Originally Posted by wolfen

Terrorist IS a loaded word, If I beat the crap out of a drug dealer, and tell the rest of hem in the neighborhood that I'
coming for them too, then I could be arrested under charges of terrorism against another person. That's the problem, legit terrorists can be copied by a 10 year old. and anybody can be labeled a terrorist.

There is a way to determine whether a person is actually a terrorist or just a criminal. Crashing a plane into a building for example is not necesssary the act of a terrorist.

A terrorist group operates very much like the Mafia. They focus on a fear of violence rather than violence itself in order to get its agenda done. The actual violence is done only when the message of fear needs to be reinforced, but it is not their primary objective. its much easier to simply scare someone into doing what you want rather than forcing them.

Terrorist groups primary objective is political. Take any terrorist group and there is a political agenda in it. In al-qaeda case they wish to create a Muslim caliphate and expel all western influance and unpure Muslims from it. They have never expressed a desire for mess genocide of non-believers per se, they simply believe that non-believers lifes are of no consequence and are therefore expendable.

MMarsh, are you sure about what you said?
You just described the US civilian law enforcement.

Originally Posted by mmarsh

There is a way to determine whether a person is actually a terrorist or just a criminal. Crashing a plane into a building for example is not necesssary the act of a terrorist.

A terrorist group operates very much like the Mafia. They focus on a fear of violence rather than violence itself in order to get its agenda done. The actual violence is done only when the message of fear needs to be reinforced, but it is not their primary objective. its much easier to simply scare someone into doing what you want rather than forcing them.

Terrorist groups primary objective is political. Take any terrorist group and there is a political agenda in it. In al-qaeda case they wish to create a Muslim caliphate and expel all western influance and unpure Muslims from it. They have never expressed a desire for mess genocide of non-believers per se, they simply believe that non-believers lifes are of no consequence and are therefore expendable.

To start with the final paragraph, many Christian fundamnetalist groups believe the same thing - death to the unbeliever.

I firmly believe that a terrorist is a criminal, don't elevate his actions to lofty civil rights manouevres, because at the end of the day the terrorist uses the threat & action of violence to achieve his aims, regardless of the right or wrong of it. Therefore terrorists should be treated as criminals and dealt with accordingly. Doing anything else simply gives the terrorist politcial legitmicay, which is what they want.

Of course every terrorist is also a criminal, but not vice versa. Not every criminal is a terrorist, even if the means of his criminal actions are also employed by terrorist groups (the plane example...I think that's what mmarsh wanted to say), and you can't treat them as equals. It's the motivation that makes the difference; the term 'terrorist' says it all: their main objective is to spread terror, killing some 'infidels' (in the case of al quaeda) is a secondary effect. Even if not one sole person would have been killed at 9/11, they would have achieved their goal of showing the world that they can strike deep into the supposedly untouchable heart of the US.

To get back on topic, I think killing terrorists is not the way to end terrorism. Of course, this doesn't mean that you should just step aside and watch.
But it's not enough, and that's a popular fallacy nowadays in the 'War on Terror'. We're fighting the symptom, not the virus. There's a reason why so many young men all over the world fall for someone promising them heaven and earth if they blow themselves up and take some infidels with them.
It's poverty, it's a lack of education and often enough it's black despair.

Except that many suicide bombers etc. are highly educated, highly qualified, with full pockets. Doctors, lawyers etc. etc. Religious fanatisism, ignorance, deliberate religious mis-use and misdirection of the young is much more the case, IMHO. Mere puppets.

Originally Posted by Del Boy

Except that many suicide bombers etc. are highly educated, highly qualified, with full pockets. Doctors, lawyers etc. etc.

Examples? Sources?
I don't think "many" is the correct term when comparing the numbers of these guys to the number of suicide bombings that take place every single day somewhere around the globe...

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/..._educatio.html
Source.

Three of the deadliest suicide bomb attacks against targets in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank were carried out by bombers who had or were pursuing advanced degrees.

Three out of 151 that were reviewed, that is. "Many"? The article only states that educated suicide bombers are more effective, not that there are many of them.

infiltrate then assassinate...

Another source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programme...ca/8444780.stm
Moloch, think beyond Israel.