Brad DeLong
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CB: A fine description , but what do we make of it ?
Since the perpetrators of the Sept 11 murders are of sufficient status to have a war declared on them, shouldn't they be called "warriors" or "soldiers" ? Of course, soldiers and warriors are the greatest purveyors of terror in civiliization.
On the other hand, if these are only terrorists , how can one support a full war against them ? They don't rise to the level of a worthy opponent in war. They are mere violent criminals, terrorists. One can only have a war with soldiers.
The repetition of the word "terrorism" is sort of as if Bush just invented his own legal category of "Bloody murderers" , i.e. somehow worse than just "murderers". He keeps shouting "bloody murderers". But afterall, bloody murderers are mere murderers. Like Timothy McVeigh.