But would it work?

Submitted by John in Michigan, USA (United States), Apr 21, 2013 at 13:48

In terms of concealing a terrorist's identity, a hoodie, full beard and sunglasses would work just as well, as would a disguise involving make-up. These would have the added benefit of being less conspicuous.

A burqa or niqab-wearing terrorist might benefit from the social barrier/personal perogatives effect...once. After the first major attack of this type they would no longer benefit from that.

Furthermore, an outright, universal ban of a specific type of clothing may be unconstitutional, and certainly is fairly unprecedented in American life. Much like how Madonna (the singer) used censorship and the threat of it to generate free publicity, banning these cloths may end up generating sympathy, etc. for non-violent Islamists which after all are the real long-term threat.

So would-be terrorists can easily find other ways to hide their identity, and the ban could have undesirable side effects, even if it passed legal muster.

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