I'm Confused

I've just come across two news stories that make for a very odd juxtaposition. On the one hand, I came across James Carroll's article, The Border Mentality, in which he talks about how Zaki Badawi was refused admittance to the United States to give a speech at the Chautauqua Institution.

"...a distinguished leader of the Islamic community in London was refused admittance into the United States at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. Zaki Badawi is an Egyptian-born scholar, the principal of the Muslim College in London, which trains imams and Islamic leaders, emphatically preparing them to build bridges with British culture. Holding a doctorate from the University of London, Badawi has been knighted by Queen Elizabeth, has served as an adviser to Tony Blair, and is co-editor of an interfaith magazine with an archbishop and a chief rabbi. He is in his 80s.

"Badawi was en route to the Chautauqua Institution in western New York, where he was to give a major address on the compatibility of Islam and Western culture. But on Wednesday evening, US border officials at JFK detained the elderly scholar for six hours, then put him on a plane back to England."


On the other hand, you have another story (N.B. man, caught with bloody chainsaw, charged with murder faces extradition) about a Canadian murderer who was admitted into the United States by the border guards. (Look at this guy's eyes on the story's website, and tell me he's not a loon.)

WASHINGTON (CP) - A New Brunswick man who arrived at the U.S. border toting a red-stained chainsaw faces a hearing Thursday on whether he should be returned to Canada for trial in the murder of an elderly couple - a country musician who was beheaded and his spouse who was stabbed.

Residents in Minto, N.B., where the gruesome attack occurred, say they cannot believe Despres was allowed into the United States after arriving at the border with a backpack full of weapons.

Despres, a Canadian-born, naturalized U.S. citizen who was the elderly couple's next-door neighbour, showed up at the border April 25 with a chainsaw that had red stains on it. He also had a home-made sword with an engraved swastika, a hatchet, a knife, a mouth guard, two brass knuckles and a can of pepper spray.

William Heffelfinger, a senior U.S. Customs official, said last month that Despres was stripped of his weapons, fingerprinted and questioned for about three hours. Despres boasted he was a "trained sniper with over 700 kills," Heffelfinger said.

So, is it reasonable to conclude that there's more to fear from an 80-something British Muslim Peer than there is from a chainsaw-toting Canadian murderer? I'm confused. You tell me.