Finally, a step in the right direction. “Terrorism: European Union Plans Passenger Profiling,” from AKI :
Brussels, 3 July (AKI) – An airline passenger data recording system for the whole of the European Union is among new measures being prepared by the European Commission, justice and security commissioner Franco Frattini announced on Tuesday in Brussels. The plan will offer all member states the option of establishing “national databases of passengers from across the world who fly through their airspace.”
It is hard to believe that it took the EU almost six years since 9/11 to start getting its house in order”¦a little.
Frattini is also drafting legislation that will make it a crime to post bomb-making instructions to the Internet, he said.
In “Website bomb-making lessons to be outlawed across Europe,” the Times Online adds:
Internet service providers (ISPs) would face charges if they failed to block websites containing bomb-making instructions generated anywhere in the world, EU officials said.
“It should simply not be possible to leave people free to instruct other people on the internet on how to make a bomb – that has nothing to do with freedom of expression,” Mr Frattini said yesterday.
Back to AKI:
Washington and the EU late last month agreed to share transatlantic passenger data. The accord covers such information as booking details, traveling companions and travel history. A passenger’s frequent flyer miles, credit card number, email address and telephone number could all be made available to the US authorities.
Requests for a special meal appear unless they indicate the passenger’s race or religion, in which case the data will not be provided under the deal, which has sparked criticism on civil liberties grounds.
The US government demanded access to information about everyone flying to the US from the EU in the wake of al-Qaeda’s 11 September 2001 attacks on American cities.
The EU is missing the point. I can’t recall the last time a Christian or Jewish suicide bomber tried to take down a commercial aircraft. If the EU plans to establish a profiling program then it can’t ignore the role that religion plays in the story. Religion is the driver. To ignore it is nothing short of negligence.
Crossposted from The American Israeli Patriot.