“I don’t have a single American friend,” said Tamarlan Tsarnaev “I don’t understand them.”
Boston terrorism has been squelched: Tamarlan, dead in a police shoot-out left his younger brother Dzhokar wounded in the hospital.
Commonly terrorism refers to violent acts intended to create fear (terror); are perpetrated for a religious, political or, ideological goal; and deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants (civilians).
However, where appropriate, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.”
Reviewing the book Terrorism of the State, Ron Jacobs asks some penetrating questions:
“Is it the actor that determines whether or not an act is terroristic? Why is the US hesitant to accept the commonly held definition of terrorism? Is the reason because doing so would indict the United States as a terrorist state?”
Professor William Odom, formerly President Reagan’s NSA Director wrote: “Because the United States itself has a long record of supporting terrorists and using terrorist tactics, the slogans of today’s war on terrorism merely makes the United States look hypocritical to the rest of the world.”
Because of vigilance since 9/11, says Irfan Husain, “terrorism in the U.S. has virtually been stamped out. It is precisely because of this success that the Boston attack has caused so much fear and outrage.”
It doesn’t require genius to predict that, in America, Muslims other than Arabs or Iranians will have increased attention paid to their activities.
Alex Seitz-Wald, writing in Salon, puts it in perspective: “Chechen terrorism may be less familiar to most Americans than that carried out by fighters from the Middle East or Afghanistan and Pakistan, but Chechen separatists have fought a long and bloody war against Russia in the region’s long war of independence from Moscow.”
MKO an American sponsored terrorist organization, now in a camp on the border between Iraq and Iran, has been responsible for thousands of assassinations in Iranian cities.
According to Aletho, The German Interior Ministry confirmed the initiation of the processes required for granting asylum to 100 MKO terrorists. That makes both Germany and America sponsors of terrorism.
I just finished reading the stories of dozens of young Palestinian boys, between the ages of six and 18 who have been arrested by Israeli police.
Accused, at most, of throwing stones at Israeli armoured vehicles, these boys were put in solitary confinement, given electric shock, had their heads beaten against a wall and kicked until they passed out.
Before they were released, they were told not to discuss their arrests or punishment with anyone or they or their family would pay a price of more suffering.
These young Palestinian children, having done nothing wrong, have been the victims of Israel’s forces of terror.
Remember, the distinguishing features of terrorism include a person, organization or country with the power to take action that will instil fear in others.
Terrorists can be people we might not normally consider as such.
Members of Congress are frightened by threats posed by lobbyists/terrorists like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the National Rifle Association (NRA).
Media executives have utilized their terrorist power to frighten reporters or anchors away from telling the truth.
The fear goes with the job. Someone like Chris Hedges loses a job at the New York Times for his political honesty; and that frightens a multitude of people in the industry.
Similarly, someone like Norman Finkelstein loses his university tenure, and academics around the country are frightened by the terrorism of Alan Dershowitz.
What’s in a name? That which we call a terrorist by any other name would smell as vile.
Paul Balles is a retired American university professor and freelance writer who has lived in the Middle East for many years. He’s a weekly op-ed columnist for the GULF DAILY NEWS . Dr. Balles is also Editorial Consultant for Red House Marketing and a regular contributor to Bahrain This Month.
“Is it the actor that determines whether or not an act is terroristic? Why is the US hesitant to accept the commonly held definition of terrorism? Is the reason because doing so would indict the United States as a terrorist state?”
YES!!!