War on terror justice neutralizes the rule of law in the name of security

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 (#responds-to, via linked claim)

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: The US deliberately maintains legal ambiguity about drone strikes even in court — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 536; US dual legal justifications blur the line between armed conflict and self-defense — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 1044; The War on Terror legitimizes expanded police repression at home (+6 more)

Related

• Domestic war on terror functions as a manufactured spectacle of fear rather than safety (similarity 0.86)
• War against terrorism is itself a form of terrorism. (similarity 0.85)
• Terrorism fear uniquely suits political manipulation because it resists quick fixes (similarity 0.83)
• Manufactured terrorist threats serve governance by keeping citizens fearful and quiescent (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• The War on Terror legitimizes expanded police repression at home #expands (0.70)
• War against terrorism is itself a form of terrorism. #expands (0.55)
• Domestic war on terror functions as a manufactured spectacle of fear rather than safety #responds-to (0.45) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 484
• Structural Islamophobia operates through laws and policies that presume Muslims threaten national security #responds-to (0.40) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 123