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What makes a terrorist?
- Thread starter 6thGen
- Start date
Smiling JOe
SoWal Expert
I think that some of the gangs in the US could be said as being terrorists, and although most pack heat (technology), they seem to be operating fairly efficiently with old school methods.
With today's technology being fairly cheap, I think many terrorists will employ technology to carry out effective missions. In some cases, they don't use products any different than you or I with the Blackberry's, internet access, web cams, computers, etc. In fact, much of what they use is available for free at businesses and libraries around the country.
Thinking a little ahead, past nuclear weapons, I've often said that if terrorists wanted to terrorize the masses in the USA, they would ditch the high tech stuff, and get some petri dishes for growing botulism, which would be very simple, then putting their teams to work in the food industry, at restaurants across the nation, and food distribution centers around the world. Any idea of the billions of dollars we spend on eating out? If it came to a stop tomorrow, the US would spiral rapidly down the tube for a long time. So I would say that utilizing technology is not a requirement to terrorize, and in order to stay more undercover, we may see terrorists resort to the simple stuff, later in time, as the gov't has such a great hidden ability to spy on everything we do in our daily lives. Type in the words bomb destroy America, or anything like that on the internet, and you will automatically be detected by someone or some computer behind the curtain of darkness
wave, as they try to determine what you are writing about. Nothing is sacred any more. Need a wire tap for phone conversation? no problem, they can do it without ever getting a warrant. I wonder if those listening ears ever get bored and start reading something like SoWal, and then become addicted? 
kathydwells
Darlene is my middle name, not my nickname
Uncle Timmy
Beach Fanatic
Actually street gangs aren?t terrorists as defined by the US government?s definition.
The relevant technological advancements or devices aren?t supposed to be rare or uncommon, just the opposite -as the more common they are the easier they can be used.
It is the development of these technologies, from an historical perspective, that seem to me to have enabled terrorism.
Think about it; it?s impossible to perform most acts of ?terrorism? that we see today if you are only working with Industrial Age technology.
I?m not saying it constitutes a ?root cause? of terrorism just yet, but it certainly answers a big part of the question ?Where was terrorism prior to the 20th century??
Uncle Timmy
Beach Fanatic
From your link:
"Ultimately, Islamic terrorism, just as its Marxist or secessionist version in the West and Latin America was, is a matter of power?who has it and how to get it?not of poverty. Accepting this as a fundamental aspect of terrorism does not suggest any immediate solutions"
I think this relates to what I said earlier about terrorism being, at it's most basic, simply a tool to leverage power.
Bob
SoWal Insider
GW's recipe for Texas Toast
Smiling JOe
SoWal Expert
In which particular ways do you think that the street gangs don't meet the gov't's definition of terrorists?
Look no farther than my idea of spreading food poisons across America, to see that terrorists need no technology to carry out acts which will effect us all greatly, and basically shut down the US more than the planes being flown into the Trade Towers. If they really wanted to stir the puddin', they would start start burning churches. To carry that one additional step, they could push us into another Race War by do acts like the KKK once did, like burning only black churches and setting crosses on fire in people's yards, and claim to be the KKK. Then they could pretend to retaliate by setting white churches on fire and claim to be followers of Malcom X.