How Widespread is this Point of View?

[jahcs]

<snip>

Question is:
What makes a terrorist a terrorist?

That he spreads terror? The U.S. did that repeatedly, as did Germany etc. So that 'cannot' (can it? think about it) be a valuable definition.

That he kills civilians? Please don't get me started. Again Germany, Turkey (The Osmanic Empire) and the U.S. spring to mind.

That he kills because he believes his religion tells him to? Explain the 'axis of evil' to me. Also keep the crusades in mind.

That he works in an underground network of drugs and weapons? Again, I will mention the Iran-Contra Affair.

That he is willing to die for his motives? Must people are willing to die for something.

I'm beginning to think: what really makes a terrorist a terrorist is the lacking support of a strong government. Maybe of a G-8 state. The terrorist as well as some big states often enough have some very weird perceptions of the world. Yet they don't have a powerful legitimate base to back it up. That's why they are then hunted down over the world.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't do anything about assaults. But I'm saying that it is often (no, not only sometimes) very very hard to judge who is more at fault.

Greetings, Fragbait
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Terrorism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from Terrorist)

The term terrorism is largely synonymous with "political violence," and refers to a strategy of using coordinated attacks that typically fall outside the time, manner of conduct, and place commonly understood as representing the bounds of conventional warfare.

"Terrorist attacks" are usually characterized as "indiscriminate," "targeting of civilians," or executed "with disregard" for human life. The term "terrorism" is often used to assert that the political violence of an enemy is immoral, wanton, and unjustified. According to definitions typically employed by states, academics, counter-terrorism experts, and non-governmental organizations, "terrorists" are actors who don't belong to any recognized armed forces, or who don't adhere to their rules, and who are therefore regarded as "rogue actors".

Because of the above pejorative connotations, those accused of being "terrorists" rarely identify themselves as such, and instead typically use terms that reference their ideological or ethnic struggle — separatist, freedom fighter, liberator, militant, insurgent, paramilitary, guerrilla, (from guerra, Spanish for "war"), rebel, jihadi and mujaheddin (both meaning "struggler"), or fedayeen ("prepared for martyrdom").

Key criteria
Official definitions determine counter-terrorism policy and are often developed to serve it. Most official definitions outline the following key criteria: target, objective, motive, perpetrator, and legitimacy or legality of the act.

Violence — According to Walter Laqueur of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, "the only general characteristic [of terrorism] generally agreed upon is that terrorism involves violence and the threat of violence". However, the criterion of violence alone does not produce a useful definition, as it includes many acts not usually considered terrorism: war, riot, organized crime, or even a simple assault. Whether property destruction is considered violent is also a common debate, especially with regard to the actions of the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front.
Target – It is commonly held that the distinctive nature of terrorism lies in its deliberate and specific selection of civilians as direct targets in the absence of a state of war.
This definition would exclude acts of war and attacks on military targets. It would pertain regardless of whether the attackers made an attempt to reduce civilian casualties. For example, the Zionist organization Irgun preceded many of its attacks (notably the 1946 King David Hotel bombing) with warnings to the press, the target, or the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine. They were nevertheless considered terrorists by the British. ETA and the Provisional IRA are also known for issuing warnings. In contrast, groups such as Hamas, al-Qaeda, and the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades who use attacks against civilian targets seek to maximize casualties, and therefore never issue warnings.
Objective – As the name implies, terrorism is understood as an attempt to provoke fear and intimidation in the main target audience , which may be a government, a whole society, or a group within a society. Terrorist acts are therefore designed and may be deliberately timed to attract wide publicity and cause public shock, outrage, and fear. The intention may be to provoke disproportionate reactions from governments.
Motive – Terrorists acts may be intended to achieve political or religious goals, which include the spread of fear and mayhem. The terrorist who acts as a mercenary, or gun-for-hire, may also be acting for personal gain: for example, see Abu Nidal. A gang of bank robbers who kill a bank manager, blow up his vault, and escape with the contents would not be classed as terrorists, but if they were to execute the same assault with the intention of causing a crisis in public confidence in the banking system, followed by a run on the banks, and a subsequent destabilization of the economy, then the gang would be classed as terrorists. This definition excludes organized crime.
Perpetrator – Most definitions of terrorism do not include legitimate governments as terrorist actors, unless acting clandestinely and in the absence of a state of war. Acts of war, including war crimes and crimes against humanity are regarded as distinct from terrorism, as are overt government repression of its own civilians, the Holocaust, and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, it does not rule out "state-sponsored terrorism", in which a government supports terrorist activity in another state, though this might instead be regarded as low-intensity warfare between sovereign states. Those who disagree with these definitions may use the term "state terror" to describe the actions of official groups such as the Gestapo, the KGB and the Stasi of East Germany against dissidents or ethnic minorities among their own citizens.
Legitimacy – Many official state definitions include that the act must be unlawful.

Wilkipedia strikes again

The current media driven culture flings the word terrorist around with wild abandon. For example, I hear graffiti "artists" now classified as terrorists instead of vandals. A criminal with several offenses is now often called a terrorist also. The current misuse of the word terrorist is definitely getting out of hand.