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February 11th, 2010
07:00 AM ET

American student arrested over Arabic flashcards

Airport security is America's first line of defense against potential terrorist attacks. But that front line can sometimes be a very fine line.

Our Jeanne Meserve reports on an American student who was arrested after he was seen with Arabic flashcards while boarding a plane.
Filed under: Justice
soundoff (7 Responses)
  1. Josh

    Are some of you people serious? Can you study French on airplanes? Spanish? I took 4 semesters of Arabic in college and did a lot of my homework on airplanes when I was traveling. It's a language that demands studying every single day. They should be punished for their achievement in a foreign language?

    Some of you sound looney.

    March 1, 2010 at 4:13 pm |
  2. wtfguys

    What is wrong with you people for thinking he should be detained for carrying Arabic flashcards?

    February 25, 2010 at 4:06 pm |
  3. renomondavi2000

    He should pay more attn: at school maybe he would learn something.

    February 12, 2010 at 2:46 pm |
  4. Wazz Up

    The TSA people have gone completely crazy or what? As it is knowing Arabic is not a sign of criminals (if they don't know so they should be relieved of their duties and put into mental asylums). Second, if a person is carrying flashcards, he doesn't know the language anyways. Its even contrary to the idea of racial profiling.

    February 12, 2010 at 10:07 am |
  5. David Coldwell

    My first queastion is what country did this happen in? A country that read Arabic? I am going to say not! With the recent happening on airlines I can see why the student was arrested and detained!

    February 11, 2010 at 4:29 pm |
  6. Linda

    I'm sorry but I feel that they TSA had every reason to arrest this student. With everything that has happened over the past couple of months, I can see why they arrested him. He knew what has been happening and also the security at the airports. How do we know really what he was planning.

    February 11, 2010 at 9:55 am |
  7. jim vicalvi

    It seems like being a student doesn't always denote intelligence. If he wanted to have the cards why didn't he put them in his luggage? I don't fly anymore and it's because of yoyo's like this guy. We hear, repeatedly, about people who, jokingly to only themselves, say or do things that in this enrivonment are the heighth of stupidity. Then, he wants to sue because of his own stupidity. The govt. should countersue for the cost of the investigation

    February 11, 2010 at 9:34 am |
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