by Kirk Olivier

Created on: February 09, 2009

Freedom fighter or Terrorist, how do we knowthe difference? Lets start with the freedom fighter, someone who is fighting for existence or self preservation. Usually, these would be people living in jungles and fighting for a rebel organisation that is trying to overthrow some dictator who has his armed forces slaughtering innocent women and children in fear that he will loose his position. Many of these people welcome a quick death by a bullet or having their head severed off with a sword or hatchet rather than to starve to death or die from the elements of nature long before they have the opportunity to be treated like a human.

Unfortunately this rarely happens, the women and young girls are usually captured, tortured raped and urinated on and left to die alone, on the side of a road somewhere. Surviving family, if any ever get to know whether they lived or died, they simply just never see each other again. The men and young boys who are old enough to pose a threat to the ruling dictator, are dealt with in horrific ways. They can suffer beatings torture and humiliation for days, weeks and sometimes even months. They may have limbs cut off at different intervals or be dragged behind a motor vehicle through the cities main streets. They too are often raped and abused. Eventually they will welcome death, knowing that they did their best to try and free their loved ones from a life of poverty. If by some small miracle their rebel leaders manage to take control of the country, their fight was not in vain.

This very different to the common terrorist, who is usually a coward that kills and or mames innocent victims by means of car bombs and other acts of atrocities like the 9/11 attacks in the USA, car bombs in the UK and other countries like India, Isreal etc. They are rarely seen, but they leave a wake of destruction behind them. In many cases, they are fighting for an individual like Osama Binladen or other like him, who don't really want to take over a country or to relieve the masses of slaughter. These are men who just want to prove a point, "I can and did do it", in the end he gains very little, if not anything.

This brings me to the main point of my article, South Africa, my home. Having lived through and personally seen the destruction of car bombs and limpet mines in and around busy shopping malls or business centres. Hundreds of people died and lost limbs, parents lost children and children lost parents. These murderers were called freedom fighters by the rest of the world. This in my opinion is and will always be an insult to the true freedom fighters mentioned earlier in the article. In the case of South Africa, the terrorists won with the help of the western world and today these murderers run the country. Our beloved country is now not far from our neighbors like Zimbabwe, opposition party supporters are gunned down in broad daylight and it is acceptable. Elections will never be free and fair.

What would have been the reaction of the American people and the rest of the world if Osama Binladen was given the White House after the 9/11 attacks, would he have been a terrorist or a freedom fighter?. Would the American people accept the changes with a smile on their faces?. I think not. Lets please refer to these two classes of people in the true prospective. Call a freedom fighter a freedom fighter and a terrorist a terrorist.

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