"'Terrorism" may be the most important, powerful word in the world right now." Phillip Cryan

Students and citizens need to study the word "terrorism" -- and think carefully about how the way we allow it to be defined creates enemies, justifies political and military actions, and legitimizes power.

Are these acts of terrorism?

• Native Americans attack a frontier fort.
• John Brown attacks the federal armory at Harper's Ferry to end slavery. (17 dead, including 10 raiders)
• Al Qaeda members fly airplanes into the World Trade Center to oppose US support of Israel. (2726 deaths)
• Americans drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima to force an unconditional surrender by the Japanese. (~200,000 deaths)
• Americans use a bombing campaign of "shock and awe" in Iraq as a response to Al Queda attacks. (over 1,000,000 Iraqis now dead as a result of the American invasion)

"One person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter." Michael Kinsley

"The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today is my own government." Martin Luther King, Jr.

The term “terrorism” means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents. United States Legal Code

Terrorism: "the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion." Wikipedia

Terrorism: The intentional targeting of non-combatants.

"The use of violence for political ends, and includes any use of violence for the purpose of putting the public, or any section of the public, in fear." British Government (1974)

Every international bloc, every State or indeed every community has enemies and opponents that seek to eliminate it, and, as the conflict becomes violent, each party tries to undermine the reputation of the other by attributing to it repulsive epithets, such as "anarchist," "criminal," "outlaw," "inhuman," "terrorist," and the like. -- Al-Tawhid (from an essay "relying on Islamic sources")