What is a 'terrorist' exactly?

Question

even Wikipedia is confused about it!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition_of_terrorism

so all these new laws for 'terrorists' could be for anyone really,

not just for the bearded guys in Iraq.....?

shouldn't the word be more clearly defined??

(under the current definition, my cat is a terrorist!)

Answer 1

Well its simple; one who terrorises

Answer 2

You can go to the FBI website and they should have some information there. They don't want you calling about "Lilly the 85 year old neighbor walking in her yard with yellow gloves, looking suspicious" but they do want you to contact them if you see something out of the ordinary - like I was in the post office once and some men speaking arabic came in looked around and pointed to all the security to eachother and then left. Now obviously they should have only been visiting the post office to mail something not to case it. Or if you're in a bank and someone is just sitting there and "they don't need any help" - light bulb should go off here - you need to contact the bank manager.

Answer 3

The government wants the definition vague so that you can be arrested for almost anything and be called a terrorist.

That's why 90%+ of people in Gitmo have not been found guilty of anything but are still held and tortured.

Answer 4

Maybe...but you're cat isn't strapping itself with a glock, and tieing explosives around its waist in a suicide bomb attempt.

Answer 5

as it turns out we aren't all terrorists, but we all remain potential terrorist suspects. as a suspected terrorist you have no rights whatsoever.

it's the grounds for suspicion of terrorism we need to define.

terrorists are people who wish to have their own ideology imposed, and will use oppression to gain it.

whether the 'terrorists' are oppressed or not is apparently not a matter which is up for discussion.

Answer 6

It is the opinion of many people around the world that the U.S. military are terrorist

Answer 7

The mere fact that there are three disclaimers to the article should tell you something.  I suggest a more pragmatic approach:  Webster's Dictionary.

Answer 8

terrorist - noun: a person who takes part in terrorism.   Terrorism - noun: the use of violent action to achieve political aims or to force a government to act.  By this definition all war is terrorism, and those who create war can be defined as terrorists.

Answer 9

1. Gitmo is full of 'terrorists'.

But there is very little proof that many of them are.

2. 'Terrorists' are the people who are fighting the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and the US occupation of Iraq.

Problem is, the locals regard them as 'freedom-fighters.

3. 'Terrorists' are the ones the Bush Administration says they are. (in order to scare the pants off some Americans)

4. The real 'terrorists' are in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but Bush doesn't seem to worried about Osama bin Laden.

Answer 10

In the case of Islamic terrorists which I take it is what you are in a quandary about - they hope to gain influence by terrorising the rest of us into giving into their every demand.  In fact we have already done just that out of "political correctness" as a result of the liberal agenda.  Many of us who once thought of ourselves as liberals find them nearly as scary as the terrorists.

What surprises me is that all the ethnic minorities of the world don't say "Hey, I'll have a piece of that".  I guess that some groups are just plain nastier than others when it comes to getting their way.

Answer 11

In the American war of independence the Americans were called terrorists by the British while they were called heroes in their home towns.In WW2,the French resistance was called terrorist by the n***s and were called freedom fighters by the Allies.The Palestinian resistance against Israeli occupation is called terrorism by Israel and the west ans is called legitimate resistance by the rest of the world and so on.The same principle always apply.It depends on which side you are.