by GPHUTTON

Created on: February 12, 2007   Last Updated: April 19, 2007

A Matter of Definition

Clearly the Western world needs to start from square one in looking at the "reasons behind terrorism." And square one means first understanding the word and what it means. Websters Dictionary says it's the "unlawful use or threat of violence against the state or the public as a politically motivated means of attack or coercion." The American Heritage Dictionary says it is "acts of violence committed by groups that view themselves as victimized by some notable historical wrong." Several other sources' definition for the word do not even include the word violence, just the threat of an increase in fear and unrest with a goal to change the status quo. There are variations galore among other sources of English language dictionaries both in hard copy and on the web. It doesn't take a genuine leap of faith to realize that every foreign languages will in turn add their own cultural and historical spin in order to come up with a their own useful definition.

And that's just the point. Everyone seems to define terrorism differently. If we cannot define the problem correctly, how indeed will we ever come up with solutions?

Post-revolutionary French dictator Robespierre is most commonly associated with the birth of the word in the English language. In the 1790's, during the "Reign of Terror", he led a campaign to purify revolutionary thought throughout France, leading to the deaths of many innocents at the hands of the guillotine. Robespierre had in his mind a vision where the ends justified the means, as he feared a lapse in the energy that had led a revolution that was inspired by Americans a decade earlier. The word "terrorisme" was born and picked up by the English and Anglicized into the word we know today.

There could not be a more drastic change from the word's French origins, citing terrorism as an oppressive government tool, to what terrorism is associated with now - a weapon of the weakest against the state or states, or the public. This 'modern' notion of the word was popularized by the tactics of the Jewish against the British in Palestine in 1947. And who were the modern day founders of the common tactics of "terrorism" used by the Jewish partisans? The British themselves, notably the SOE, or Special Operation Executive, who were instrumental in wreaking havoc inside occupied countries in all theaters of operation during World War II, a huge impetus towards allied victory. So the use of the word and who applies it and how it is implied

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