This morning while watching the local news, I watched two stories about bombings in Iraq by “insurgents”.
Wikipedia says this about “insurgency” : “An insurgency is an armed uprising, revolt, or insurrection against an established civil or political authority. Persons engaging in insurgency are called insurgents, and typically engage in regular or guerrilla combat against the armed forces of the established regime, or conduct sabotage and harassment in the land. “
Emphais above is mine.
The news stories talked about a bus bomb killing a number of people (24 I think) and another roadside car bomb in an urban area that killed several people in a shop.
Before President Bush became the target of relentless criticism (some of it justified IMO), these kinds of attacks throughout the world have always been known as “terrorist” attacks because they were carried out against non-military non-political targets.
From Wikipedia: “The targets of terrorist attacks typically are not the individuals who are killed, injured, or taken hostage, but rather the societies to which these individuals belong. “
Emphasis mine again.
Since the Administration is going after terrorists, regardless of what you think of the war in Iraq, it is in my opinion slanted and biased to constantly call terrorists “insurgents”. While I believe it is accurate to call them that when they engage in attacks against our military or against their regime, it is not at all accurate to call it an insurgent attack when they carry out terrorist acts, such as bombing buses and cars and deliberately killing non-involved civilians.
But hey, whatever fits the media’s predetermined agenda. And if it doesn’t fit, they can always make it fit. If you don’t listen and watch closely, you’ll probably not notice….
