Terrorists and Humpty-Dumpty

[Fumesucker]

Muslims who attack US military targets in their own countries are "terrorists"

But our own government argues that a non Muslim who attacks a purely civilian target in the USA is not a "terrorist".

Clearly the term "terrorist" is a Humpty-Dumpty term, one which means exactly what the speaker means at that particular moment, nothing more and nothing less.

One of our major problems these days is language being distorted for propaganda purposes, it's blatantly obvious that some severe distortion is being done to the English language in the case of terrorists and terrorism. We need to try and cut through the distortions and see what is really being said.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpty_Dumpty

Humpty appears in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, where he discusses semantics and pragmatics with Alice.

"I don't know what you mean by 'glory,'" Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. "Of course you don't – till I tell you. I meant 'there's a nice knock-down argument for you!'"
"But 'glory' doesn't mean 'a nice knock-down argument,'" Alice objected.
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in a rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master – that's all."
Alice was too much puzzled to say anything, so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again.
"They've a temper, some of them – particularly verbs, they're the proudest – adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs – however, I can manage the whole lot! Impenetrability! That's what I say!"

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/02/19/terrorism/index.html

And if the U.S. military invades a Muslim country, Muslims who live in the invaded and occupied country and who fight back against the invading American army -- by attacking nothing but military targets -- are also Terrorists. Indeed, large numbers of detainees at Guantanamo were accused of being Terrorists for nothing more than attacking members of an invading foreign army in their country, including 14-year-old Mohamed Jawad, who spent many years in Guantanamo, accused (almost certainly falsely) of throwing a grenade at two American troops in Afghanistan who were part of an invading force in that country.

[Electric Monk]

1. While we're on the subject, how about the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation

formerly known as School of the Americas http://www.google.com/search?q=School+of+the+Americas

It's not terrorism when "we" do it, but it is when "they" do it to us?

[ThomWV]

2. This .....

I just don't know what to say about this. It lurks in my heart that this is the most important problem we face, but its not. What it is - maybe - is that the manipulation of language is part of all the other problems, but its more than just that. Its that the manipulation must, of necessity, be done on purpose. Some one some where decides what we will be told and how to tell it to us so as to give an impression that does not accurately portray the subject of that thing we are being told. Who?

Well, its many people, its many places, its many times. And what is the overall effect? What is required of us for it to be effective?

Its just sort of overwhelming to me and I just can't grasp how immense the problem is but like the ocean or the sky, I know its essentially omnipresent.