Defining Terrorism – My how far we’ve come

A recent comment made by Syria’s Information Minister, Adnan Omran, frames these problems in a provocative, yet also precise and urgent, way: “The Americans say either you are with us or you are with the terrorists. That is something God should say.” The original title given to the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan ? “Operation Infinite Justice” ? seems to confirm Omran’s concern.

Defining Terrorism
29 November, 2001 – by Phillip Cryan – CounterPunch

“Terrorism” may be the most important, powerful word in the world right now. In the name of doing away with terrorism, the United States is bombing Afghanistan and talking about possible attacks elsewhere. Political leaders from many countries are at once declaring support for the new U.S. war and seeking to re-name their own enemies as “terrorists.”

According to polls, many people in the U.S. believe that war on the al’Qaeda network is justified in retaliation for the September 11 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. The defined enemy of the U.S. military campaign has not, however, been just the people responsible for the September 11 attacks, but “terrorism” in general. The U.S. has declared a “War on Terrorism”–a war which also includes as enemies, as President Bush has made clear since his first public address on the afternoon of the 11, “all those who harbor terrorists.” What exactly do these words, “terrorism” and “harboring,” mean? What definitions are we using?

Legal definition: seeking international consensus

The difficulty of answering this question was stated concisely in a recent New York Times article: “immediately beyond al’Qaeda, the high moral condemnations of global terrorism rapidly become relative, and the definition blurred.” The international community has been actively seeking consensus on the definition of “terrorism” for many years, to no avail.

Twelve separate international conventions have been signed, each covering a specific type of criminal activity ? seizure of airplanes, political assassination, the use of explosives, hostage-taking, etc. Broad ratification of these treaties has been difficult to achieve; and the more fundamental issue of creating a comprehensive, binding international convention against terrorism has been set aside, after repeated efforts, as practically unresolvable. As the UN puts it, “the question of a definition of terrorism has haunted the debate among States for decades.”

One of the points of heated contention in this debate has been whether the term “terrorism” should apply to the actions of States in the same way that it applies to the actions of non-State groups. It’s easy to see why this question would be so contentious: whatever one’s overall view of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, for example, it’s pretty easy to admit that unjustifiable acts of terror and murder have been committed by both sides. Should the two sides be held equally accountable, even though one is an already-recognized State and one is a national liberation movement? These kinds of questions have been repeatedly raised ? as will be described below ? not only in regard to the Middle East but in regard to State-sponsored acts of terrorism throughout the world. …more