The Five Year Old Terrorist

By Mohammed Askari Chandoo

Meet Faizan Sayeed, the five year old terrorist. A threat to our homeland. Someone who, if left without the supervision of a babysitter, might kill thousands of Americans.

Welcome to George Bush's America.

On a flight from London to Boston, my friend Farah, a naturalized U.S. citizen, and her American-born sons Furqan (7), Faizan (5), and Farhan (6 months) were detained for almost 2 hours at Logan International Airport by the Department of Homeland Security. The reason: five-year old Faizan's name matched that of an alleged terrorist. As Farah, already struggling with baby Farhan, tried to explain to the homeland security officer that there is no way a five year old could be a terrorist, the officer answered that while he understood the absurdity of the situation, the law did not allow him any discretion to release Faizan without interrogating all of them! As she pleaded with him, he replied that would-be-killers of thousands of Americans might slip through our borders, and they must be stopped. But Faizan is five years old. And he himself is American. But that is no defense against the Orwellio-Kafkesquian laws that Bush Jr. has championed, that the Congress has rubber-stamped, and that the Supreme Court that originally appointed him President is likely to uphold.

But Faizan is Muslim.

And that is his real crime.