Norman II
posted in General |NORMAN II
During Desert Storm, we had Norman Schwartzkopf, “Stormin' Norman”, and what a hero he turned out to be. We couldn't have had a better symbol leading our troops. Now, in the Terrorism War, we have Norman Mineta – and what a contrast.
Mr. Mineta has a good track record and is probably a nice guy – and he may very well be an able Administrator as Secretary of Transportation for George Bush. But he has a huge blind side. He is still living in the early 1940s when his parents were among the Japanese families (The Nisei) who were were relocated from our West Coast cities to detention camps east of the Sierras and the Cascades. Indeed it was a draconian measure undertaken by the Federal Government. With the blessed accuracy of 20:20 hindsight, all of the current do-gooder social critics and the world of academe roundly denounce the action taken by the governemt in the early days of WW II as a horrible black episode in our history. And Mr. Mineta points to that experience as proof positive of the evils of “racial profiling”. After all, if we won the war, it shouldn't have made a big difference. Ah, the wonders of 20:20 hindsight.
So, nowadays, Norman Mineta steadfastly refuses to prolfile potential terrorists; instead we “random sample” airport travelers. And we, the public, are held hostage to his personal views.
Not too many of us can go back to the days of Pearl Harbor. The Japanese envoys, Nomura and Kurusu, were in Washington conning the President and Secretary of State while the Japanese fleet was steaming toward Hawaii. It was an ultimate act of diplomatic treachery. Following the attack, our Paciific fleet was either destroyed or heavily damaged. Our main line of defense of the West Coast was gone. We didn't know where the Japanese fleet was located. We didn't know if an all out assault on the West Coast was imminent. The Phillipines were about to fall and the Japanese were on the move in East Asia. If we were not in a panic mode it was close to it. Then on top of that there was a large Japanese presence on the West Coast and we simply didn't know where their sympathies lay. Thus FDR and his advisors decided that relocation of the West Coast Japanese was a prudent decision —- specifically in the defense and security of the country. At that time, it was not a highly controversial decision. From the perspective of mid 1942, the relocation decision made a lot of sense. Viewed from 2001, there is all kinds of room to second guess.
We just returned from a vacation where we were joined by a couple from back East – both over 70. In their round trip, they were random searched 3 times, courtesy of computer selection. What a joke. What ever became of the basic police approach to pinpoint the likely suspects?? The terrorists must be laughing themselves silly while we zero in on blond Norwegians and 80 year old grandmothers.
Charles Krauthammer, the distinguished essayist for Time Magazine got it right in the 3/18/02 issue ”The case for proliling”. Here is what he said.”Airport security is not permitted to “racially” profile, but every passenger – white or black, male or female, Muslim or Christian, – does.We scan the waiting room, scrutinizing other passengers not just for nervousness and shiftiness but also for the demographic characteristics of Al Qaeda. We do it privately. We do it quietly. But we do it. Airport officials, however, may not. This is crazy. So crazy that it is only a matter of time before the public finally demands that our first priority be real security, not political appearances – and puts an end to this charade.”
Amen, Charles. Time to hit the road Norman – back to San Jose. I think a big dose of common sense is more appropriate than 50 year old 20:20 hindsight memories.