[lbo-talk] Defining terrorism

Dwayne Monroe idoru345 at yahoo.com
Wed Oct 29 17:17:05 PST 2003


Bill Bartlett posted:

Tony Parkinson's definition for example. I might quibble with it somewhat, for my money mass murder is not an essential element of terrorism. Maiming and murdering a few people, or even just one at a time, can be just as much an act of terror as killing hundreds. But if for the sake of argument such a definition was adopted, it would inevitably lead to criminal charges against every surviving American president.

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Truly.

Ironically, the US State Department's own definition of terrorism would, if applied - without the careful wording used to exempt nation-states - to the actions of the US, also lead to criminal proceedings.

In it's annual terrorism report, the State Department defines terrorism as: "Premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience."

The much lauded (till recently) "shock and awe" campaign alone would surely qualify the current Washington administration for the docket.

DRM

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