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All "terrorism" is "blowback". Terrorists aren't just crazy folk who come out of the blue and go "I know, I'll blow some shit up just because" - they're politic
by madaxe 13y ago
All "terrorism" is "blowback". Terrorists aren't just crazy folk who come out of the blue and go "I know, I'll blow some shit up just because" - they're politically motivated and use fear as a weapon.
They're politically motivated due to actual or perceived past injustices perpetrated by their targeted nation or organisation.
On the note of using fear as a weapon however, our own governments have become absolutely expert, and media reports can now almost have the same impact as an actual terrorist attack in terms of controlling patterns of thought through fear.
So, by the definition of a terrorist as being someone who controls a population through fear, or in fact the fear of fear... you can see where I'm going.
- FedRegister 13y agoNot to mention the terrorists that planned 9/11 were, decades earlier, "freedom fighters" to the State Department as they were denying control of Afghanistan to the Soviet Union. Funny how quickly the prevailing winds can change.
- madaxe 13y agoWell, yes, OBL and the mujahideen who became al-qaeda were set up, trained and armed by the CIA in the 80's. There's no way it's not blowback. I mean, jesus, the US are supporting AQ RIGHT NOW in Syria. Fickle.
- cinquemb 13y agoAQ has been and continues receiving DoD contracts in Afghanistan[1]: “I am deeply troubled that the U.S. military can pursue, attack, and even kill terrorists and their supporters, but that some in the U.S. government believe we cannot prevent these same people from receiving a government contract,” I don't even know if you can call this blowback any more, because it sounds like some people in power are playing a big game of red team vs blue team and take everyone else along for the ride… which goes along with "So, by the definition of a terrorist as being someone who controls a population through fear, or in fact the fear of fear... you can see where I'm going." [1] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-30/al-qaeda-backers-found-with-u-s-contracts-in-afghanistan.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-30/al-qaeda-backers-fo...
- uwotm8920 13y ago> Terrorists aren't just crazy folk Ok, explain the geopolitical motivations behind shooting a 14 year old school girl in the head. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malala_Yousafzai http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malala_Yousafzai
- FedRegister 13y agoThe goals of terrorism need not be worldwide. The point the gunman was trying to make when he shot Malala Yousafzai was not to the West. It was to the local people in Pakistan that education of girls would not be tolerated even if it were mandated. It was not to stop schools from opening, but it was to deter interest in the parents and girls from attending those schools. That is a political goal, and it absolutely motivated the shooter to commit an act of terror. One may argue about the legitimacy of that goal (it's certainly taken as a religious teaching in that part of the world), but that does not make the goal apolitical.
- uwotm8920 13y agoOk excellent. We've established that it's terrorism. So how is that blowback for American policies?
- FedRegister 13y agoNot all acts of terror are blowback for American policies. Nobody ever claimed that they were. Just that all acts of terror were blowback for something.
- uwotm8920 13y agoSo what is this a blowback for?
- jacquesm 13y ago> We've established that it's terrorism. Something tells me you were aiming for that. But in fact it isn't, it's just people with a few screws loose in their head that are afraid of emancipated and educated women closely aligned with a religion. Think 'insecure males' before you think 'terrorism' in this particular case.