Why isn't the PA Shooter referred to as a Terrorist?

[madinmaryland]

It seems to me that what he did qualifies as terrorism.

[niyad]

1. because he was white?

[Bridget Burke]

2. Terrorists have a "Cause"

This guy only represented his sick self.

[xultar]

3. Terrorists aren't white and to be a terrorist you must be Muslim.

Thats what the word is.

[ieoeja]

35. IRA

It's not just a retirement plan!

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. By all accounts, he was a devout Christian

And we know that devout... excuse me, fanatical Muslims are the only ones capable of being terrorists. :sarcasm:

[madinmaryland]

8. That's the answer!!!!!

The MSM keeps referring to him as a Christian who was a model citizen. Isn't that the way most terrorists portray themselves?

:grr:

[MrCoffee]

9. Your stereotyping is disgusting.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

11. Stereotyping terrorists?

[madinmaryland]

13. Huh?

[Clark2008]

20. Yeah - Mohammed Atta prayed daily and paid his taxes on time, too.

But he still, if the official conspiracy theory is to be believed, drove a jetliner full of people into a building, also full of people, killing men, women and children, indiscriminately, resulting in a charge of "terrorism."

However, a white Christian "terrorizing" a group of children is just a sick nut? Hardly.

[zbdent]

24. and wasn't he in this country legally?

I thought I heard something that all the "terrorists" who perp'd the 9/11 attacks had actually entered the country legally ...

[ieoeja]

33. Self delete n/a

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. Because he's not really a terrorist?

:shrug:

[MrCoffee]

6. Why do you want him to be? Don't validate the "All Terra All the Time"

mantra. He was a sick, demented murderer. Don't label him with their word.

[Beelzebud]

7. Because it wasn't terrorism.

If we start labeling every crime, no matter how hideous, as terrorism it opens the door to being labeled an Enemy Combatant, and therefore losing all constitutional rights.

Be careful with this type of stuff. Soon selling drugs or pirating movies could be seen as a form of terrorism.

[madinmaryland]

12. To me, there seems to be much in common this man has

with the suicide bombers. Both seem to be bent on creating fear and terror in their victims and in the end killing both themselves and their victims to make some sort of point.

:shrug:

BTW, I oppose this whoe "enemy combatant" and what it means. I believe in the rule of law and justice for all.

[Beelzebud]

16. I oppose it too, but it's now law.

If you are declared Enemy Combatant, it's off to the gulag for you, with no right to a fair trial.

This was a criminal action. Not an act of terrorism.

[Clark2008]

23. OK... lets break this down, then.

What is "terrorism?"

I'm sure these children were "terrorized" by this man. I'm sure that mother was, too. While he didn't kill them nearly instantly with a bomb strapped to his back, he still killed them and then killed himself.

The technical term probably would be "mass murderer," but that could apply to any of the 9/11 hijackers, as well.

Is it only "terrorism" when the perpetrator is from another country? Well, no, there was Timothy McVeigh and Eric Rudolph.

Is it only "terrorism" when the objects of destruction are governmental buildings full of government employees? Well, no, there was the WTCs.

It it only "terrorism" when the perpetrator is whacked out because of his religious beliefs? That was true of the 9/11 hijackers and Rudolph, but that definition also would include this guy.

I'm not being snide, really: I'm trying to determine what the actually definition for "terrorism" is or should be.

[northzax]

26. terrorism

is the use of violence, or the threat of violence, for political means by a non-state actor, with the goal of intimidating the greater population into making a change. This guy was simply, for lack of a better word, crazy. He had no political agenda, that we know of, only a personal one.

Tim McVeigh had a political agenda, and was a terrorist.
Ted Kazynscki had a political agenda, and was a terrorist.
Ted Bundy had no political agenda, and was a serial killer
Mohammed Atta and his band of thugs had a political agenda, and were terrorists.
this nutcase (I can't recall his name) had no political agenda and was a murderer.

Terrorism is a specific type of act, intention matters here, it can involve murder, certainly, but it doesn't have to.

[Beelzebud]

27. Words do have definitions.

American Heritage Dictionary

ter·ror·ism (tr-rzm)
n.

The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.




If you allow the word "terrorism" to be redefined, it opens the door to any criminal action being labeled terrorism, and with the new Enemy Combatant definitions, you should be really careful about labeling criminal offenses as terrorism.

