What's a 'Terrorist'? What's a 'Revolutionary'?

How do you define a terrorist? What makes them different from a revolutionary?

 

i believe a revolutionary is a fight agenst the government (the man). Bystanders are not targets of a revolt.

where as a terrorist also has a cause but has no guidelines as to how to conduct its battles and will attack anyone, any time, any place.

again its just my opinion.

 

A "terrorist" selects his targets based on the fear or terror they will cause on not the victims but the survivors.

A "revolutionary" would hopefully select his targets to weaken the goverment they are revoulting against in order to accomplish something towards their ultimate goal other than influencing with terror.

 

Hey Due check your PMs



And I like WERA 176s definition

 

I have PM's ... (my pop-up killer stops the notification...)

Just a minute.....

 

So its not the actions but the intent? If a person flew a plane into a building in order to destabilize an economy then they're a revolutionary not a terrorist?

 

The revolutionist picks governement targets rather than civilian ones.

 

Still trying to equate 9/11 with the Israeli-Palastinan war eh?

Its all simantics really... and depends on what POV you are looking from. One man's revolutionary is another's terrorist.
BUT
"Civilized" warfare is really a contest of wills, not simply killing people and breaking things. At any point in a battle one side or the other can decide they've had enough and quit. Its getting them to that point that is the messy part.

Modern terrorism, on the other hand, is just bloody publicity stunts. They are designed to extort a government to do something or simply get their "cause" into public view. Often they have no strategic value and are simply a way politically disadvantaged people have of lashing out pointlessly at their "oppressors".

 

Go to the following article that my Father wrote on terrorism entitled .The American Terrorist - A Pinch Of Politics, A Pound Of Hate. It includes a definition of terrorism and some related discussion: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000EA1D9-E312-1C6F-84A9809EC588EF21

And see also the following response to my Dad's article and his further discussion of the definition of terrorism taken from http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0008EFEB-D6D8-1C6E-84A9809EC588EF21 :



Rodger (Jr.)

 

Re: Still trying to equate 9/11 with the Israeli-Palastinan war eh?

Disagree. Terrorism is directed at civilain targets for the puposes of intimidation and destabilization. The death or mutilation of civilians is the intent. This can be practiced both by governments and small factions without popular support or significant resources. Indeed, the root of the word terrorism derives from what the French government did to its own people in the Reign of Terror re the French Revolution.

So being a revolutionary does not mean that you are a terrorist, although a government might call you one.

So to Due i say that terrorism is both the action (targeting civilians) and the intent (causing fear and terror in others). But then my definition absolves governments for targeting civilians b/c they are "military" targets.

Rodger

 

Good point.

 

i've always wondered what the hell due north is doing here hanging out with us american infidels in the first place. i don't know that i've ever seen a post from him actually discussing racing in any form.

the only thing i see is his continuous contempt for america and it's inhabitants. if we are that repulsive, then why in the fuck is he here?

why doesn't he post on www.imacommunistfuckingasshole.com

 

You are really grasping, Due. You know, there's a bunch of Bin Laden sympathizers and supporters still over here in the good ole USA. They're planning on singing praises to Bin Laden and the Hijackers in a little rally on the anniversary of the attacks. I say we organized our own little "rally" and confront these folks with ball bats and swine blood. Do you want to join them, Due?

 

Revolutionaries are 'Merican.

Terrorists are fereigners.

 

terrorist - member of the losing team.

revolutionary - member of the winning team.

History is written by the winners, correct?

 

ROTF!!!

And Jay, count me in for the ballgame and bbq...sounds like a good time.

 

You're in the insurance business - you already know the definition. If P&C insurance loss as a result of the act do not exceed $5,000,000 it's terrorism. So the dollar value of the damage perpetrated differentiates a terrorist from a revolutionary.

 

Sooooo, was the Boston Tea Party terroristism or an act of revolutionary war or a myth?


David

 

It was a symbolic gesture to tell England, "We're mad as hell, and we're not gonna take it anymore!" I'd have to go with with revolutionary war act, Alex.

 

Well since the people who won were also the ones to chucked the tea overboard, it was a revolutionary act.