Spotting Tell-Tale Signs of A Possible Terrorist

In a Stratfor.com article the author talks about having situational awareness and spotting tell-tale signs of a possible terrorist watching someone or a location. If a person sees someone repeatedly over time, in different environments and over distance, or one who is acting unnaturally then that person can assume (s)he is under surveillance. If a person is being watched then time, environment and distance would come into focus more. If it is a location that is under surveillance then demeanor would be something to be on the lookout for. For instance, if you go to the store, a movie and to work and see the same person or maybe the same vehicle in each location then something is up--ie you are being watched. If a location is being watched then the only thing a person can be aware of is strange demeanor. Like wearing winter clothing on a hot summer day, or being somewhere he should not be, or avoiding eye contact when being looked at (this can be also true if is a person being watched instead of a location), or even giving hand signals to others to communicate with other members of a surveillance team.

Most terrorism experts tell people to be on the outlook for strange packages or suitcases being left by themselves and report them to local law enforcement officers because they might have explosives in them. This is good advice, but it would be better to prevent the explosives being placed by stopping the person who put the explosives there in the first place. In other words, preventive or proactive measures like Stratfor.com advises.

Is what Stratfor.com advises profiling? Kind of sound likes it doesn't it? But you are not watching out for a particular race or gender, but instead watching out for unnatural behavior. It could be any race, age, or even gender for that matter watching you.

I don't think the author of the article is trying to make anyone paranoid. He just wants you to be mindfully aware of your surroundings. Which is always good advice. Just like you watch for the behavior of other vehicles when driving, being mind full of other people in your surroundings is good habit to start. Your intuition or gut feeling can be a good guide here.