Yus, Note the following from another raver and ranter: so there is no concensus on the meaning of this evil word and act. >In fact, the only consistent definition of terrorism is based on the >deliberate killing of civilians to achieve political goals-- not on whether >the killers are backed by a state or not, and certainly not on the methods >they choose to use to kill their victims. A consistent definition, however, >is one that virtually no news organization would be willing to use. > >They would have to refer to the "terrorist" bombings of Hiroshima and >Nagasaki, to U.S. support for "terrorist" governments in Central America >that killed hundreds of thousands of civilians, to the U.S.'s "terrorist" >attacks on civilian infrastructure in Iraq and Yugoslavia. (The attacks on >water treatment facilities in Iraq alone have certainly-- and >deliberately-- >killed more civilians than any Palestinian group; see The Progressive, >9/01.) > >And they would have to use the word "terrorism" to describe actions by both >sides in the Israeli-Palestian conflict. Consider a May 1996 report from >Human Rights Watch on Israel's tactics in Lebanon earlier that year: > >"In significant areas in southern Lebanon whole populations-- indeed anyone >who failed to flee by a certain time-- were targeted as if they were >combatants.... The intention of the warnings that were broadcast and >subsequent shelling is likely to have been to cause terror among the >civilian population.... The IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] also executed what >appear to have been calculated direct attacks on purely civilian >targets.... >The IDF at times hindered and even attacked ambulances and vehicles of >relief organizations, and carried out a number of attacks on persons >attempting to flee the area." > >If news organizations are prepared to describe such tactics as terrorism, >then they should consistently apply the same term to non-governmental >groups >that target civilians. If media are unwilling or unable to be consistent, >then they should, indeed, avoid the use of the word "terrorism," instead >describing specific activities and letting readers make up their own minds >what they should be called. > > > > >_________________________________________________________________ >Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. >http://www.hotmail.com > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L >Web interface >at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html >To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: >[log in to unmask] > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~