Terrorism: Who Owns the Term?

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Recommended: the difference between domestic terrorism and international terrorism

The term Terrorism may be a difficult term to define. Acts of terrorism conjure emotional responses in the victims as well as in the practitioners. I find it hard to believe that two parties can agree what we mean by terrorism. We all know that man has always sought its freedom or liberation, but how does a person achieves their freedom? “One Man's Terrorist is Another Man's Freedom Fighter” (Vallicella). Many people believe that terrorism is evil; it could be that the term is misunderstood because there is no set definition. Terrorism can be an attack, while for others terrorism can be a threat.

So what do we know about Terrorists? What are they thinking? Like most of us, we usually plan ahead of time and we aim for a goal. Every terrorist has a plan that involves wounding someone or causing permanently damaging to the innocent. These terrorist or should we say these groups, seek attention of their actions from the public. No terrorist group attacks in vain. Their goal is to fight, to frighten and putting fear into the public; hoping to dominate and take control. This might include a rival ethnic or religious group, an entire country, a national government or political party, or public opinion in general. (Huffman)

Can we as U.S. citizens or residents come to a determination of what is terrorism? More importantly can the U.S. Government come to an agreement on what terrorism is? The U.S. has its own terms and definitions of terrorism. The Department of Defense describes terrorism by saying “The calculated use of unlawful violence to inculcate fear, intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological”(DD). The FBI describes it as “The unl...

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...Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joint Publication 1-02: Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms ( Washington , DC : United States Department of Defense, 12 April 2001 p. 531. Web. 1 Mar. 2011 http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/new_pubs/jp1_02.pdf

Counterterrorism Threat Assessment and Warning Unit, National Security Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Terrorism in the United States 1999: 30 Years of Terrorism – A Special Retrospective Edition, (Washington, DC: United States Department of Justice, 1999), Web. 5 Mar. 2011 http://www.fbi.gov/publications/terror/terror99.pdf

Richardson, Joel, Antichrist: Islam’s Awaited Messiah, P.162 © 2006

Johnson Chalmers, Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic 2006,

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CBSNEWS Politics, Montopoli Brain, Hot Topics: Is U.S. A “Christian Nation?”

14 Apr. 2009, Web 23 Mar. 2011

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