Yes.

I suppose if the definition of a terrorist is a middle-eastern male, between the ages of 18 and 40, then profiling might actually be beneficial.  The problem is that there really is not a "profile" for a terrorist and there never really be one.

The United States is a "Johnny come lately" to the terrorism party, but even in the last 10 years, the profile of a terrorist should have been varied enough for even the most short sited of American to recognize that there is no such thing as a prototypical terrorist.  After all, Ted Kaczynski was a white male and almost 50 years old, Nichols and McViegh, also white males were close to 40.  Add to that the FLQ (Front de Libération du Québec), composed of two white men and a woman in their 30s.  These are just some of the "domestic" (read North American) terrorists that do not fit the "profile." 

It takes only a couple of quick keystrokes on your favorite search engine to turn up dozens if not hundreds of organizations that can be classified as terroristic in nature that do not have a "prototypical" look, much less look like what the media is currently showing.

The truth is that a terrorist is as normal looking as your next door neighbour and you will not know they are a terrorist until it is far too late.

No, profiling does not and will not ever be a useful tool in identifying terrorists.

Before you can profile a terrorist you must first be able to define "what IS a terrorist".
According to Websters dictionary a terrorist uses fear and intimidation to get what they want, so by definition all the gangs in LA, Chicago, NY etc are terrorist organizations, domestic terrorists, but terrorists all the same.
It has been said that Middle Eastern men between 18-40 fit the profile of a Terrorist, yet most experts, and I agree, that the next large scale attack will be done by a professional, intelligent women.
How can you profile for that.

It just doesn't work

Group,

   The only way for profiling to be of any use is to carry out a threat assessment of the particular area in which you find yourself. For example, members of the TSA ( Transportation Safety Administration) working on the island of Maui, have a much different threat environment as opposed to Dulles International Airport  (DIA)in Washington. In carrying out the threat assessment on Maui, one needs to consider the local threat posed by the group of islanders who want to seceded from the United States and become their own free country. This small group of unsatisfied islanders pose no real threat to DIA, but they do pose a considerable threat to the airport on Maui.

When I speak to groups about terrorism, I always like to ask the question " what does a terrorist look like anyway?" How many people would have picked Timothy McVey as a terrorist if you were shown his picture prior to the Oklahoma bombing? dare I say none....

Terrorists are very intelligent and highly adaptable...they learn from both their mistakes and success's. They are keenly aware what profiling is... Many of their surveillance teams are now male and female couples looking like a married couple on a vacation. They are mixing and matching both their attack teams and surveillance teams. You need look no further than the example of the white Belgian suicide bomber in Iraq some months ago.

People If want to know what may someday befall us here in the Homeland ..you need look no further than what is happen in Iraq today. Iraq has become the terrorist's petri dish...they are experimenting and refining ... doing Research and Development in the art of terror in Iraq as we speak....Terrorists from all over the world are flocking to Iraq in order to get some of the best training in the world against the premier military in the world.