Framing the Threat

Speaking of a worldwide threat, Obama reminded that “Muslim communities” were “also threatened” (Obama 2009/06/04). Although the threat emanated from Muslim countries, they were also in danger and had to react. The president used the metaphor of the “safe haven” over and over again in this context (Obama 2009/02/09, 2009/02/24, 2009/03/22, 2009/03/27, 2009/04/06, 2009/04/29a, 2009/05/06, 2009/06/01b, 2009/09/23, 2009/11/18a, 2009/12/01). His references to a ‘safe haven’ were used to either place pressure on the governments of Afghanistan, Pakistan and other Muslim countries to act more decisively against terrorists, or to justify American foreign policy with regard to its counterterrorism measures. It was thus used as an alternative to Bush’s ...