# Are all terrorists Musims today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 21, 2007, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642 "2007-07-21T06:48:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642/21 "2007-07-21T19:01:21Z")
[QUOTE=Lust4Life] Theres quite a few terrorists in Zimbabwe known as the Government. [/QUOTE] That’s wierd, we call them that in the US too. ---
**Author:** ![I\_m\_Ron\_Burgundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9fc29f/32.png) [@I\_m\_Ron\_Burgundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_m_Ron_Burgundy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642/22 "2007-07-21T21:06:17Z")
[http://blog.kir.com/archives/George-Bush%20frowning.jpg](http://blog.kir.com/archives/George-Bush%20frowning.jpg) This one’s a born-again Christian, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642/23 "2007-07-21T21:13:18Z")
So, once again **bob\_co** has been thoroughly rebutted. It’s always great to see how well the SMDB pulls together to answer these … uh … tough questions. So, bob\_co, the answer is a resounding “no.” _Not_ “all terrorists are Musims [sic] today.” Anything to say? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_co](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@bob\_co](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_co)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642/24 "2007-07-21T21:27:41Z")
I would hardly call the KKK or the Black Panthers terrorists. There are the abortion clinic bombers. I 'spose they are terrorists. (question answered) All of the rest seem to fall under the umbrella of political struggle. My assumption that I am seeking to test is that the Muslim religion is the only entity out there killing civilians and trying to convert the whole world to their beliefs by random acts of violence. That does not make any logical sense at all, and that is why the question was put forth. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_co](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@bob\_co](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_co)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642/25 "2007-07-21T21:30:04Z")
Is a terrorist attack supposed to make me run down to a mosque and change my ways? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642/26 "2007-07-21T21:34:08Z")
[QUOTE=bob\_co] Is a terrorist attack supposed to make me run down to a mosque and change my ways? [/QUOTE] No, it’s supposed to make you die! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642/27 "2007-07-21T21:36:52Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] The Tamil Tigers are Hindus. [/QUOTE] The Tigers’ ideology is Tamil nationalist. Most of it’s membership is Hindu, because most Sri Lankan Tamils are Hindu, but it doesn’t have an explicitly Hindu ideology. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642/28 "2007-07-21T21:45:14Z")
[QUOTE=bob\_co] All of the rest seem to fall under the umbrella of political struggle. [/QUOTE] That’s what terrorism is, though. It’s the use of violence intended to frighten the government into giving in to the terrorist group’s political ends. And if the KKK and Black Panthers aren’t terrorist groups, what are they? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_co](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@bob\_co](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_co)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642/29 "2007-07-21T21:50:59Z")
What are the terrorists ends then in the case of most major terror attacks in the world today? What do they want? The KKK and Black Panthers in this day and age are misguided youths who grow out of it. They are far far away from strapping bombs to themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642/30 "2007-07-21T21:53:33Z")
[QUOTE=bob\_co] The KKK and Black Panthers in this day and age are misguided youths who grow out of it. [/QUOTE] Would you like to cite either of those comments? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_co](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@bob\_co](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_co)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642/31 "2007-07-21T22:00:48Z")
I could not find any reports of KKK suicide bombers. Sorry, not cite for that one. The KKK has been linked to some of the above mentioned abortion clinic bombings. I 'spose that qualifies. They want us to stop abortions. They are a street gang, not a global terrorist movement. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642/32 "2007-07-21T22:03:22Z")
[QUOTE=bob\_co] They are a street gang, not a global terrorist movement. [/QUOTE] You never specified anything about global terrorism. Terrorism doesn’t need to be global or a movement. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_co](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@bob\_co](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_co)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642/33 "2007-07-21T22:03:46Z")
The envonmental terrorists seem to fall under the same category as the gangs. We know what they want, and most of them grow out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642/34 "2007-07-21T22:08:56Z")
[QUOTE=bob\_co] I My assumption that I am seeking to test is that the Muslim religion is the only entity out there killing civilians and trying to convert the whole world to their beliefs by random acts of violence. [/QUOTE] You mean like America invading Iraq and trying to impose it’s version of capitalism and democracy ? ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642/35 "2007-07-21T22:22:30Z")
You can’t be a terrorist if we “know what you want”? Instead your just a “gang” and will grow out of it? I think the question in the OP has been answered. If you want to ask something else, I think you’re going to need to phrase it more clearly. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642/36 "2007-07-21T22:30:51Z")
[QUOTE=bob\_co] What are the terrorists ends then in the case of most major terror attacks in the world today? [/QUOTE] It depends on the terrorist group. In the case of the PLO, it’s to set up an independant Palestinian state. In the case of Hamas, an independent theocratic Palestinian state. The terrorists in Iraq, to get the US out and overthrow the Iraqi government. Al Qaeda generally, to overthow the Saudi government. Each group has it’s own goals. And, in the case of the Klan, for instance, they are a terrorist group. If they burn a cross on the lawn of a black family that moved into the neighborhood, they’re doing it to frighten them to accomplish their goal of keeping blacks out of their neighborhood, as well as sending a message to any other blacks who might want to move in. That’s terrorism. You’re right that in a lot of cases, people join young, and then, as they grow older and less stupid, leave, but that’s true of groups like al Qaeda too. Of the 19 9/11 hijackers, the oldest one was 33. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_co](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@bob\_co](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_co)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642/37 "2007-07-21T22:34:06Z")
We are changing Iraq’s government by force. That is war and someone imposing their will on another directly. Terrorism is something that someone who does not have the available resources to impose their will does. Bluntly then … Who else is strapping bombs to children and blowing themselves up to get their point across? What is their point? How can I capitulate so that I don’t become a victim? ---
**Author:** ![Haunted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/898d66/32.png) [@Haunted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642/38 "2007-07-21T22:37:24Z")
If a terrorist group is covert and does not seek credit for its acts, do we still call them terrorists? Yes, I speak of the CIA. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642/39 "2007-07-21T22:39:02Z")
[QUOTE=bob\_co] What are the terrorists ends then in the case of most major terror attacks in the world today? What do they want? [/QUOTE] In the case of al Qaeda, the have [five basic goals](http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0911/p10s01-wogi.html): > [@](#): > > 1. Remove US forces from Saudi Arabia. (In 2001, there were about 4,500 US troops there. Today, about 500 remain.) > > 2. Remove all foreign armies from all Muslim countries. > > 3. Destroy Israel and control Jerusalem. > > 4. Overthrow Arab regimes. > > 5. Establish a caliphate (a spiritual and secular ruler of the Islamic state.) Notice they do not want to convert to Islam any nations outside of the Middle East. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642/40 "2007-07-21T22:49:12Z")
[QUOTE=bob\_co] Bluntly then … Who else is strapping bombs to children and blowing themselves up to get their point across? What is their point? How can I capitulate so that I don’t become a victim? [/QUOTE] That is one particular method that a subset of terrorists use. Your OP asked about terrorists in general. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-terrorists-musims-today/412642.md?page=3)