Muslim group wants government to call plane attack terrorism

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"A leading Muslim advocacy group is pushing government officials to call the suicide plane crash in Texas "an act of terror," saying that if a Muslim had been flying the plane there would be no hesitancy to call it terrorism.

On Thursday, Andrew Joseph Stack III flew a small plane into the IRS's four-story office building in Austin, killing himself and at least one federal employee. Before the incident, Stack allegedly left a series of messages on a website expressing his disgust with the IRS, saying at one point that "violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer."

"Whenever an individual or group attacks civilians in order to make a political statement, that is an act of terror," said Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

"Terrorism is terrorism, regardless of the faith, race or ethnicity of the perpetrator or the victims,” said Awad, adding in a statement that "if a Muslim had carried out the IRS attack, it would have surely been labeled an act of terrorism."

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[47of74]

1. I agree

It was an act of terrorism.

[Alameda]

2. Of course it was terrorism...if a Muslim did it it would be called terrorism.

[indepat]

6. If it fits the classic definition of terrorism, it is what it is, no matter how it is labeled

:P

[krabigirl]

3. I agree with them.

[upi402]

4. .

:popcorn:
Buckle your seat belts!

[theoldman]

5. I put McVey and Stack in a different category.

They only attacked our government. The Muslims attacked both government and civilians. All are terrorist however.

[Lasher]

9. What?

How is it that civilians died, and yet were not attacked?

:wtf:

[shawcomm]

11. McVeigh only attacked government?

Stack too? McVeigh killed children as well as adults. Stack killed adults. People. They killed people. The IRS is still running along, it didn't get hurt one bit. The only way to kill the IRS is through government action. I group them right along with the other terrorists.

[Chulanowa]

16. Ahem. Allow me to extend a hearty "fuck you, you ignorant twit"

I suppose that's a GOVERNMENT toddler?

Kiss my ass and fuck off.

[Bluebear]

21. Civilians died. Many, many of them.

[Lasher]

7. Dick Cheney won't let us because he says we're not at war with this kind of terrorist.

He wants to categorize each incident on a case by case basis.

[liberal_at_heart]

8. Stack is no different than Timothy McVeigh

Unfortunately we now live in the age of only Muslims are terrorists.

[timeforpeace]

10. Fine. But stop your whining. Or as Chrissie Hynde would say, stop your sobbing.

[Forkboy]

14. Damn those uppity Muslims for pointing out the hypocrisy.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Forkboy]

17. Thankfully, Christianity is peaceful.

[JohnWxy]

13. I consider it an act of terrorism.

[liberal_at_heart]

15. I have a neighbor who works for the government

She is a lovely person. She is also Mormon which I know is a dirty word here on DU. Dehumanizing people we disagree with is one of our biggest problems and we are all guilty of it. It's easier to hate and harm someone you can dehumanize. I see alot of dehumanizing right here on DU of the other side whether that side be political or religious or whatever. We all need to work harder at getting to know people as people even if they have different religious or political views. I am lucky in that I know and love people who have different political and religous views than I do. So, even though I disagree with them I still see them as people.

[uppityperson]

19. Should the plane attack be called terrorism? nt

[liberal_at_heart]

20. yes

That is my point. Because these people worked for the government he dehumanized them and it made it easier for him to justify hurting them. But at some level we are all guilty of dehumanizing those we disagree with. That is where the danger lies.

[uppityperson]

22. Thanks for the answer, wasn't sure. I agree and also that a big part of problems is "us" vs "them"

since we are all we, with differences between each of us.

[liberal_at_heart]

23. exactly

[CanonRay]

18. And they are absolutely right

[TerryJ2]

24. not terrorism

No. If a single Muslim attacks an IRS office and leaves a long blog detailing his life history, fine, he's a single Muslim.
If a group of them do it, under the direction of someone else, and have been receiving $ from that source, and seek to terrorize as many people as possible, then it's terrorism.
Stack was very specific in his blog. Read it.
What he did was wrong. Why he did it is understandable.

[Bill McBlueState]

25. "Why he did it is understandable."

Wow.