Was this woman right in what she did?

Question

Flight delayed after she feared 7 were terrorists!!! She was simply “protecting my tiny little family,” she insisted, adding that “all I could think of was 9/11.”
But yesterday, Leigh Robbins offered an apology to seven Iraqi men who were passengers on a plane scheduled to fly from San Diego to Chicago on Tuesday night. Robbins was also on the plane but was so terrified the men might be terrorists that she demanded to get off, causing a delay that prompted the airline to postpone the flight until the next morning.The Iraqis, as it turned out, were consultants working with Marines at Camp Pendleton. They say they were humiliated when airport security, reacting to Robbins' concerns, took them aside and questioned them. They have hired a lawyer.
“I know they're upset, and they have every right to be,” said Robbins, 35, a Richmond, Va., homemaker. She said she was traveling with her two young sons that night and decided to err on the side of caution.

I think the woman went to far, this is why we have more throrough security screenings when you fly anywhere. Makes me feel my husband is in risking his life in Iraq for nothing!

Answer 1

I totally agree she went to far to assume every iraqi is a terroist is wrong society seems to be feeding into what the media projects to us they tell us not to fear and look what happens

Answer 2

I am very torn on this issue. I know that not everyone that fits a certain profile is a potential terrorist. On the other hand - the government is telling citizens to be hyper-vigilant and report suspicious things. I can tell you from experience - that logic and common sense can "go out the window" when you are faced with being in a plane at 35,000 feet with someone that makes you feel uncomfortable. I was on a flight from LA to Dallas in August before the 9/11 attacks. There were two Arab men who kept going back and forth to the restroom time after time. I commented at the time to my husband that they were making me nervous with their behavior. I couldn't even put a finger on it but had a gut feeling things were not right. Who could have known what would happen a month later and that info would come out that flights from major cities had been "tested" for months prior to the attacks. This woman might have been over-reacting, but on the other hand she did have her children with her and was following her instincts. I feel sorry for the men's humiliation but understand that she did what she felt was best. All she wanted to do was get off the plane. She didn't ask that they be removed.

Answer 3

If my kids and or wife is concerned and I get a bad feeling about those aboard I'd get off to. You going to tell me you would flip a coin and hope for the best? We have every right to be on edge and anyone that feels their family may be in harms way and sits idle is not on my same page I assure you.

I will stick with the ole ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure

Let me explain something to you, taking the humane way with this war has like it or not served to create more vicious hate for Americans then before 9/11. We now have thousands of children in the world that lost Mothers, Fathers, Brothers, Uncles, Friends and h*ll maybe all of the above. When they grow up you better look out because they will be a raging furnace on HATE so you better accept that since we didn't do Iraq as we did Japan they don't have that life long feeling of being terrified to start a War us and will come back to haunt us, count on it. The world hasn’t seen the level of terrorists that are coming in the future thanks to this humane approach. We should have dropped the big one or done nothing. Anybody here think they can walk a mile through black town slapping every black they met and expect to live to reach the end of the mile? That’s pretty much what we have done in Iraq and they are P*SSED when they needed to be SCARED TO DEATH or as I said just left alone. Kadafee (spelling) shot his mouth off and we sent F-16’s to his HOUSE, ended up killing his daughter instead of him but…anybody heard a word out of him since? NO, that’s my point

Answer 4

How were the men dressed? The woman acted as many would after the terror of 9/11. Sorry....we are at war with Radical Islamist and I would think that it would be best for Muslims to err on the side of caution and do their best to blend in when traveling within the US. I don't think an apology was due anyone except for the other passengers who were delayed.

Answer 5

She overreacted. She profiled 7 men. That's not her job. We have tons of security people in airports now who supposedly do background checks and screens, etc. She screwed up a planeful of people's lives because she was paranoid. That is wrong.