Careful evaluation of people's backgrounds is a must, but I don't know how it can actually be done.
I am from San Diego, and three of these terrorists lived here at one time. Although San Diego has close to 2 million people, the idea that terrorists were among us causes me to shudder.
But this situation is conflicting to me because I deeply resent people lashing out at Americans of Middle Eastern descent. I was in high school when the Khomeini situation broke out and remember that Iranians (who aren't Arabs) and Arabic students were hassled.
One of my paper's contributors is Palestinian and runs an Arab-American business magazine. He's been threatened and he wrote a story about it for us.
Also, we have a family friend of Lebanese origin who has two small children. Nothing's happened to him yet, but he's told his in-laws that he's worried.
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