There Is No Terrorist Profile

Well, it would appear that Britain's own MI5 has determined that there is no way to accurately profile people for being a terrorist.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/aug/20/uksecurity.terrorism1

It concludes that it is not possible to draw up a typical profile of the "British terrorist" as most are "demographically unremarkable" and simply reflect the communities in which they live.

In a world gone crazy, where "Islamic extremists" are practically the bogeyman, this is a refreshing look on the real world of terrorism.

Crucially, the research has revealed that those who become terrorists "are a diverse collection of individuals, fitting no single demographic profile, nor do they all follow a typical pathway to violent extremism".

Rational actions. That is the important thing to understand. Terrorists are people who are rationally acting on perceived slights or political motives, and they can come from all types of people or populations. And stereotyping undermines the capabilities of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to effectively identify and classify threats. This research should only reinforce that simple fact.