Since when is piracy = terrorism?

[jsamuel]

I heard a woman on the radio today call the pirates terrorists. She was "glad the terrorists are dead." However, even the overly broad international definition of terrorism requires the motives to be political. However, in piracy and in this case, the motive was clearly monetary. Therefor, they were pirates and not terrorists.

[billyoc]

1. When the pirates aren't white.

[DesertFlower]

5. that's bullshit.

[arcadian]

14. +1

[liberalmuse]

2. It's not. 'Terrorist' is the new 'Gentile'. n/t

[DURHAM D]

3. My car was broken in to last week.

Should I refer to the perps, bored 8th graders that were skipping school that afternoon, as terrorists instead of teenagers?

It is so easy to get confused.

[DesertFlower]

4. definition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition_of_terrorism

[jsamuel]

9. Right, UN definition

"Reiterates that criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes are in any circumstance unjustifiable..."

[killbotfactory]

6. If you are accused of being a terrorist, you are a terrorist.

That's how you know who is and isn't a terrorist.

Just like witches and commies.

[lamp_shade]

7. Since Faux said so I guess.

[rucky]

8. Since it became politically motivated...

according to some interpretations.

But I have a feeling the people using the term aren't thinking about the over-fishing and waste-dumping in Somali waters. And I also have a feeling that most of the pirates really aren't thinking about that much, either.

[dipsydoodle]

10. Terrorists by and large

are those the USA has ceased to class as being useful usually following funding of some description. You know - like Clinton using a backdoor to send money and arms to Bosnia-Herzegovina to help the Muslims there by funding Muslims.

I don't think the pirates were ever considered to be useful.

[Xithras]

11. Terrorism is the act of using terror to extract change from the population or governments.

These pirates aren't terrorists. They're trying to extract MILLIONS! What kind of chump terrorizes people for freaking pocket change?

/sarcasm


Seriously though, it's Boosh and his redefinition of the term. For years, Americans were told that anyone who causes terror is a terrorist. They downplayed the second part...that the terror must be directed in a way to cause fear in the mass population with the goal of enacting social or political change.

Things actually do get interesting because of this. As a professor I work with once pointed out: If a gay hating bigot walks into a gay bar and shoots 30 people dead simply because he hates gays and wants them dead, he's a mass murderer and a bigot, but he's not a terrorist...even if the gay community is terrorized by the action.

If, on the other hand, the guy performs the exact same action with the intent of scaring the gays away from his hometown, or in the hopes of triggering some sort of anti-gay uprising, then he IS a terrorist.

Terrorism is much like a hate crime in that respect...it's not the action of the individual that really matters, but the perpetrators intent in carrying it out.

[ColbertWatcher]

12. ...

... Since 9/11?

[damntexdem]

13. It's not -- it's an economic crime.

But crime it is; and terrorists could adopt it as another terrorist tactic.

[kirby]

15. Welcome to the PATRIOT ACT world...

Terrorism is a slippery slope... Activists, music traders, P2P users, bicyclists have all been labeled Terrorists. The problem is that our new laws allow unprecedented and most likely unconstitutional powers to be used against them all in the name of 'Protecting the Homeland'.

Funny how Enron or Madoff or Stanford are never examined under that microscope.

[stray cat]

16. Probably not - just kidnapping, theft and murder of innocent people

but its pure criminal activity more than terrorism