One Persons Freedom Fighter Is Another Persons Terrorist.
Introduction
The terrorist attacks in America have since publicized controversial attitudes in understanding and defining terrorism. There is a misconception of terrorism as it was only in actuality brought to light after the attacks in America on 11 September 2001 (Best & Nocella, 2004); this has guided many to assume that terrorism arose in light of the 11 September attacks, when actually terrorism did not begin in 2001; nor is it restricted to extremists in the Middle East. Here is where much of the difficulty lies in defining terrorism; thus the now famous quotation, “One person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter’.
This essay will look at both the way this phrase can be beneficial and inversely cause issues in the objective to define terrorism.
It is apparent that there are objective distinctions that can be made that separate the true terrorist from the true freedom fighter. Regardless of derogatory labels or national political ideology these distinctions do exist. Therefore the aim of this essay will be to critically examine the notion that "One person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter" through examining three existential differences that can help to draw a theoretical line between a freedom fighter and a terrorist. They lie first in tactical theory; second, in sources for motivation; and third, in the discrepancies of the justifications for the actions of each. It is these three distinctions in contrast to the quote’s implied similarities that will assist in achieving an accurate definition of terrorism. To examine the wider processes involving the application of the terrorist label, the Cuban Revolution’s major figure Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara will be used as a framework and a practical source to refer to as the essay unravels the application of a terrorist label in relation to the abovementioned phrase.
This somewhat superficial phrase can be useful as it suggests that the motives and the methods used may be separable. Terrorism is
The terrorist attacks in America have since publicized controversial attitudes in understanding and defining terrorism. There is a misconception of terrorism as it was only in actuality brought to light after the attacks in America on 11 September 2001 (Best & Nocella, 2004); this has guided many to assume that terrorism arose in light of the 11 September attacks, when actually terrorism did not begin in 2001; nor is it restricted to extremists in the Middle East. Here is where much of the difficulty lies in defining terrorism; thus the now famous quotation, “One person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter’.
This essay will look at both the way this phrase can be beneficial and inversely cause issues in the objective to define terrorism.
It is apparent that there are objective distinctions that can be made that separate the true terrorist from the true freedom fighter. Regardless of derogatory labels or national political ideology these distinctions do exist. Therefore the aim of this essay will be to critically examine the notion that "One person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter" through examining three existential differences that can help to draw a theoretical line between a freedom fighter and a terrorist. They lie first in tactical theory; second, in sources for motivation; and third, in the discrepancies of the justifications for the actions of each. It is these three distinctions in contrast to the quote’s implied similarities that will assist in achieving an accurate definition of terrorism. To examine the wider processes involving the application of the terrorist label, the Cuban Revolution’s major figure Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara will be used as a framework and a practical source to refer to as the essay unravels the application of a terrorist label in relation to the abovementioned phrase.
This somewhat superficial phrase can be useful as it suggests that the motives and the methods used may be separable. Terrorism is
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