Hermit
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Rescuing Terrorism and Applying it Effectively.
« on: 2009-01-27 17:06:44 » |
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With Israel now accusing Hamas of "legal terrorism" (!) and with the US accusing people attacking occupation soldiers of "terrorism" even while, as state actors, Israel, the US and even Russia have largely being given a free free pass by the press and public, it is worth examining where the word came from and what it means.
Richard Falk, (law professor, Princeton University) reminds us that the Committee of Public Safety carried out a "Reign of Terror" and that the word "terrorism" was coined to describe the application of violence to civilians by government to enforce acquiescence.
Today international law says that one doesn't attack civilians and that having a military goal is not a sufficient cause to justify attacking civilians, and indeed, although civilian casualties incidental to a military campaign may sometimes be justifiable, anytime the harm to civilians outweighs the military benefits an action might bring, such an attack is a war crime.
Which means that targeting civilians, no matter who does it, is terrorism. Even when the civilians are Palestinians or Pashtuns. Whereas attacking military targets is not. Even when the military are American or Israeli.
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