Obama’s counter-radicalization strategy deputized ordinary citizens as informants

Evidence

Instead of pushing back against preemptive prosecution and the racist practice of targeting Muslims before they actually do anything, Obama strengthened it. Giving credence to existing radicalization programs in the law enforcement community, he unveiled his “counter-radicalization” strategy in 2011. In the opening statement of his strategy document, Obama argued that “most recently, al-Qa’ida and its affiliates have attempted to recruit and radicalize people here in the United States, as we have seen in several plots and attacks, including the deadly attack two years ago on our service members at Fort Hood.” After spending much time in 2009 emphasizing the threat of terrorists inside US borders, as discussed in chapter 9, Obama put forward a plan to police “homegrown terrorism” by eliciting the help of the Muslim community. Yet liberal Islamophobia does not target all Muslims. It acknowledges that there are “good Muslims”—those who cooperate with the goals of empire. Thus, Obama stated that Muslims are “best positioned to take the lead because they know their communities best.” Heaping praise on Muslim Americans who have worked with the law enforcement community, he called for more such work. The document solicits the support of teachers, coaches, and community members, who are to be turned into a McCarthy-type informant system. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 582 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Los Angeles was not only ground zero for a range of xenophobic policies targeting undocumented (and documented) Latinx communities, but also a pilot city where, in 2014, the Department of Homeland Security launched its counter-radicalization program, Countering Violent Extremism, in partnership with the Los Angeles Police Department. This new counterterror program, which effectively supplanted the federal surveillance model ushered in by the USA PATRIOT Act, deputized LAPD members to function as national security officers tasked with identifying, detaining, prosecuting, and even deporting “homegrown radicals.” Suspicion was disproportionately assigned to recent Muslim converts, particularly young men like Juan, keen on expressing their newfound Muslim identity by wearing a beard, attending Friday prayers, and demonstrating fluency in Arabic—the language tied to Islam, and in line with Islamophobia, terrorism. — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 66 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Obama’s counter-radicalization strategy deputized citizens to surveil their own communities; Obama’s counter-radicalization strategy deputized teachers and community members as informants; Obama’s counter-radicalization strategy turned Muslim communities into informants — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 582 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Obama’s counter-radicalization strategy deputized teachers and community members as informants #expands (0.98)
• Obama’s counter-radicalization strategy turned Muslim communities into informants #qualifies (0.90) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 582
• Countering Violent Extremism deputized local police as national security officers #expands (0.82) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 66