it took us long enough, but in the wake of the attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack in Detroit, we have finally begun profiling. The federal government announced this week that airline passengers from a handful of unfriendly countries would be subjected to "enhanced screening" when entering the United States.

At long last I have finally found one issue -- albeit small -- on which I find agreement with the Obama administration. And like so many others, I have been searching for that one issue of agreement for nearly a year now.

Profiling is just common sense. But this administration seems to have abandoned common sense in this insane notion that we put political correctness above protection. That is simply ridiculous, foolhardy and dangerous.

For months now, many critics have been asking a simple question: Are lives being lost -- or worse, sacrificed -- in our quest for political correctness? Are we putting lives in jeopardy in a rush not to offend the sensibilities of our enemies?

The Obama administration was careful not to call the "enhanced screening" a profiling decision. But the name matters little at this point.

Profiling most certainly is not the full answer to our terrorist concerns. But given the current world circumstances, why not include profiling as a part of our arsenal to fight terrorists?

The current mindset in Washington is that we want to be friends to all countries, but the reality is that some populations have no interest in our friendship. They view us as infidels, and their goal is to destroy our way of life. Yet we still extend this false hand of friendship and avoid issues like profiling to make our point.

When we put American military personnel in harm's way, we are at war. When you are at war, issues like political correctness must take a backseat to safety. We must abandon this silly notion that profiling is an offensive intrusion. It is in fact a prudent measure -- one of many -- that must be adopted in times of war.

Profiling foreign visitors from specific countries will not mean an end to terrorism. But that is not the point. Profiling is just one more step that is essential to assure the American public that every measure possible is being used to provide for their protection.