What is terrorism?

The way the mainstream media uses the word, a Muslim who is inspired by the terrorism committed by other Muslims, and then goes and commits mass murder of a type which would definitely be classified as “terrorism” if carried out by a member of Al Qaeda, but who is not himself a member of Al Qaeda or a similar organization, is not a terrorist.

* * *

We are actually quite lucky that there aren’t that many Muslims in the U.S. willing to go act on their own. All it takes to kill a bunch of Americans is a gun and a lack of concern about what happens to you after you start killing people. A more sophisticated terrorist could leave bombs on timers at places where they would kill a lot of people, and thus repeat the crime many times without being caught, but that would require knowing how to build and/or acquire the materials to make a bomb with a timed detonator. The DC snipers (who were Muslim) demonstrated that it’s possible to repeatedly kill people with a gun and not get caught.

The reason why the terrorists in the Middle East don’t bother using timed detonators is because human suicide detonators are in greater supply than the mechanical variety.

Comments

[TGGP]

They use detonators all the time in Iraq for IEDs. Plus, didn't you hear about the Palestinians who blew themselves up on accident because they refused to adopt Zionist Daylight Savings Time?

[James B. Shearer]

"The reason why the terrorists in the Middle East don’t bother using timed detonators is because human suicide detonators are in greater supply than the mechanical variety."

I don't think so. Three other reason make more sense. Carrying and leaving a package bomb is more conspicuous. Better targeting, if Stauffennberg had been willing to detonate his bomb himself he would have had a higher chance of killing Hitler. Better security, less chance the bomber will be taken alive.

[Anon]

Muslims in the middle east do not use mechanical detonators? Wow, and here I thought most IEDs were blown up by remote control (through cell phones, usually), rather than have some young Iraqi prone next to them with his finger on the button.

[ATC]

The terrorist attack brought back memories of a SWPL bow-to-Allah-fest I heard last year on public radio. Malkin would probably call this "dhimmitude."

http://www.pri.org/theworld/?q=month/2008/12&page=9

Scroll down to "When two ideals collide". The following exchange between The World anchor Marco Werman and religion editor Jane Little takes place at 2m 31s.

Marco Werman:
Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights gives individuals the freedom to change their religion. Now that clearly clashes with Islam, right, which specifically prohibits Muslims from renouncing their faith. So, what are the details there, and how come the people who wrote the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 failed to take that precept of Islam into account?

Jane Little:
Well, some would argue this is a very Western document [note the self-contempt in the way she says "Western"]. It was part of a post-Enlightenment, post World War II mentality (in) that it was very much written within a Western cultural framework.

[Richard Hoste www.hbdbooks.com]

This was an attack on soldiers, not civilians. Is it appropriate to call it terrorism?

[Marla Singer]

I wouldn't call it terrorism, because it occured only once by the same group. I think this is more similar to the Virginia Tech shootings.

[Yawner]

Title 18, Part I, Chapter 113B, § 2331

(5) the term “domestic terrorism” means activities that—
(A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State;
(B) appear to be intended—
(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and
(C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.

(I''d say this fits.)

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/sept09/domesticterrorism090709.html

Domestic Terrorism in the Post-9/11 Era
9/7/09

as we were reminded by shootings in Kansas, Arkansas, and the nation’s capital over just 11 days this spring, the threat of domestic terror—Americans attacking Americans based on U.S.-based extremist ideologies—is alive and well. Today’s domestic terror threats run the gamut, from hate-filled white supremacists…to highly destructive eco-terrorists…to violence-prone anti-government extremists…to radical separatist groups. One particularly insidious concern that touches all forms of domestic extremism is the lone offender—a single individual driven to hateful attacks based on a particular set of beliefs without a larger group’s knowledge or support. In some cases, these lone offenders may have tried to join a group but were kicked out for being too radical or simply left the group because they felt it wasn’t extreme or violent enough. We believe most domestic attacks are carried out by lone offenders to promote their own grievances and agendas.

(So you see the FBI is happy to call something terrorist if a "lone nut" does it - so long as the lone nut is on the Right, anyway...)

[James]

Terrorism is when a small number of actors randomly kill people in a social space that is normally assumed to be safe. Usually for political reasons, but in my opinion the situation matters more than the motive.

Terrorism is never justified, because it has very little military utility (studies show that even the mass carpet bombing of Germany during WWII had surprisingly little effect on German war production until late in the war, so just imagine how little effect setting off a bomb in a subway would have). It has more political utility, but only for the most unscrupulous politicians. For any normal political party it is difficult to imagine a worse PR move.

[twitter.com/MichaelRVentura]

That is true that the terror bombings of German civilians gave the allies almost no advantage.

Still, 9/11 sure did some real damage to the American economy.

It's very strange, considering that fact, that the American Economic Elite has done nothing to reduce or cut off Muslim immigration since 9/11.