Domestic war on terror functions as a manufactured spectacle of fear rather than safety

Evidence

Seen in perspective, the domestic War on Terror is not really about keeping Americans safe as much as it is about creating a spectacle of fear. During the Cold War, schools routinely conducted “duck and cover” drills in which students and teachers hid under tables, supposedly to protect them from a blast in the event of a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union. Whatever the marginal benefits of ducking under a table, the ability to survive a nuclear bomb depends on one’s distance from the blast, not on the furniture. The real goal of such activities was to keep the threat of attack alive and to foster fear and paranoia. In the War on Terror era, color-coded “terror threat levels” (ultimately phased out in 2011) and “if you see something, say something” signs in airports and subway stations have served a similar purpose by generating the spectacle of terrorism. And mainstream media coverage of “foiled terror plots” orchestrated by the law enforcement community only serves to reinforce this atmosphere. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 484

Categorization

• XREF: This is Kumar’s answer to the reader’s guiding question about the line from domestic fear to policy — the duck-and-cover parallel and threat-level spectacle connects to Rana’s own point about threat discourse manufacturing a permanent state of vigilance. — connects to: Sustained terror normalizes precaution until fear becomes habit — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1583; Terrorism fear uniquely suits political manipulation because it resists quick fixes; War on terror justice neutralizes the rule of law in the name of security (+16 more)

Broader Connections

• The terrorism threat is a manufactured crisis useful for justifying war and curtailing liberties. #corroborates (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 508
• The radicalized Muslim threat narrative is a fear instrument rather than a safety measure #corroborates (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 32
• State-perpetuated fear racializes Muslim bodies as terrorist enemies #expands (0.65)
• Clash-of-civilizations rhetoric ideologically legitimized both foreign wars and domestic attacks #expands (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 421
• The War on Terror racially constructed Muslims as terrorists. #expands (0.60)