What's going on is a predictable consequence of the post-9/11 hysteria that swept the United States, aided and abetted by the George W. Bush's administration and largely seconded by President Barack Obama. U.S. officials built al Qaeda into a threat of monstrous proportions -- which it never was -- and they continue to sound that tocsin today. This approach is no different from those of earlier presidents who declared a "war on drugs" in order to justify policies that have filled America's prisons with minor offenders but have done nothing to reduce drug use. The basic principle is the same: If you get enough people sufficiently scared, they will let government officials do all sorts of dubious things in order to feel safer.
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