I'm not much good at linguistics and surely there must be better constructions to use, put for now I would propose "terroree".
So what is a terroree? I'm not really referring to direct victims of terrorism. Those who have actually personally been victims of violence are bound to be traumatized and feel vulnerable. For such people, an ongoing sense of insecurity is a natural result of their ordeal. I'm referring, rather, to those who haven't been directly exposed but who've given in to the fear. A terroree is a person who's life is defined by their fear of terrorism. We all know the type. In the current environment they have an almost hysterical fear of Arabs or Muslims or maybe even anyone from a different culture. They wish to hole up and stay away from the rest of the world. They might no longer be willing to travel abroad or on airplanes since 9/11. They look to the government for protection from what they fear almost like a child seeks protection against "monsters" from his parents. Freedom becomes secondary to security. Promise them security and they'll give up rights, they'll give up money, they'll even give up their voice in government and submit completely to protective authoritarianism. They want to lash out in retaliation. So deep seated is their fear that this retaliation need not be specific. If the perpetrator can't be located they are fine with attacking anyone that resembles him. They lose their empathy for collateral casualties, feeling that it can be justified based on the premise that they "think like" the terrorists. For such people it may be acceptable for other innocent people to die regularly to keep them safe from the possibility of another attack. "Better them than us" becomes their mantra.
Bush actually touched on this issue immediately after 9/11. He urged people on a personal level not to surrender to their fear, to "go shopping" or otherwise do what they normally do. And yet ever since then he has promoted this surrender to terror at every opportunity on the political front. He continually reminds us (as though it were needed) of 9/11, using it like a battery charger to re-energize that fear. He urges us to keep attacking "over there" so they don't attack us "over here", even though "over there" is a country that didn't have anything to do with our attackers. By turns, according to whether it suits his needs, he continually "reminds us" that we're vulnerable over here, or that he's "keeping us safe" and that, look there have been no further attacks here. I don't know any more whether or not he considers the US safe.
Terrorees, it turns out, are very useful politically if what you crave is power. You can get them to agree to almost anything if you can frame it as a measure to increase their security. It's even been found that you can drive attention away from almost any media issue by using the red,orange, yellow, green buttons as "terrorist" alerts. The terrorees respond as though the buttons are wired to electrodes on their bottoms.
I don't ever want to live as a terroree. I can not, will not allow myself to become like the people who attacked us. I will not surrender my rights in trade for a false sense of security. I know I'm not the only one who feels like an accessory to murder when my government kills people "just in case", or even worse, people unrelated to the original attack. Murder is NOT an acceptable price to pay for security. I'd rather take deliberate and firm action only against the specific people who committed the violent acts. I fully recognize that we may have to cross someone else's borders to pursue them. But when we do this we must stick to the mission at hand and not allow ourselves to be redirected by unscrupulous people. Our best bet is always going to be to remain vigilant here at home, where the attack must always finally come. We can do this without losing our souls; as thinking, decent people, rather than as terrorees.
posted by bfaul 
