After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, it was obvious to most Americans that the biggest threat to security in the U.S. was radical Islam. Twenty hijackers, all from Middle Eastern nations, all male, and all between the ages of 19-40 introduced the West to the horror of their distorted interpretation of their religion on that day.

Still, when security was stepped up in airports around the nation, our government made it clear that it would scrutinize all travelers equally. 80-year-old Caucasian grandmothers with walkers and 50-year-old Asian males with laptops would be screened just as carefully as the young Arab male, sans luggage, with fuses hanging out of his shoes.

Since Richard Reid, a.k.a. “The Shoe Bomber,” almost brought down another airliner shortly after 9/11, we’ve been relatively free of terror scares in the U.S. But given the history of Islamic terrorism that targets the Western world, it is clear that our enemies are not new. And they, unlike us, are fighting to win.

In order to defend our citizens adequately, we must change our policy of na‹ve, ineffective screening at commuter stations and airports. The government must implement an organized process of profiling all Muslim men in addition to other suspicious commuters at major transportation hubs across the country. This will minimize the cost of security operations, minimize the time consuming nature of the process and maximize the benefit we receive from boarding our buses, trains and planes terrorist-free.

When our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed in the 1990s, when the World Trade Center was bombed the first time, when the railroads in Spain were bombed in 2003 and when commuters were attacked on several occasions in London this summer, it was the work of extremist Muslim men between the ages of 19-40. Why should we be concerned about anybody else?

Yet, Islam has done a poor job of defending its name against this extremism. Muslim leadership has been too busy publicly defending the true meaning of “jihad,” not as a holy war but as “striving.” It has been too busy whining about their rights being violated and too busy worrying that the United States. is overstepping its boundaries in fighting the war on terrorism – a war we did not ask to fight.

After Sept. 11, Muslim leaders around the world needed to treat a demand for action with humility and resolve. They needed to do something to prevent their young men from misinterpreting the Quran and killing innocent civilians. But they didn’t do this effectively. So now we must take responsibility for our future security into our own hands.

Police and baggage screeners are being implemented in bus and rail stations across the country to protect civilians and guard against the apparent modus operandi for al-Qaida. This is good. But winter is soon approaching. Not only will bags need to be screened but fluffy winter coats must be checked as well. To do this to every 80-year-old Caucasian grandma and 50-year-old Asian male is unrealistic. These are not our enemies.

Some argue that Okalahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was our own homegrown nut and he was a white male. I’ll grant that profiling does not guard against such exceptions but one McVeigh pales in comparison to the decades of and thousands of Muslims, worldwide, who have killed themselves and others in the name of hate for Western values and Christianity. There is no al-McVeigh terror group. There is no organization gushing hate that he belonged to.

There is nothing unconstitutional or illegal about profiling. We must advance our society beyond the moral relativism brought on by political correctness that says every lifestyle and opinion is acceptable – even those that will end in the erosion of our national foundation.

Simultaneously, American Muslims need to realize this is for their security too. Al-Qaida targets not only Christians and native Westerners but those who sympathize with such values as well.

If we continue to treat every one of our citizens as if they are potential terrorists, then we are fighting the war on terrorism at home with one hand tied behind our back – and we will not win.

Chuck Prochaska is a junior in LAS. His column appears every Thursdays. He can be reached at [email protected].