BY NIRAJ WARIKOO
Knight Ridder News Service

DETROIT - A member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission said Friday that he could foresee a scenario in which the public would demand internment camps for Arab Americans if Arab terrorists strike again in this country.

If there's a future terrorist attack in America ''and they come from the same ethnic group that attacked the World Trade Center, you can forget about civil rights,'' commission member Peter Kirsanow said.

The reason, he said, is that ``the public would be less concerned about any perceived erosion of civil liberties than they are about protecting their own lives.''

Kirsanow, who was appointed to the commission last year by President Bush, said that he personally doesn't support internment camps and the government would never envision setting them up. He said he was merely saying public opinion would so strongly favor the idea that it would be difficult to prevent. There would be a ''groundswell of opinion'' for such detentions, he said.

The remarks came during a raucous commission hearing in Detroit in which Kirsanow and another conservative member, Jennifer Braceras, defended U.S. antiterrorism efforts after Sept. 11.

''They had their own political agenda,'' said Kary Moss, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, referring to Braceras and Kirsanow.

A White House spokesman said Friday night that he could not respond specifically to Kirsanow's comments without seeing a full transcript of them, but said that the possibility of Arab internment camps has never been discussed at the White House.

''The president has said repeatedly and often that this is not a war against Arabs or Islam, this is a war against terror,'' White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said. ``We have very close allies in the Arab world who are integral partners in the war against terrorism. . . . The president has said that ours is a war against evil and extremists and that the teachings of Islam are the teachings of peace and good.''

The seven-member commission, based in Washington, D.C., was in Detroit for its monthly meeting, and heard testimony from Arab-American leaders who said the government abused civil rights following Sept. 11.

''It's becoming really ugly,'' said Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, during his testimony.

Hamad and others expressed concern about mass interviews of Arab men, secret immigration hearings and profiling of drivers and airplane passengers.

Kirsanow argued that Arab and Muslim Americans should accept the country's new antiterrorism laws and complain less about infringements upon their civil rights.

If the United States were to be be attacked again by Arabs, ''not too many people will be crying in their beer if there are more detentions, more stops, more profiling,'' Kirsanow asserted.

Source





I dunno....i don't think America would do that again like we did to the Japanese during ww2...i think we've learned from that...what does everyone else think?

No, I don't see that happening.
I don't think these days the public would support such a thing.
I hope.

i can see hapening...USA made it once, and whit the fear and paranoia present in USA, that can be a reality...not tomorrow, but in a few years if another muslim terrorist attack happens in USA.

Happened in WW2...

LOL woohoo at last we agree

I wasn't alive during WW2, and have really never heard any reference to Japanese-Americans working to subvert the U.S. war effort. Had they not been interned, there likleywould have been cases of Japanese expatraites acting out against the U.S. government, the only question being to what extent, and whether or not these actions would have the support of the greater Japanese expatriate population.

We know beyond the shadow of a doubt that there are countless Islamists in the U.S. who support bin-Laden, Hamas, Hezbollah, and any other group you may wish to name. King Faud (I think it was King Faud anyway)
said after 9/11 that without the U.S., Islamists would not recieve the kind of support they currently do, and he's absolutley right. We won't stop, or even question the motives of any organizations that may sponsor terrorism becuase it's considered racist or ethnocentric. This gets a lot of organizations of scott-free.

In Great Britiain and Scandanavia, the problem with muslim immigrants is even greater. Despite moving to predominantly Christian countries, they by and large refuse to assimilate. The liberal governments, not wanting to be seen as anti-muslim, refuse to take action. This was illustrated recently when a Muslim man in the netherlands sexually assaulted a woman wearing skimpy clothing. His argument was that it was her fault for having dressed in such a manner. Evidently, the courts felt the same and didn't prosecute the case. Britain is becoming more and more a hotbed of Islamist activity, and can only hope that the Brits soon wake up and realize what a problem this is.

There are moderate muslims out there, but until they start working with local governments inside thier respective countries. when I was in college, soon after 9/11, there was the head of a local mosque on one of the talk radio stations. When asked if he supported al-queda terrorists his response was (in perfect english) "no, absolutley not." when asked if he would fight against said islamists, his answer was again "no." when asked why, the man replied that as a muslim, it was not possible for him to attack a fellow muslim. It was against the Koran for a mulsim to kill a muslim unless that muslim was killing muslims. You can't take up arms gainst someone who is doing no more than killing infidels.

So in short, I think it may become necassary to lock them all up in arizona or new mexico. I'm not sure we'd have any other choice other than to capitulate completely, which I'm not willing to do.

