This dimension of Islamophobia blossomed in the United States only at the end of the decade, when mosques and Islamic community centers came under attack from California to New York. A network of right-wing Islamophobes had been attempting to unleash anti-Muslim racism almost since 9/11 through a series of campaigns against Arab professors, Muslim community centers, and schools, but their breakthrough into the public sphere happened only after liberal Islamophobes cleared the way. Building on the media furor around "homegrown terrorism," President Obama unveiled his "Af-Pak strategy" and announced plans to send more troops to Afghanistan and increase drone strikes on Pakistan. Liberal imperialists and the mainstream media raised the alarm about "terrorists in our midst," providing the far-right "Islamophobic warriors" with the opening they had been waiting for.

XREF: Connects to broader literature on how mainstream framing legitimizes far-right positions. QUESTION: Worth investigating the specific mechanisms by which Obama's Af-Pak framing enabled Islamophobic rhetoric.

Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politi…, loc. 497