Ideological killing must perpetually manufacture new targets to continue

Evidence

While today such blatantly racist arguments as Cromer’s are advanced only by those on the far right, it isn’t hard to see how the overall logic of irrationality pervades many discussions. Often, those who are seen as “terrorists” are presented as crazed, irrational, and fanatical: as individuals who commit untold horrors with no clear reason or motivation. Palestinian suicide bombers, for instance, are presented as rabid lunatics rather than as people driven to extreme measures under conditions of occupation. Terrorists cannot be reasoned with; rather, we are told, they are driven by irrational motivations and must therefore be put on “kill lists.” — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 183 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The combatant-to-militant shift expands the right to kill indefinitely; The objective-enemy category permanently renews terror as targets shift across categories; The irrationality trope persists as justification for killing lists. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 183

Related

• The irrationality trope persists as justification for killing lists. (similarity 0.92)

Broader Connections

• The objective-enemy category permanently renews terror as targets shift across categories #expands (0.88)
• The combatant-to-militant shift expands the right to kill indefinitely #expands (0.85)
• The irrationality trope persists as justification for killing lists. #expands (0.75) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 183