 Originally Posted by Universal Mind
The legality factor is part of the general definition, but you asked a good question about "by whose defintion". The best answer I can give is, "according to the general laws of nations". If it is legal in Iran to blow up cafes in Israel for no other purpose than to GET THEM and please Allah, they are out of synch with the general laws. However, invading Iran to destroy their nuclear facilities may not be the general method countries use, but it is also not generally illegal. It is also not irrational, though it may not be the best way to handle the situation according to some people.
I still don't agree the legality factor plays any part in the general definition. According to the general definition, a person in the stone age that used the threat of violence to get his way would be a terrorist.
 Originally Posted by Universal
What I would NEVER do is target the innocent just because I am pissed at people I associate them with based on race, religion, or nationality.
I believe this is a stark minimization of the fundamental motives of the extremists. How far back does their beef with the U.S. government go? What was the actual beginning to all of this? When did we first go over there and begin to occupy their land and for what reason? You always seem to highlight the parts of the extremists' texts that (over decades of bad blood) have, yes, become as trivial as chastising us for simply our way of life and how we are somewhat "spoiled rotten" with our freedoms...however I don't think I've ever seen you even so much as mention anything beyond that. Do you really believe that that is the basis for the conflict - that we are not like them and they hate us for it? Of all the cultures in all the countries in all the world, that don't act or think like the Islamic extremists, do you think it's just a bad game of "duck, duck, goose" that made them choose us?
 Originally Posted by Universal Mind
It all depends on the rationality of the act, or how effective it will most likely be in the attempt to bring about a rational result. If targetting white populations with women, children, and so forth really does have a high likelihood of stopping the stealing of land on a major level, it is not terrorism. It is an act of war. If the mentality behind it is, "I hate white people! Kill!!!!" then it is an irrational act, but the legality issue is hard to give a definite answer on in that situation.
Do you believe that it's irrational to think that - if someone's oppressing you and (inadvertently or otherwise) killing the women and children of your nation - they might actually care about their own women and children that your retaliation, in turn, might get them to stop what they're doing?
I don't know about you, but if I knew that, by my killing someone's daughter, they are definitely going to devote their life to killing my daughter...I'm probably not going to kill their daughter.
 Originally Posted by Specialis Sapientia
The word "terroist" is really in the eye of the beholder.
One example.
In WW2, the Danish resistance killed, assasinated, sabotaged, and blew up bombs against the Nazi occupation.
In Denmark they were celebreted, because they were freedom fighters, but the nazis (and the Danish government) called them terroists.
From Wiki:
The word "terrorism" is politically and emotionally charged, and this greatly compounds the difficulty of providing a precise definition. One 1988 study by the US Army found that over 100 definitions of the word "terrorism" have been used. A person who practices terrorism is a terrorist. The concept of terrorism is itself controversial because it is often used by states to delegitimize political opponents, and thus legitimize the state's own use of terror against those opponents.
And
The contemporary label of "terrorist" is highly pejorative; it is a badge which denotes a lack of legitimacy and morality. The application "terrorist" is therefore always deliberately disputed. Attempts at defining the concept invariably arouse debate because rival definitions may be employed with a view to including the actions of certain parties, and excluding others. Thus, each party might still subjectively claim a legitimate basis for employing violence in pursuit of their own political cause or aim.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition_of_terrorism
According to most of the definitions, Israel is doing terror against the Palastinian people, I hear no world leaders saying that.
When a state or governemnt think the word "terroism" is "appropriate" for their own gain, it's used.
Great post. This is exactly what I'm trying to highlight.
|
|
Bookmarks