The Japanese were also the only ones thrown into the internment camps because they were on the west coast (if you notice, most of those put in the camps were from the west coast), they were considered a threat for a 'land invasion' since Japan had gotten to Pearl Harbor they figured they could come to California...

when it comes to staying safe i would be willing to allow the constitution to go out the window.
I dont think i would support internment camps but i would at least support deporting all non American born arabs out of the nation...it may sound cruel or even racist but when it comes to my saftey or the nations saftey i dont honestly care how others are treated so long as my way of life is preserved and a little inconvienience must be endured.
I think we would all like to think that we have learned more since WW2, but we will see when it actually comes down to it how people feel...i for one want maximum penalty against any nation or group that attacks our soil again even it it means Nuclear Retaliation or even biological and chemical.

Leave the man alone... hes being patriotic.. for the good of the country!

PATRIOTISM, n. 1) The inability to distinguish between the government and one's "country"; 2) A highly praiseworthy virtue characterized by the desire to dominate and kill; 3) A feeling of exultation experienced when contemplating heaps of charred "enemy" corpses; 4) The first, last, and perennial refuge of scoundrels.
PATRIOT, n. A dangerous tool of the powers that be. A herd member who compensates for lack of self-respect by indentifying with an abstraction. An enemy of individual freedom. A fancier of the rich, satisfying flavor of boot leather.




------------The nazis were patriotic to you know.

how is he being patriotic by suggesting we throw out all that helps this country be patriotic?

I am probably the most patriotic person in this country...i love this country, i'm not even born in this country, but i would die for this country...so dont talk to me bout patriotism...this guy is not being patriotic by suggesting we THROW OUT THE CONSTITUTION?!

"Could explain that further please?"-Bleeding Heart

Bleeding heart,

There are several ways we could do this. You can either do a search indexing "Netherlands" and "Islamism" and you will get lots of hit's. I was going to try and find a couple of articles and link them directly, but in doing so found even more than I was looking for. You might be more interested in looking for yourself, and the media available online goes into a lot more detail than I really ever could. If you would like specific articles, let me know and I'll see if I can find the ones I was looking for originally.

There is a book called "Holy war, Inc." which details the Al-Queda movement form the Soviet-Afghan war up to the time of its's publication in late 2001. It it the author goes into some detail about the role London-based islamsist have in the Al-Queda oragnization. Here is a link to the book @ Amazon"

Holy War, Inc

Here is another quick link to Islamist activity in Great Britain"

Radical Islam finds unlikely haven in liberal Britain.

I'm sure there are lots of people who actually live in Great Britain who actually have a dierct opinion on this matter, maybe they'll chime in. My information comes from academic, news, and editorial sources, which may or may not be objetcive, but certain less pertinent that someone who lives within that enivironment.

Hope I've Helped

To student alive and arashi ravenblade

I think the two of you are just poorly informed of the situation.


You know america is a nation of immigrants , wether it was in the 17th century or 21st century, 99% of the american population can trace their roots back to settlers. So what your saying is that now is that you deserve to be there more.

How can you say that?

Why dont the native americans just get rid of the lot of you?

It is exactly the type of insular attitudes that have got us all into the mess we are in just now.

Studentalive it is a hugley foolish thing to state the nazi's as "patriotic" they werent.

There actions destroyed their country. They were evil racists and bigots not patriotic.

I don't believe America is living in fear and paranoia. Day to day life is for the most part the same as it was on September 10th for most of us. I also don't believe it would ever be possible to put Muslims in camps in America. We just gotta hope a government that failed us on 9/11 won't fail us again. But then again, I think it is impossible to defend against every terrorist act. I think it will eventually happen again, just not on such a large scale.

Are you guys saying that what the US did to the Japanese was a good thing??? I mean what the hell are you talking about? The Japanese people are still suffering from that attack but do you know how many people died and are still dying or are difunctioned? So you think that what the US did saved alot of lives?? That maybe true but in return it killed millions, i mean the US had another way of stopping the Japanese, either with peace or not, US could have fought against the Japanese and stop them without the Atomic Bomb.

And Muslims have nothing to do with Terrisom and i hate it when countries are being racisit to Muslims!! Our Religion is about peace and good and that has been the message of Islam since it started!!!

"And Muslims have nothing to do with Terrisom and i hate it when countries are being racisit to Muslims!! Our Religion is about peace and good and that has been the message of Islam since it started!!! "

C'mon, let's not be naive here. Can you honestly say that you harbor no ill-will against the non-muslim west? If you don't, you are one of the few. Good for you.

You must admit that pretty much ever terrorist act being carried out today is being done in the name of Allah. If this is so wrong, why aren't you and your fellow "peaceful" muslims chomping at the bit to take care of the degenerates who commit these acts. It is YOU, more than anybody, who should be upset, because it's being done in your name, and if you aren't part of the solution, you are certainly part of the problem.

