badbob, now that I think about it, the FBI are terrorists. See Ruby Ridge and Waco for just a few notable examples
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]
Terrorist \Ter"ror*ist\, n. [F. terroriste.]
1. One who governs by terrorism or intimidation;
specifically, an agent or partisan of the revolutionary
tribunal during the Reign of Terror in France. --Burke.
[1913 Webster]
2. One who commits terrorism[2].
[PJC]
WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]
terrorist
adj : characteristic of someone who employs terrorism (especially
as a political weapon); "terrorist activity";
"terrorist state"
n : a radical who employs terror as a political weapon; usually
organizes with other terrorists in small cells; often
uses religion as a cover for terrorist activities
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]
121 Moby Thesaurus words for "terrorist":
Bolshevik, Bolshevist, Bolshie, Carbonarist, Carbonaro, Castroist,
Castroite, Charley, Communist, Cong, Fenian, Guevarist, Jacobin,
Leninist, Mafioso, Maoist, Marxist, Mau-Mau, Puritan, Red,
Red Republican, Roundhead, Sinn Feiner, Trotskyist, Trotskyite, VC,
Vietcong, Yankee, Yankee Doodle, Young Turk, alarmist, anarch,
anarchist, annihilator, arsonist, assassin, beast, beldam, berserk,
berserker, biblioclast, bomber, bonnet rouge, brute, burner,
criminal, criminal syndicalist, demolisher, demon, desperado,
destroyer, devil, dragon, dynamitard, dynamiter, exterminator,
felon, fiend, fire-eater, firebrand, fury, goon, gorilla, gunman,
gunsel, hardnose, hell-raiser, hellcat, hellhound, hellion,
holy terror, hood, hoodlum, hothead, hotspur, hun, iconoclast,
idol breaker, idoloclast, incendiary, insurgent, killer, mad dog,
madcap, monster, mugger, nihilist, radical, rapist, rebel, red,
revolutionary, revolutionary junta, revolutioner, revolutionist,
revolutionizer, ruiner, sans-culotte, sans-culottist, savage,
scaremonger, she-wolf, spitfire, subversive, syndicalist,
termagant, terror, thug, tiger, tigress, tough, tough guy,
ugly customer, vandal, violent, virago, vixen, wild beast, witch,
wolf, wrecker
Mr Coulson said there were some "very strong indicators" that other people were involved with Timothy McVeigh
Uh, Mr. Welch?
Did I say I had a problem with it?
History is a funny thing, especially American history.
What most people are taught is that the American Revolution was based on only the highest ideals, conducted only by people of the most impecable character, and done free of all the baggage that normally accompanies a war.
Bull****.
Don't you find it both curious AND interesting at the same time that Thomas Jefferson wrote of all men being created equal, yet held slaves? That he stated, during debates on adoption of the Declaration of Independence that he had resolved to release his slaves, but yet never did?
That George Washington said that he never wanted command of the Continental Army, but yet every day showed up in Congress wearing the same suit of clothes -- his Major's uniform from the French and Indian Wars?
That George Washington was a military bungler who almost lost the Revolution several times, yet was very likely the only person who could have held the Continental Army together for 8 years of war?
That George Washington and John Hancock were probably the two richest men in the colonies, whose wealth derived and largely depended on the British Empire, yet they fully supported independence?
That the "crushing taxes" paid by Colonists were actually substantially less than those paid by people of the same class in Britain?
That the British tax on tea, which resulted in the Boston Tea Party, actually made tea CHEAPER in the colonies?
That Benjamin Franklin, an ardent supporter of independence, had a son who was Colonial Governor of New Jersey, and when William Franklin was arrested, Ben did absolutely nothing to help his son, and in fact totally cut him off?
That John Adams, ardent supporter of the concept of the equality of men, was an incredibly imperious prick who never failed to let people know, in action and word, that he was their superior?
That John Dickinson adamantly opposed the push for independence and refused to sign the Declaration but instead of joining the British army, where he would have become an officer, he joined a Delaware militia unit and fought AGAINST the British?
The history of the Founding Fathers are full of these kinds of "psychotic fugue" examples.
Over the past 200 years we've made the mistake as a nation of deifying these people -- converting them to marble statues and have virtually ignored what they really were -- men who were just as human and just a fallable (sp?) as any one else of the time.
It's inconvenient to look at the incongruities of our Founding Fathers, because it ruptures the little mythories that we've been taught about them and their motivations.
History, even American history, is sometimes pretty damned ugly. But to ignore the real history of these men in favor of some sanitized Parson Weemsistic version of "the truth" does them a great disservice. And to be sucked into that kind of does the "suckee" an equally great disservice.
The major purpose of a terrorist is to say Hey I am here! To get the world to notice. I think the tea party qualifies as a terrorist attack.It was intended to disrupt commerce and revenue for England, and ultimately drive up the price of tea (in other words, it was meant to annoy the British).
In fact, they were, by today's definition. Important point, that. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. Has ALWAYS been that way, and ALWAYS will be that way.