I was disappointed by the conclusions drawn in Mr Samuel's otherwise captivating Nov. 19 column,"Indiana, hoops and al Qaeda." In it, he translated his mistrust of a Swahili-speaking cab driver into concern that he might be a terrorist.
I submit an alternative narrative and account of what else the cabbie was talking about during his cryptic cellphone conversations. Perhaps he called his wife to tell her that they could now afford their child's asthma medicine now that he got the job to "West Lafayette" for "100 dollars." The family's only other source of income is his brother, the one in the picture wearing fatigues, working for one of the two dozen U.N. forces in Africa.
However, because of your and the officer's suspicion, based largely on the fact that he speaks an "African language... Swahili," he's accused of some flimsy charge, that, under the Patriot Act, gets him on a boat somewhere between here and Africa. Now, baby has no money, no medicine and no dad.
Is my fictional account the likely story? Perhaps not, but I promise you it's more likely than Samuel's or Professor Mutima's assertion that he is in a terrorist organization bent on destruction of the American ideals of liberty.
Which leads to my question: There was never any clear crime committed by the driver, based on the article. When the police said they would "take care of these guys," what did they--and you---do for those same liberties al Qaeda threatens?
That you should have concerns for safety of person and wallet, I don't dispute. It was the translation of that concern, based on language and one picture, into an assumption that he is a terrorist, that truly terrifies me. If you're in Ohio, and the driver speaks Arabic, please call me first before calling the police. It may be my uncle driving that cab. He has seven kids, and doesn't have time, much less the desire, to be a terrorist.
Hasan Shanawani
House Staff, Medicine
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