So let me just ask you a few questions.

Are you for the restoration of the caliphate? What means are considered acceptable to achieve that goal?

Should the Jewish nation be destroyed?

Does the Al- Saud Government have the right to invite foreign military forces on to the Arabian penninsula?

Wunarmdscissor... I know what you mean about the peaceloving Muslims not speaking out. I worked for Arabs for twenty years, from the time I was seventeen. It was a family owned restaraunt with the parents and five children the youngest being born in the U.S. who was a little older than I was. I had no preconcieved idea of who these people were as I had no interaction with them untill this point.
They practically adopted me into the family and one is still my best friend.


There were several times over the years that one of them witnessed a robbery or other crime and nothing I could say to them could talk them into coming forward. They were absolutely horrified that I had no fear about getting involved. I told them if we don't all stick together, help the police and the people aren't caught we could be next. They were so suppressed in the old world that even the youngest had a hard time overcoming the mindset.

The stories that I've heard them tell are just unimaginable to me. They hired lots of legal immagrants and I was exposed to many different cultures. There was a little old Vietnamese lady who's son was a doctor. He was caught operating on someone that was not considered worthy by the powers that be and so they cut his hands off. A man that came from Iran's Father was killed because he was trying to get his son out of the country.

After 9-11 thier business actually increased in show of support. It was so heartwarming to hear the words of encouragement that so many people spoke to them. People couldn't understand why I kept working there all those years but they paid me extemely well, fed me, brought me into their family and there church. Working there was one of the most eyeopening experiences I have ever had. I would be devastated if they were put into a camp.

From: a very southern white girl.

This is a nasty little link. Not sure what to believe at this point. The US is a strange place to live these days.


http://www.rense.com/general17/statebystate.htm

I tried to use the original link that is credited on the page, but it is no longer live. Not sure if that's good news or bad!?

OK i agree that some of the things that have been done by terrorist say that it is in the name of Allah, Which should Not Be and isn't True they are doing in it by their own will and what they think should be destroyed and shouldn't be. The only act Islam justifies as in the Name of Allah is when the follownig Conditions occur:

1) Your Country is invaded and you are fighting for living in it and for country.

2) When other Cultures disrespects the Name of Allah and the Islam Community.

3) When you are Trying yo Save Muslims for pain and suffering.

In those Conditions, you are considered fight in the Name of Allah. But the media world has already created a bad image and name for people that are Muslims and that is Not True, I mean the Islam Religion is about GOOD and Peace and never brings harm to others!

meh Islam is all about bringing no harm to other muslims:)
u

When did I mention you? I don't recall kicking you in the head today

I am discussing the elements of your religion that Mr wunarmdscissor brought up; those that lay seige to shops at Christmas and Easter trying to stop people buying goods for the holidays, waving pickets and shouting about how us celebrating our own holidays in our own country "offends them".

I am discussing the elements of your society that recognise the little "government" you've put in place as the only legitimate government on the country, and those who admit on the radio that they want to convert everyone in the UK to Islam.

I'm discussing those elements of society that have make some schools think it's a really cool idea to not have Christmas parties, for the sake of not offending two pupils in a class of 30.

I'm discussing good 'ol Hooky himself, who is attempting to rouse up every Muslim in the UK to murder every non-muslim in the country, forgetting the fact that this is probably the only country in the world where he wouldn't be instantly deported for doing so.

Basically, I'm talking about elements of your people that do exist, and are currently treating the native people (that being us) like second class citizens in our own country. No reference to you is intended, unless you happen to be one of them

Who the hell said that we want and like to murder non-muslims??? And we resepect every religion in the world and it's celebrations. No one said that you are the enemey and never will. Infact me and my friends that are not muslims get along better than me and my muslim friends and that is a fact that needs no reference!! I repeat Islam is about Peace and Good! I don't Care if you say like 5 or 10 muslims doing the things you say, that doesn't mean that the rest of the Muslims are like them!

I don't know why people like that are allowed and they not only causing problems but bringing trouble for the name of Islam. And Who's Captain Hook???

Captain Hook - I think they've started calling him "Hamsa", which I think means "Hand of God" or some such lunacy...although I'm not completely sure what his real name is. I'm sure someone'll come up with it in a couple of posts.

If you don't know who he is, then I suggest you watch the news, or buy a newspaper. You're bound to see him mentioned.


*reads back, and finds it*

Abu Hamza, a man who I'm amazed hasn't been deported by now...or just taken out into the middle of the North Sea and thrown overboard

Snogg, if you gimmie a few minutes, I'll go through your post and try and find a group of people that you didn't offend