Ginny:
With all due respect, I am surprised that you made the analogy between Arab
men being detained & Jammeh's detention of political prisoners like Dumo
Saho.  I think this is highly disingenuous, and hence unfair to those of us
that see the current regime as one which is unfit to rule our country.  The
analogy is on the right track, but the respective circumstances that led to
these detentions are completely different.  In one case, the situation
leading to the arrests is based on trumped charges of a coup plot while in
this instance, over 3000 people were murdered.  With these two reasons in
mind, it is clear to me that the latter instance requires more drastic
measures.  This not even considering the fact that most of these folks are
fundamentalist who have ties with terrorist groups while others are being
held on immigration violations.  We all went through harassment of some sort
as a direct result of the WTC.  For example, on a recent trip out here, I was
completely harassed at the airports I went through simply because I had an
Arab sounding first name.  Yet I understood it was a liberty I had to forsake
simply because of the threat we face.  So yes I think we will have to give up
some civil liberties to make this place safer for everyone.

Furthermore, I think you also start being less objective once you start
bringing religion into your train of thought.  Your John Ashcroft example
exemplifies this.  I will be first to say that Arab society as whole has been
the source of the majority of the  worst and most vicious terrorists who love
to inflict pain on Americans and Israelis.  Therefore, the focus on them has
nothing to do with their faith but more with the precedent they have set.
The machinations of the Arab world is very complex and if you have not yet, I
suggest you try to understand very well why they commit terrorist acts before
bringing up Islam.

Thank you for adding to the debate and I hope to hear your opinions..

Best regards,
Yus

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