Tony Snow Ducks Obvious Question: Was Seattle Shooting "Terrorism"?

[DistressedAmerican]

Of course he didn't even answer it. What a hack.


I posted that night to the great irritation of many that the shooter was clearly politically motivated terrorism. He was targeting the center as a surrogate for Israel and the US government with whom he has made it clear he has great issues.

People immediately just screamed at me "NO! THE GUY IS JUST NUTS!" This is not terrorism.


Here are all definitions from Dictionary.com:

ter·ror·ism ( P ) Pronunciation Key (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.


Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.


Main Entry: ter·ror·ism
Pronunciation: 'ter-&r-"i-z&m
Function: noun
1 : the unlawful use or threat of violence esp. against the state or the public as a politically motivated means of attack or coercion
2 : violent and intimidating gang activity <street terrorism> —ter·ror·ist /-ist/ adj or noun —ter·ror·is·tic /"ter-&r-'is-tik/ adjective


Source: Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.


terrorism

n : the calculated use of violence (or threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimindation or coercion or instilling fear

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Does anyone want to deny that this man's shooting in Seattle fits every definition offered above with the exception of the "gang violence" definition?

Seems a clear terrorist attack to me.

Motivated by his opposition to Israel and our war in Iraq. Our policies breed terrorism.

[Poll_Blind]

1. If he was Muslim and not Christian I think there would be different..

...play from the White House.

PB

[DistressedAmerican]

14. Cuz, regional ties and Arab decsent mean so much less than reent

conversion.

Sounds like an admission that by the administration definition "terraaists" are ONLY Muslims.

So much for no war on Islam!

[JackNewtown]

21. He wasn't of Arab descent nor was he from the Middle East nt

[uppityperson]

2. yes, and he was nuts too.

USA policies help push people over the edge over the edge.

[madmom]

3. are we still fighting them over there...

so we don't have to fight them over here?:shrug:

[warrens]

4. One loonie is not "terrorism"

Terrorism is generally a tactic used by an organized group to attain political or military ends. By your standard, the guy shooting up the post office because he thinks the gummint is reading his mind with street lamps is a "terrorist."

[Poiuyt]

6. Disagree

What about Eric Rudolph blowing up abortion clinics and the Olympic Park or Timothy McVeigh (OK, there was another) and the Oklahoma City bombing. A single individual can act as a terrorist.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

8. Neither were mentally ill.

[DistressedAmerican]

13. Please point out the exception in those definitions for mental illness.

Where is the exception you keep asserting exists? I do not read it anywhaere.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. where it says...

"for ideological or political reasons."

[DistressedAmerican]

20. Nonsense. If a suicide bomber blows up a bus and has a history

of Bi-polar disporder (aas in this case), that person is still quite obviously a terrorist. the bi-polar doeas not change the political motive of the attack.

Would you refuse to label a suicied bus bomber a terrorist if they did not have a clean bill of mantal health? Of course you wouldn't./

For some unexplained reason you are quite resistant to decide the exact same here.

[gatorboy]

10. And isn't it funny how the news dropped that subject like a stone?

Rudolph bombing Olympic Park was clearly a terrorist act. But no one wanted to touch the radical right wing angle... On top of that, has anyone ever been charged with aiding Rudolph while he was in hiding?

[DistressedAmerican]

7. You have ZERO Evidecne he is "loony".

The cops have said no such thing. The media has not reported any such thing.

When you get your proof of this guy being so crazy that his stated motiveds were not really his stated motives I'll be happy to listen. Until then, your claim of looniness is BS.

not my standard. the standard definitions. you can't just redefine the term until it does not apply. Sorry.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

9. Actually, it turns out...

the guy's hand a long case of mental illness.

It's been in the news for a couple of days now.

[DistressedAmerican]

11. Link and even so, does not mean anything.

Red the definitions. "Person or organized group" not just a group as you assert.

Mental instabililty does not disqualify you from acting to intinidate or harm others for political ends.

Find yourself another argument.

This WAS terrorism by all accepted definitions. There no expections in the dictionary definitions above.

Better than that, just accept the facts.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

17. It means a lot.

It means it's not terrorism.

http://www.stratfor.com/products/premium/read_article.php?id=271030&selected=Analyses

Even people suffering from mental illness can quote anti-semitic rhetoric. That doesn't mean they were motivated for political reasons and not because of their mental illness.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. The guy was mentally ill.

Calling this terrorism is like calling John Hinckly Jr. a terrorist with a pro-Jodie Foster agenda.

[DistressedAmerican]

12. jodi Foster is not a political goal.

He was not trying to imtimidate anyone into changing any policies. He wanted to get laid. Different thing all together. You can not substitute one criminal's motive for another's. Bad logic train there buddy.

[Igel]

15. I'd avoid the question, too.

He was baptized Xian last December, but when he killed the Jewish woman (and wounded others, not all Jewish) he said he was a Muslim-American (note: not Pakistani-American) and wanted to get revenge for what was happening to his people.

His parents have said he's an angel, and asked that nothing ever done by him (or, presumably, anybody) be taken as reflecting badly on Islam.

The press have said he's mentally ill, apparently because he has mood swings. Bipolar disorder is a mental illness; many, many people suffer from this. But he hasn't been diagnosed with such--people that objected to Frist's long-distance diagnosis of Schiavo have no problem with newspaper reporters' or the police's diagnosis of Haq. The 'mentally ill' narrative began when people assumed, based on what he said, that he was Muslim.

Since then, he's merely "portrayed" as Muslim. And many insist that he's actually Xian.

[Fleshdancer]

16. big surprise. Domestic terrorism is ignored a lot these days

How is his actions any different from throwing a pipe bomb through the window of an abortion clinic? Both are politically motivated and the only purpose is to kill, hurt and scare those who think/believe differently than the asshole committing the crime. How is that not terrorism?

[DistressedAmerican]

19. Very little diffference at all.

there is no exception for mental illness. ot every suicide bomber that has blown up a bus was mental illmess free. Still terrorists.

[JackNewtown]

22. All hate crimes are terrorist acts IMO nt