Let’s not jump (over) the guns: response to Christina Hellmich

Abstract

This reply explains several decisions I made as author of “Terrorwars: Boston, Iraq.” Among points raised is the central comparison of the Boston counterterrorist operation in 2013, which I call a one-day war, with techniques of the early Iraq war. Relatedly, I use war knowledge presented in a “novel” by an American veteran of the Iraq war to make that comparison, plus my own experiences with the Boston lockdown, all of which raise questions about who or what is a legitimate source of information on war. I close with events of August 2013 in Ferguson Missouri that confirm the idea that the USA is bringing tools and techniques from contemporary wars into urban policing, and doing so in ways that many ordinary people on the ground are identifying as war.

Keywords:

• war
• terrorism
• Boston
• Iraq
• urban policing

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christine Sylvester

Christine Sylvester is Professor of Political Science and Women’s Studies at the University of Connecticut.