Media framed enemies through vermin, disease, and prey metaphors.

Evidence

“Captured: Saddam caught in hole ‘just like a rat.’” “Terrorists, like rats and cockroaches, skulk in the dark.” The second type of dehumanizing metaphor characterizes the enemy as a pernicious disease: “Only Muslim leaders can remove spreading cancer of Islamic terrorism.” “Al Qaeda mutating like a virus.” In the third dehumanizing metaphor, military actions designed to capture enemies are framed in animal-linked hunting metaphors. The enemy as “prey” is hunted, tracked down, snared, caged, and “kept on a short leash.” — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2421 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Bestial and disease metaphors for enemies have ancient pedigree; War journalism dehumanized enemies through animalistic metaphors like rats.; War coverage casts enemies as vermin, disease, and hunted prey to justify killing. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 2421 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• War coverage casts enemies as vermin, disease, and hunted prey to justify killing. #corroborates (0.98) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2421