Terrorism fear uniquely suits political manipulation because it resists quick fixes

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 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: Sustained terror normalizes precaution until fear becomes habit — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1583; Manufactured terrorist threats serve governance by keeping citizens fearful and quiescent; Domestic war on terror functions as a manufactured spectacle of fear rather than safety — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 484 (+13 more)

Related

• Domestic war on terror functions as a manufactured spectacle of fear rather than safety (similarity 0.91)
• Manufactured terrorist threats serve governance by keeping citizens fearful and quiescent (similarity 0.87)
• War against terrorism is itself a form of terrorism. (similarity 0.86)
• Manufactured external terror serves elite interests while real internal terror afflicts the poor. (similarity 0.84)
• The terrorism threat is a manufactured crisis useful for justifying war and curtailing liberties. (similarity 0.84)
• War on terror justice neutralizes the rule of law in the name of security (similarity 0.83)
• The War on Terror conditioned the American public to want Trump. (similarity 0.83)
• States manufacture paranoia so the public welcomes the very power that created the anxiety (similarity 0.82)
• War on Terror Islamophobia empowered populist demagogues to seize power against Muslims (similarity 0.81)
• The radicalized Muslim threat narrative is a fear instrument rather than a safety measure (similarity 0.81)
• Fear mongering is the key mechanism that sustains vast imperial infrastructure (similarity 0.81)
• Terrorism fear serves politicians because it resists policy refutation and quick fixes (similarity 0.81)
• Politicians gain power by promising protection against imagined threats (similarity 0.79)
• Terror fear is politically exploitable because it is ubiquitous, opaque, and deep-rooted (similarity 0.79)
• Blind terrorism provokes blind repression, polarizing and hardening a conflict (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Manufactured terrorist threats serve governance by keeping citizens fearful and quiescent #expands (0.80)
• Domestic war on terror functions as a manufactured spectacle of fear rather than safety #expands (0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 484
• State-perpetuated fear racializes Muslim bodies as terrorist enemies #expands (0.60)
• Religious framing of terrorism justifies state expansion that erodes due process #expands (0.60)
• Covert framing of Muslim surveillance as anti-terrorism suppressed public protest #expands (0.60)
• Blind terrorism provokes blind repression, polarizing and hardening a conflict #expands (0.50)
• Clash of civilizations framing located terrorism’s cause within Islam itself #expands (0.50) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 266
• War against terrorism is itself a form of terrorism. #expands (0.50)