Since the failed Christmas Day terrorist attack over Detroit the United States and Europe have been openly debating how to address the persistent problem of terrorist acts in the skies. While policymakers have shied away from recommending a security regime that uses the profiling of would-be passengers, Israel's successful profiling based system has received a great deal of attention.

Judging just from the One Jerusalem web-site, profiling is a very popular policy idea. (You can vote on this issue in our online poll.) In less than a week more than 10,000 people have logged on to watch a Wall Street Journal video we have posted. Another indication that there is popular support for a profiling system that concentrates security assets on people who are more likely threats is the amount of effort the Obama Administration is making to dispute the need for ethnic and religious profiling. Obama's favorite think tank has issued papers arguing that security services should focus on mis-behaving people but should not single out people because of their ethnic or religious affiliations. Under this plan a young Muslim man from Yemen will be treated the same as an 80 year old grandfather from Tulsa, even though everyone knows the only threat comes from the Yemenite.

Our friend Daniel Pipes published an interesting piece which highlights a story of El Al security preventing a terrorist bombing. When you read this story you will probably ask yourself why any government would deliberately not employ screening tactics that work. How can they justify allowing political correctness to trump the best security?

Even in the most left-wing political circles in the United States there is a growing acceptance that sterner security measures, like profiling, cannot be rejected out of hand. You can see what we mean by reading the comments on this topic on the ultra-Left blog Daily Kos. While some of this community clear hate Israel a majority supports Israel style profiling.

Lets hope that the Obama Administration will abandon their political prejudices and adopt Israel's superior security methods. Innocent human lives are at stake.