The word terrorism is notoriously hard to define, for reasons which will become clear in a few minutes.
The term "terrorism" comes from Latin terrere, "to frighten." A dictionary definition is:
- the act of terrorizing; use of force or threats to demoralize, intimidate, and subjugate, esp. such use as a political weapon or policy
- the demoralization and intimidation produced in this way
"The threat or actual use of violence in order to intimidate or create panic, especially when utilized as a means of attempting to influence political conduct."
Chapter 113B of Part I of Title 18 of the United States Code defines terrorism and lists the crimes associated with terrorism.[24] In Section 2331 of Chapter 113b, terrorism is defined as:
"…activities that involve violent… or life-threatening acts… that… appear to be intended... to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;"
Edward Peck, former U.S. Chief of Mission in Iraq under Jimmy Carter:
"In 1985, when I was the Deputy Director of the Reagan White House Task Force on Terrorism, they asked us... to come up with a definition of terrorism that could be used throughout the government. We produced about six, and each and every case, they were rejected, because careful reading would indicate that our own country had been involved in some of those activities. […] After the task force concluded its work, Congress got into it, and you can Google into U.S. Code Title 18, Section 2331, and read the US definition of terrorism. And one of them in here says — one of the terms, 'international terrorism,' means 'activities that,' I quote, 'appear to be intended to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping.' […] Yes, well, certainly, you can think of a number of countries that have been involved in such activities. Ours is one of them. Israel is another. And so, the terrorist, of course, is in the eye of the beholder."
For instance, in 2000 Hans Von Sponeck, the head UNICEF official in Iraq from 1998 to 2000, placed the death toll from the 1990s US-led Iraq sanctions at 1.26 million, including 500,000 children under the age of five.
That would be the equivalent of almost 13 million American deaths, including 5 million helpless children.
Imagine how hard it would be for Tony Soprano to create universal and objective moral definitions condemning racketeering, blackmail, extortion and intimidation that did not include his own activities...
Most skeptics, particularly on the left, are deeply aware of the violence and intimidation that the US government has used throughout its history...
The death count for US imperialism has been conservatively estimated at almost 30,000,000 souls.
Three times the body count of World War I. 10,000 times 9/11. Imagine a 9/11 attack every single day, somewhere in the US, for over 25 years straight...
However, all this almost completely misses the point and true definition of terrorism.
- the act of terrorizing; use of force or threats to demoralize, intimidate, and subjugate, esp. such use as a political weapon or policy
- the demoralization and intimidation produced in this way
The use or threat of violence against foreigners is only possible and profitable because of the use or threat of violence against domestic citizens.
Against – you.
Donald Rumsfeld, George Bush, Paul Wolfowitz, Dick Cheney -- and all of the war profiteers -- do not pay for the wars they start.
If they did, there would be no wars.
You pay for these wars.
The blood is on their hands.
The bill is in yours, and your children's.
Why do you pay for the wars?
Well, for the same reason that you would pay off Tony Soprano.
Because the government "uses force or threats to demoralize, intimidate, and subjugate" you.
If you do not pay your taxes – your extortion - you will get a letter, and then another letter, and then a court date, and then an extortion notice for back taxes, interest and penalties.
If you do not pay off this extortion, armed thugs in costume will come to your house and drag you off to jail.
If you resist, you will be brutally subdued – if you raise a gun to defend yourself against this home invasion, you will be slaughtered like livestock in a hail of bullets.
In jail, you will be brutalized, tortured, raped, for months and years. You may be released, eventually, like Winston Smith, a broken and shattered soul.
This is the reality of human farming.
Violence, kidnapping, torture and institutionalized "rape rooms" – these are all threats designed to "demoralize, intimidate and subjugate" for the political goals of regime change.
War is an effect of taxation.
Taxation is terrorism.
And that is only the beginning.
It is always hard to truly see the terrorism involved in advancing causes we believe are good.
Do you like the idea of giving money to the poor, of reducing addiction to hard drugs, of providing healthcare to the needy sick, and sustenance to the aged?
I think that these are all goals that we would accept as good.
How are these goals pursued in a statist society?
First, terrorism is used to extract money from the general population.
Next, some of that money is used to pay for additional terrorism against people suspected or accused of drug use.
Next, more money is used to pay for kidnapping and imprisonment. The torture is shared between the guards and the fellow prisoners.
Remember: terrorism is:
"The act of terrorizing; use of force or threats to demoralize, intimidate, and subjugate, esp. such use as a political weapon or policy."
Every policy the government has is a political policy.
The only fundamental weapon any government has is the legal initiation of the use of force.
The initiation of violence in order to achieve a political policy is terrorism.
The war on drugs is a political policy which is entirely dependent upon the initiation of violence.
Public school education is a political policy which is entirely dependent upon the initiation of violence.
The welfare state is a political policy which is entirely dependent upon the initiation of violence.
Every goal the government pursues is a political policy which is entirely dependent upon the initiation of violence.
This is why terrorism is so impossible to define.
Statism is terrorism.
We are educated by terrorists.
We are controlled, kidnapped, imprisoned and bribed by terrorists.
And when we see it, and feel it, and speak it clearly, it will end.
List of US imperialist deaths: http://tinyurl.com/statism-6
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