Weep not for Nicholas George

George said his interest in Arab culture began when he saw "Lawrence of Arabia" as a child. "The more I studied it, the more I was fascinated it by it," he said. He plans to take the State Department exam to become a foreign service officer."

Well, I hope he takes a little time from his fascination with T. E. Lawrence to read what Richard Aldington wrote about him in his idol-smashing biography, published in 1956, and what Elie Kedourie, that dry and careful scholar, wrote about Lawrence, and what J. B. Kelly, that witty and careful scholar, wrote about Lawrence and the influence of the Lawrentians on British foreign policy, an influence of the kind formulaically described as "baleful."

He might even google "Arabia Petraea" and "Twenty-Seven Articles" and find something from which to derive profit if not necessarily pleasure.

We don't seem to have all the relevant facts here, as there are two related, but distinct, issues at hand with this incident.

The first is somebody like Nicholas George getting extra attention, scrutiny and questioning because of his having Arabic flash cards. If he's complaining about that, he's wrong. Extra investigation is appropriate and called for, and he should have no reason to be upset. The questioning, though not the cursing, was perfectly proper. Mr. Spencer goes through it. I've gone through it.

But, the report says N. George was jailed and in handcuffs. So was he arrested? If so, why? On what charge? This is left unclear. If he was arrested, there should have been a just cause for that. Having the flash cards is not sufficient for a formal jailing. So on this point, Nicholas George may have a valid complaint if he was arrested without appropriate cause and charge.

LOL, I can't think of anybody more red, white and blue, more apple pie, than Robert. Right down to the molecular level.

If you want to fly in the USA, do NOT carry Arabic or Muslim crap on the plane. Common sense would tell anybody that. Wake the hell up, dumb ass. Tough shit on your learning experience.

This guy sounds like a big baby to me. Besides, Arabic is the language of the religion which is the only totalitarian religion among the major faiths. It's not as though Arabic is just another language. Not by a long shot.

Sorry, but as a lawyer, this case should be thrown out from the get-go. He was detained because the TSA officials had a reasonable suspicion about him, which he curried by taking the materials on the plane with him instead of packing it in his luggage. I suspect he was handcuffed, just as other people are handcuffed when a detention is occurring in drug seizure cases, for officer safety reasons and for security reasons. This is like some bozo firing up a joint while talking to a police officer and then wondering why they get "detained". It's another "what did you expect to happen" scenario and this kid should have been more mindful of what he was doing at the time. No one said he wasn't entitled to have the materials. However, at the same time, he doesn't have the "right" to be above suspicion when he is carrying such materials with him onto an airplane. He's a moron and the only bigger moron is the ACLU lawyer representing him. Guys like him give lawyers a bad name and it's not like we don't already have a public image problem! Sheesh!!

Is there a legal group which can counter the threat of Islam. The fine work many organizations do, to expose and educate the public about the threat of Islamic extremism, can be found on the internet. While the ACLU defends ridiculous cases, being national in scope, such as in this instance outlined above, has anyone thought of forming a legal group for the cause of defending our country from the threat of Islam? Or is there such a group already in existence? I have donated to many groups like Front Page Magazine, Atlus Shrugs, the defense of freedom in Denmark, etc. But I see no specific organization of national scope, to pursue the threat that our country faces, to fight in a legal sense. If anyone knows of such a group, would appreciate a post on the matter. After serving over twenty years in the military, the threat we face within our own country, is greater than any place I served overseas.

"Last year, George spent a semester in Jordan, where he studied Arabic, and then traveled to Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan. He said his passport, with stamps from those countries, and a book in his possession that was critical of U.S. foreign policy, may also have raised suspicions at the airport." -- from the story

So, it wasn't just the flashcards. Sounds like at least someone in TSA was on the ball. They deserve kudos, not brickbats.

"George, a physics major who is considering a career as a U.S. diplomat in the Middle East"

Perfect, another twit who can't thing enough "real world" reality to comprehend before even trying such a stunt that Arabic anything would be a problem on a plane when Muslims/Arabs are attempting to blow up planes or do other terrorist acts. What a total clown. But really, he is exactly the type of person that would become a government official in our current ridiculous state of affairs when our government can't even name the enemy. This nitwit sees no difference than if he were carrying Irish flash cards.

"George, a physics major who is considering a career as a U.S. diplomat in the Middle East"

Please, please, don't.

"Arabic-language flashcards don't fly with TSA: A Pomona College student from Philadelphia was jailed after airport security workers found study cards, including the words 'bomb' and 'terrorism.'"
...

The student acknowledged that a few of the vocabulary words, including "bomb" and "terrorism," may have alarmed authorities, but he also said he *needed to learn them in order to understand the news of the day in Arabic-language newspapers*. [emphasis mine, GI]
.................

