Talk:Definition of terrorism
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this comes from the doublespeak page, where User:Uriyan had added it at one time:
- Note however, that in scholarly contexts, "terrorist" is usually defined in a way consistent with the biases of the politics of
the region where the scholastic institution is located.
I'm not sure if it can be considered useful inspiration?? Mozzerati 21:26, 2004 Aug 9 (UTC)
I changed the section on the EU definition to update it. It referred to the source and substance of the proposed definition, rather than the source and substance of the definition actually used. Further, I removed the section delaing with the Euro-med summit 2005 which was not relevant to the European Union definition of terrorism, and was principally concerned with showing that a definition had not been agreed within the context of that summit.There are many international meetings where the groups have failed to agree on a definition of "terrorism." I do not see how the fact that a meeting between the EU, and certain North African countries failed to agree a definition of terrorism is relevant to a section on the EU definition of terrorism. Diranh
The article says:
- For this reason, many news sources avoid using this term, opting instead for less accusatory words like "bombers", "militants", etc.
There should be some discussion here about the fact that this is a new development. News services stopped using "terrorist" and "terrorism" only in the last few years. And some people believe that this is evidence of their taking a stand on a controversial issue. --71.146.181.227 19:17, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
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[edit] Wider implications of this article
Wikipedia should be internally consistent with itself, so shouldn't the content of this article determine if we use the word 'terrorist' at all? As far as I am concerned, and how I read the article, the term expresses a POV and so has no place in wikipedia articles except when attributed to a source. Damburger 09:37, 18 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Designations
Although the definition of terrorist conduct is controversial, many organisations have been designated as terrorists, which has a very real and specific legal consequence. Shouldn't this be mentioned in this article?--AndrewRT 19:54, 1 August 2006 (UTC)
A useful reference is this article: Jenny Teichman, How to define Terrorism, Philosophy: The Journal of the Royal Institute of Philosophy, vol. 64, no. 250, (October, 1989), p. 511
The article gives historical overview, in brief (if memory serves):
Originally (18th C.) the term was coined for acts of state violence, eg collective punishment, intended to instil fear in the population. The modern use was taken up in 1960's West Germany to designate RAF activities, and has since been increasingly used for acts of violence by individuals or nongovernmental groups. She goes on to propose a definition covering most uses. The article was written in response to a definition proposed by (?US state dept?) under the first Bush administration, which more or less excludes acts by a state.
A partial rewrite using Teichman as source may bring a little coherence to the current article. It seems also to be cited in literature (well, from a quick googling...) Klapautius 11:32, 13 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Boston Tea Party
There is currently a discussion in Talk:Boston Tea Party, as to whether the BTP meets the definition of an act of terrorism. Could interested parties peek in? For the sake of a more pluralistic viewpoint, it would be nice if people not from the US also got involved in the discussion. Thanks, samwaltz 14:52, 22 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Edward Peck quote
I propose that the Edward Peck quote be either eliminated or reduced to: Some United States government groups have had trouble creating a definition for terrorism that was accurate while keeping the definition from encompassing acts by the United States and Israel.[[1]] Reason: the quote does not hold the weight of federal law, a UN resolution, or even an academic definition.--Mich112358 20:28, 28 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] 109 definitions
The citation is weak. It cites a study (Jeffrey Record, "Bounding the Global War on Terrorism") that cites a book (Bruce Hoffman “Defining Terrorism,” ) that cites a book (Alex Schmid, et al. "Political Terrorism: A New Guide to Actors, Authors, Concepts, Data Bases, Theories, and Literature") that cites either the study or a book that cites the study (it is unclear at the moment). I left off with the [schmidt] citation if someone can track from there. I suspect its a political statement that biases original information. What is apparent from the secondary or tertiary source I tracked down is that it was survey work among experts and that the author was able to construct a defiintion that "81% of [expert] respondents found fully or partially acceptable". Mrdthree 18:22, 3 February 2007 (UTC)
I do not understand why it seems like most definintions either: 1. Try to model the formulation in order to target as best as possible the author's (group or culture) primary anemy. 2. To blure the term in such a way that almost every act of war/violence can fit the definition. 3. To say in some words that "it is in the eye of the beholder".
so either "my enemy is the best example of terrorism" or "everebody is a terrorist" , or "nobody is a terrorist".
Inclusion in the definition of highly subjective and interpretable terms like the 'motivation behind', or if it's "legal" or "(un)justified" makes the definition worthless when it can be as simple and clear as this: "Organized acts of violence intended against noncombatant civilian population." I think most of the "experts" were concerned more of who the definition might or might not include, rather then defining what is terrorism.
[edit] 'War' on Terror
I am bothered by this quote "Generally speaking, only a small group of radical interest groups define the War on Terror as "atrocities" or compare it with acts of terrorism."
I believe that a lot of people consider the 'war' on terror to be comparable with acts of terrorism. So saying that only a small 'radical' group believes that violates NPOV.
I know I am biased, but I believe that saying the WOT is comparable with acts of terrorism is a fairly common non-fringe belief.
Going much further, I also believe that the doctrines of 'Shock and Awe' and 'preemptive war' are fairly commonly held to be comparable with, if not actually completely, terrorism.
[edit] = Reasons for controversy
This section is badly out of shape with regards NPOV guidelines. "However it needs to be stated", "The legitimate governments of nations, and their police and military forces, need to" and "This is true " have no place in any Wiki article. The third paragraphs suggestion that the world is beginning to regard terrorism as a purely Muslim activity is, as well as being un-cited is rather shrill.
Unless soemone wants to do a fairly extensive re-write on paragraphs 3-5 of this section, they should be deleted altogether. Epeeist smudge 16:02, 20 February 2007 (UTC)
