William Fischer writes in antiwar.com about the "The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act" that is being put through the US legislative process. The act contains some definitions that enable really wide interpretations.
The act defines "violent radicalization" as "the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically-based violence to advance political, religious, or social change". Thought crimes, here we come. Who is capable of determining the "purpose" of believing in something? Who can say what is and is not "extremist"?
That definition is actually quite a fitting description of some of the most radically hawkish thinking in the US. If some of the activities of the people that were pushing for the war in Iraq were not cases of "promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically-based violence", then nothing is. The same goes for the insane calls to nuke Iran, for example.
Extremist hawks should be careful in pushing through legislation that could be used to judge their own actions as well. The whole US political process since the 9/11 terrorist strikes has been an exemplary case of "violent radicalization". Mental projection—seeing one's own traits in others instead of oneself—is a powerful force in the human psyche.
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