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BleedBurgundy · 05-15-2009, 01:03 PM

Something else to think about is the word "Terrorist." What defines someone as a terrorist as opposed to a revolutionary/activist/conventional enemy? It's been said many times previously, but in the second half of the 18th century, terrorists went by the names of Washington, Jefferson and Adams, just to name a few. Terrorist, or in the Bushian vernacular "torrist," is just the latest broad brush that we use to paint anyone with views in opposition to our own. Many of the inmates in Gitmo are enemy combatants. Thus they were "terrorists." Yet, in the 1930s and '40s we somehow resisted the urge to keep indefinitely all Axis POW's that we captured. I really fail to see what the difference is aside from the obvious cultural distinctions. Again, these are all conversations in the abstract because right and wrong don't truly exist in a situation like this. We can use vocabulary to justify whatever we want and spin it a thousand times. The problem is that there are a large percentage of Americans who believe their own bullshit.

05-15-2009, 01:03 PM	#7
BleedBurgundy Playmaker Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 4,471	Re: Indefinite detentions under Obama??? Something else to think about is the word "Terrorist." What defines someone as a terrorist as opposed to a revolutionary/activist/conventional enemy? It's been said many times previously, but in the second half of the 18th century, terrorists went by the names of Washington, Jefferson and Adams, just to name a few. Terrorist, or in the Bushian vernacular "torrist," is just the latest broad brush that we use to paint anyone with views in opposition to our own. Many of the inmates in Gitmo are enemy combatants. Thus they were "terrorists." Yet, in the 1930s and '40s we somehow resisted the urge to keep indefinitely all Axis POW's that we captured. I really fail to see what the difference is aside from the obvious cultural distinctions. Again, these are all conversations in the abstract because right and wrong don't truly exist in a situation like this. We can use vocabulary to justify whatever we want and spin it a thousand times. The problem is that there are a large percentage of Americans who believe their own bullshit.