Constructing the Terror Lair
The emerging vernacular of the "war on terror" appears to have been shaped as much by medieval myth and history as by current political reality. Not only does the neo-conservative agenda of free marketization/democratization of the Middle East smack of a secularized Crusade (the secular characteristic of which is being steadily undermined by the administration's pandering to its conservative Christian base - see below), but a new construct, the terror lair, rings of an Inquisitorial auditorium populated by dragonf, or at leaft manticoref.
A Washington Post Express article [PDF] provides a description of an archetypal "terror lair": "Inside the building, U.S. soliders found documents, old computers and copies of the Quran. Several bodies also were found." The first two, documents and computers, serve to establish the site as a "command center" for terrorist operations - in this case, a headquarters of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, suspected of coordinating major parts of the insurgency in Iraq. By themselves, documents and computers are rather generic descriptors of a business environment. But they buttress the first key principle of the contemporary understanding of global terrorism: it is highly coordinated and organized and the war against it is fought as much in a cubicle at Langley as in the streets of Fallujah. The third characteristic, copies of the Quran, supports the second key principle of our (meaning American) understanding of global terrorism: it has its roots in Islamic fundamentalism. One can only assume that the bodies exist to credibly identify the site as a "terrifying" place; alternately, they may be stocking the larder of the aforementioned mythical beasts.
Dispensing with office materials and dead insurgents, the most salient and troubling aspect of the terror lair is its construction around "copies of the Quran." Deconstructing the term "terror lair":
terror: noun. a) fear induced with the intention of influencing political decisions. Examples: hostage taking and execution, suicide bombings of civilians, manipulation of color-coded terrorist alert system; b) utter fright produced by experiencing the impossible or uncanny. Examples: watching yourself sleeping, being eaten by dragons and/or manticores.
lair: noun. interior location, often dank and poorly lit, where congregate or inhabit evildoers/villainous creatures. Examples: Smaug's castle in The Hobbit, Dick Cheney's undisclosed bunker, Osama bin Laden's cave.
If this terminology is being deployed in the War on Terror, it can only be to the end of demonizing the practice of Islam, which by many, not only neo-cons, is perceived as a medieval relic and the major stumbling block to democratizing in the Middle East. Consequently, the archaic "terror lair" integrates with the conception of the Middle East as backwards and with the image of terrorists as subhuman. Whether or not these characterizations are justified, what concerns us is that the ubiquitous association of the holy text of Islam with terrorists/insurgents imbues the Quran with sinister, totemic power - a gross and insulting misunderstanding, but one that underscores the "holy war" character of the war on terror/the Middle East. Finding the Quran whereever there are terrorists justifies the assault, with both arms and propaganda, on Islam. The Quran, as a physical object, becomes a trophy of the war enterprise - confiscating copies is akin to securing a cache of weapons. Perhaps the parallel is more salient than at first glance - like a Kalashnikov, the Quran is perceived by many in the United States as dangerous, as something that needs to be forcibly taken from Iraqis for their own good, for freedom to truly be on the march. Our conception of the terrorist is a person with a bomb in one hand and a holy book in the other. I would like to propose that this applies as much to abortion clinic bombers as to Iraqi insurgents.
A Washington Post Express article [PDF] provides a description of an archetypal "terror lair": "Inside the building, U.S. soliders found documents, old computers and copies of the Quran. Several bodies also were found." The first two, documents and computers, serve to establish the site as a "command center" for terrorist operations - in this case, a headquarters of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, suspected of coordinating major parts of the insurgency in Iraq. By themselves, documents and computers are rather generic descriptors of a business environment. But they buttress the first key principle of the contemporary understanding of global terrorism: it is highly coordinated and organized and the war against it is fought as much in a cubicle at Langley as in the streets of Fallujah. The third characteristic, copies of the Quran, supports the second key principle of our (meaning American) understanding of global terrorism: it has its roots in Islamic fundamentalism. One can only assume that the bodies exist to credibly identify the site as a "terrifying" place; alternately, they may be stocking the larder of the aforementioned mythical beasts.
Dispensing with office materials and dead insurgents, the most salient and troubling aspect of the terror lair is its construction around "copies of the Quran." Deconstructing the term "terror lair":
terror: noun. a) fear induced with the intention of influencing political decisions. Examples: hostage taking and execution, suicide bombings of civilians, manipulation of color-coded terrorist alert system; b) utter fright produced by experiencing the impossible or uncanny. Examples: watching yourself sleeping, being eaten by dragons and/or manticores.
lair: noun. interior location, often dank and poorly lit, where congregate or inhabit evildoers/villainous creatures. Examples: Smaug's castle in The Hobbit, Dick Cheney's undisclosed bunker, Osama bin Laden's cave.
If this terminology is being deployed in the War on Terror, it can only be to the end of demonizing the practice of Islam, which by many, not only neo-cons, is perceived as a medieval relic and the major stumbling block to democratizing in the Middle East. Consequently, the archaic "terror lair" integrates with the conception of the Middle East as backwards and with the image of terrorists as subhuman. Whether or not these characterizations are justified, what concerns us is that the ubiquitous association of the holy text of Islam with terrorists/insurgents imbues the Quran with sinister, totemic power - a gross and insulting misunderstanding, but one that underscores the "holy war" character of the war on terror/the Middle East. Finding the Quran whereever there are terrorists justifies the assault, with both arms and propaganda, on Islam. The Quran, as a physical object, becomes a trophy of the war enterprise - confiscating copies is akin to securing a cache of weapons. Perhaps the parallel is more salient than at first glance - like a Kalashnikov, the Quran is perceived by many in the United States as dangerous, as something that needs to be forcibly taken from Iraqis for their own good, for freedom to truly be on the march. Our conception of the terrorist is a person with a bomb in one hand and a holy book in the other. I would like to propose that this applies as much to abortion clinic bombers as to Iraqi insurgents.
posted by Jon at 10:12 AM
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