Didn't Mr. George here just answer his own question about why security might be alarmed by someone carrying cards with Arabic phrases onto an airplane?

George said his interest in Arab culture began when he saw "Lawrence of Arabia" as a child. "The more I studied it, the more I was fascinated it by it," he said.

Oh my God, that's exactly what happened to me! But when I began my formal studies of islam and islamic cultures, my fascination didn't wane but my silly romantic illusions were swept away almost immediately. I watched Lawrence of Arabia when I was about fifteen and found myself obsessed with what initially appeared to be a romantic, exotic culture. When you're fifteen, you tend to take movies to heart and believe they depict real history. Thankfully, most of us grow up and learn to distinguish fact from fiction.

The more I learned about islam, especially its history, the more revolting I found it. For a long time I was obsessed with discovering the magic formula that trapped muslims and virtually enslaved them to this hideous religion and deity. I was determined to understand islam's impenetrable brainwashing techniques, which are impervious to modern deprogramming procedures. As I eventually learned, islamic indoctrination is so tenacious because it is incessant and ubiquitous. It begins at birth and ends at death, and the two most influential and repetitive themes are fear and supremacy, followed by hate, intolerance, rage, and victimization. I believe the most persuasive and enduring element of islamic indoctrination is pure, abject terror of incurring allah's wrath.

Maybe some ancient genius carefully designed and constructed islam to be an almost perfect blueprint for war and conquest. It creates fearless soldiers eager to kill and die in battle so they can enjoy the eternal ecstasies of paradise. It instills loyalty and provides material wealth by dividing the spoils of war, including human slaves. It inculcates the certitude of moral superiority and grants divine sanction to plunder, pillage, murder, rape, and enslave. It discourages desertion by imposing capital punishment for defection. It evokes terror with graphic depictions of allah's wrath if one is disobedient. To assuage the humiliation and emasculation of submission, (literally groveling to an unseen, unknowable entity,) muslim males are empowered with superiority over women and all other human beings. Normal human emotions of love, mercy, compassion, and humility are considered weaknesses and every Western concept of evil is a virtue in islam.

When I was in my mid-twenties, in the late 1970s, two events occurred which seriously altered any romantic illusions I might have had about any mid-eastern country, permanently. First was seeing the movie, "Midnight Express", which I tended to believe despite the controversy around the movie-makers' supposedly unfair depiction of the Turkish culture. Second was when, about a year later, I had a knife thrown at me in NYC, while riding a ten-speed bike.The knife missed me, but I noticed that my hopeful assailant was a bearded mozoid in full garb standing on a street-corner screaming, 'Allah". This was around the time that the Shah of Iran was going into exile and the ayatollah was re-implementing sharia law there. Strange coincidence, I suppose...? After we equated the mozoid's attempted violence towards me with the shah's exile and the ayatollah's totalitarian take-over, a friend and I nervously laughed over the a-hole behaviour of my knife-wielding perpetrator. In 2001, however, nervous laughter was not an option when I saw the smoke of the Twin Towers up ahead while riding on the Long Island Expressway, towards New York City. Whether or not this atrocity was partly an "inside job" on the part of the U. S. government, is irrelevant at this point. Mozoids exhibit the same barbaric behaviour regardless if there is any impetus, provocation, or/and if it is made difficult for them. I am convinced that external factors have absolutely nothing to do with izloom's relentless surge towards world conquest.

The TSA agents who stop and question Mr. Spencer are obviously ill-informed. Reading his books should be part of their mandatory training, instead of that CAIR-type "sensitivity training" they're getting.

This man, and the ACLU in particular, should pick their battles as patriots first, and as attention seeking, publicity starved people and organizations second! Protect those that truly need protection against real civil liberties abuses, not in an attempt to hinder the prosecution of the war on terror.

Read the full story at the New York Homeland Security column at Examiner.com: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-25304-NY-Homeland-Security-Examiner~y2010m2d14-Does-the-good-of-the-one-outweigh-the-good-of-the-many--Mr-Spock

I'm going to post a comment despite being way after the fact, as this entry remains the first thing that pops up when "Nicholas George" is googled.

I agree with you on some levels, but here's the thing. Yes, the items he had on him were fair cause for some degree of suspicion. I understand that. But the reasonable thing to do is to send him through more thorough screening, ensure he possesses nothing dangerous, then allow him to board the plane. Do you really think people need to be handcuffed for hours, interrogated, and prevented from boarding their flight simply for possessing flash cards, a Jordanian ID, and speakers? This is clearly an unreasonable power trip on the part of the TSA. Their job is to ensure this man is not a threat (something that can quickly be achieved by a thorough search of his person and luggage) and allow him to continue with his travels, not to act as rogue law enforcement officers.