[treestar]

10. Actually it would be amazing if the early coverage didn't at least

have some TV blowhard mentioning the word, or wondering if it was, or assuming it was a Muslim, or something along those lines.

Every single event of such type nowadays it usually at least vetted for the possibility of terra in the early reporting stages.

[sandnsea]

14. He has no political motives

Why do people want to exploit every single event for political purposes?

[kalibex]

28. You honestly think that all these recent murders of females...

...when guys end up going postal are just a collection of random coincidences? Just...pure chance? Just their...bad, tragic luck? (again&again&again&again&again)

Nope...no cultural context here...nosirree...move right along...


I love the smell of Deliberate Obtuseness in the morning...:eyes:


-B

[sandnsea]

31. There's a political faction murdering women?

:eyes:

Go get some air.

[kalibex]

38. Gotta love that Deliberate Obtuseness...

Main Entry: ter·ror·ism
Pronunciation: 'ter-&r-"i-z&m
Function: noun
the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion

[K8-EEE]

15. I Don't Think They Should Really Be Using That Term At All

It involved subjective judgement -- after all if your family is shot up by US troops in baghdad, would you experience that as terrorism? Even if you use the definition of "there has to be a political agenda" well Bush is torturing/killing people for a political agenda IMO he is a terrorist. But since they are not fair about applying it (he would never be called that by corp. media) then they should just stick with generic terms, hijacker, killer, shooter, etc.

Personally I think if this guy's name was Mohammed Al-Rasheed or something they would be reporting it as a terrorist attack. Certainly he terrorized those people and all of us too, sick bastard!!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

17. Because terrorists have to have a political agenda

no matter how twisted. Timothy McVeigh had a political agenda. Abortion clinic bombers have a political agenda. The Muslim militants have a political agenda.

This guy is a mass murderer.

All terrorists are mass murderers, but not all mass murderers are terrorists.

[4morewars]

18. Silly Liberal !

How can a man with a 'bush-cheney 04' sticker on his pick'em-up truck be a terrorist ?

[Bitwit1234]

19. CNN report

CNN is reporting that his wife said in the letter he left he was afraid he was going to molest again. That must be what he did years ago. He had a sexual jelly with him.

So after the school shooting in Colorado and the guy sexually assaulted the girls he kept behind, did it give this guy ideas. He took the lumber to barricade the doors, he sent the boys and the older woman away. And he tied their feet so they could not run. Then when the police arrived ahead of schedule he was interrupted in his sick plan.

They say that people don't copy cat, but I think this is exactly what this guy did. He figured if it had worked for the guy in Co. it would work for him. But the police fooled him when they burst thru the windows.

[madinmaryland]

21. The definition of Terrorist:

"Terrorism is the systematic use, or threatened use, of violence to intimidate a population or government and thereby effect political, religious or ideological change.<1><2> Acts of terrorism are not intended to merely victimize or eliminate those who are killed, injured or taken hostage but rather to intimidate and influence the societies to which they belong."

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

I don't know what the motive of the person was, but I think that he has managed to intimidate and infuence the societies to which they belong.

[onenote]

22. but motive is what matters

From what we know, his motive wasn't to intimidate and influence anyone..he was motivated by some weird inner shit involving his past history (allegedly) of molesting young relatives and his "anger at God".

In other words it was personal, not political. And it wasn't terrorism.

[SoCalDem]

25. You have to be a brown male who kills more people

and "terra-ists" are making a political statement..not just acting on some wacko personal problems..

what the Pa nut did WAS terror, but there we go again.. terror is a TACTIC and can be used by ANYONE...

[ieoeja]

34. Like all those brown skinned Irishmen in the IRA! n/a

[SoCalDem]

37. Why do you hate America

:P

dontchaknow that 'Merkins define terra-ists differently ...:)

[sinkingfeeling]

29. Because he wasn't a terrorist. These words, terrorist and terrorism,

have been reduced to meaningless garbage my this administration's (as well as several other world governments) constant labeling of people and acts as such. Words have definitions. The guy in PA was a killer or murderer who also seems to have had the desire to be a rapist.

[BuyingThyme]

32. Yes, it's those who manipulate elections by fear who fit the

legal definition. People like Chimp and the Gang.

[sinkingfeeling]

30. Sorry duplicate entry.

[Spider Jerusalem]

36. Because he's NOT a terrorist.

Terrorism is ideologically-motivated violence undertaken as a means of political coercion. Which is most certainly not what this was.