Terror vs Shock 'n' Awe

Part 1 of today's lesson on the English language and how it is manipulated.

"One often hears, for example, that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter"

The term "terrorism" was originally used to describe the actions of the Jacobin Club during the "Reign of Terror" in the French Revolution. "Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible," said Jacobin leader Maximilien Robespierre. (Source: Wikipedia: Terrorism)

(Image: Between 18,000 and 40,000 people were guillotined during the French Revolution, during which the Jacobin Club operated.)

The term "terrorism" comes from Latin terrere, "to frighten." (Source: Wikipeia: Definition of Terrorism)

Now, from the Wikipedia article on Shock and Awe:

"[The doctrine will] impose this overwhelming level of Shock and Awe against an adversary on an immediate or sufficiently timely basis to paralyze its will to carry on."

The doctrine of Rapid Dominance (aka Shock and Awe) also includes disrupting "means of communication, transportation, food production, water supply, and other aspects of infrastructure."

The water supply? Food production? Sounds...terrorist? Yeah, SHOCK AND AWE those dang Mooslims!!! They won't be laughing when we drop all this sh** in their wells...

(Image: Apparently this was stuck on the gates of the White House. It was probably the work of some America-hating Liberal Terrorist sympathiser...)

Okay so I may be getting a little carried away. But 'terrorist' is indeed a very subjective word. And the Western media will use it in one way, Middle Eastern media in another, etc etc and it lacks real meaning because its use is inconsistent. So, what is a terrorist?

“A terrorist is someone who has a bomb, but doesn't have an air force” - William Blum