Here is a somewhat overlooked legacy of the “war on terror” — The Washington Post’s Walter Pincus reported this weekend that FBI Director Robert Mueller told the Senate Judiciary Committee that everyday 1,600 new names are added to the terrorist watchlist — and 600 names are removed. Overall, there are 1 million names on the list — but just 400,000 are unique names.

Like surveillance provisions in the Patriot Act and epic airport inspections courtesy of the Transportation Security Administration, there are two big issues with the watch list. First, is whether civil liberties are being violated. Second, though, is how such a policy could possibly be seen as a sensible deterrent against terrorism. There is already an FBI “no-fly” list — what additional has the watch list accomplished?

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