The old chestnut one mans terrorist is anothers so on so on.just doesnt wash Im afraid .If we take the actual ,ratified by the international conventions of war definition,off of the top of my head all I can remember is the organisation must have a recognisable chain of command and something that identifies them as combatents ,even an arm band.
But cos we ve all seen the films about the French resistance we tend to go easy on the identifier bit.
An easier way to differentiate them is a freedom fighter will target the security forces(not their families or friends) including police ,political figures and administrative organs of government and communications.
But a terrorist will plant bombs that they have no idea who they will kill on detonation ,target people because of the community they come from ,attack commercial premises or basically anyone at all to terrorise the population and thus weaken the will of the legitamate government to continue the struggle.
As an example in Ulster the I.R.A. in its various incarnations were terrorists not freedom fighters not only because they had freedom of speech,could put their policies through the ballot box and never at any time commanded the loyalty of anywhere near the majority of the electorate but because the majority of their murder victims had nothing whatsoever to do with the apparatus of state ,old ladies running candy stores,civilian workspeople,old people,entertainers ,milkmen and other jackbooted oppressors of the Irish people.
1. Who should we believe – Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, or the CIA?
Neither; both have reasons to lie, both have been trained to lie (if al-Nashiri is in fact an Al Queda operative). Trust the evidence, if you can find it, or else don’t trust anything. That’s kind of what I do, in my most cynical moments.
*2. Anybody still believe American authorities are not torturing prisoners?*Nope, I don’t doubt we torture high-visibility targets. I still deny that it is common practice for the rank and file, but that said it’s difficult to prove this. For the record I was always against torture because…
3. Anybody still think it’s a good way to get information?
Never has been, still isn’t. People will tell you whatever they think you want to hear just to make it stop.
[quote] Lust4Life: But a terrorist will plant bombs that they have no idea who they will kill on detonation ,target people because of the community they come from ,attack commercial premises or basically anyone at all to terrorise the population and thus weaken the will of the legitamate government to continue the struggle.[/quite]
Like all bombing raids including Hiroshima. Like Operation Shock and Awe. Like Lebanon. Like the Israelis. Like the Palestinians. Like the IRA. LIke England. Like Germany.
Oh, well…then the Gaelic/Old Irish wasn’t prohibited in Ulster then?
…Unless you’re counting the few hundred years prior to the division of Ireland into Protestant Ulster and the whole rest of it.
Did the English, then, kill any civilians? What would that make them?