In his effort to justify ethnic and racial profiling, Steve Haisley claims that it is the same as a crime victim giving the police a description of an 18 year-old African-American and then expecting “the authorities to focus their investigation on 60-year-old white men” (“Like it or not, Kirk comments are true,” Nov. 20).

It is funny to see how the people who criticize President Bush for being a big government conservative would at the same time applaud his efforts to expand the government’s investigative and enforcement powers to curtail civil liberties under the guise of national security (“Safety vs. liberty: How far should we go?” Nov. 20).

Those who trumpet terrorism as a conspiracy by the Muslim people against people of other faiths should pay more attention to current world events. Friday's terrorist attacks targeted 2 Mosques in Iraq on Islam's holiest day of the week, resulting in the cold-blooded murder of 74 innocent Muslims as they knelt in prayer. This vicious attack is evidence that terrorists harbor as little regard for the sanctity of Muslim holy places and Muslim life as they do for those of Christians, Jews, or others. Indeed, Muslims have been the targets of terrorist attacks more often than people of any other faith.

Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL) believes peace activists from Egypt should be greeted at O’Hare airport with a hefty doze of institutionalized discrimination.Their offense? Being of the same age group and national origin as Mohamed Atta.

Its amazing how people are willing to support leaders willing to trample over the basic rights of life and liberty this country was founded on. Racial profiling would not only be ineffective in eliminating crime, but will also further alienate the 7 million and growing population of Muslims in this country. When Pat Robertson said to kill Hugo Chavez, we didn'tgo out and say lets racially profile all evangelical Christians. No, we denounced the man responsible for those comments.

It is shocking to see how Bernadine Brown can hold up as leaders “speaking out to see that our country here is safe” people who call for illegal and unethical actions (“Kirk’s comment A-OK,” Nov. 15).

Extremism like that expressed by Ms. Bernadine Brown and Rep. Mike Kirk is a security problem. Lo-jacking all Arabs and Muslims might make some people feel safer, but they will not be more secure.

He was only saying what a lot of people think. And Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) was asserting only common sense in saying young Arab men from terrorist-producing countries should face "a certain amount of intense scrutiny" when applying to enter America. Kirk was quick to acknowledge that the view he expressed over the weekend is "politically uncomfortable."

He was only saying what a lot of people think. And Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) was asserting only common sense in saying young Arab men from terrorist-producing countries should face "a certain amount of intense scrutiny" when applying to enter America. Kirk was quick to acknowledge that the view he expressed over the weekend is "politically uncomfortable."

I was shocked and appalled to read that a review of a movie, “The Protocols of Zion”, in the Tempo Section of today’s Tribune equates Muslim community leaders with Skinheads and inmates. Moreover, it asserts matter of factly that I, as a Muslim community leader, am by default a “Jew-Hater”; it makes that horrendous statement in bare words without qualification or disclaimer.

While the suggestion of Wayne Oras that Muslims help fight terrorism by not allowing “radical extremists to hide among them” (“Muslims’ interest in exposing terrorists,” Fence Post, Aug. 18) seems to be better than using profiling, it still wrongly makes all Muslims responsible for terrorist actions.

Stanley Crouch seems to think every Muslim in the world fits this description: uneducated, elitist, sexist, anti-modern, immature and angry (“Backward thinking, democracy can’t coexist,” Aug. 12).

In his column “Why politically correct profiling is stupid,” (Aug. 1) Charles Krauthammer writes, “The fact is that jihadist terrorism has been carried out from Bali to Casablanca to Madrid to London to New York City to Washington by young Islamic men of North African, Middle Eastern and South Asian origin.” Using this “fact” to justify ethnic profiling is like using the “fact” that Japan attacked the United States to justify internment camps for Japanese Americans; or using the “fact” that blacks are intellectually inferior to justify segregation.