Originally Posted by timhaughton

There's a lovely debate to be had on the definition of terrorism.

U.S. Code of Federal Regulations: "...the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives" (28 C.F.R. Section 0.85).


There's that "unlawful use of force" term again. Unfortunately, the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq meets that definition, so that's no good.

Current U.S. national security strategy: "premeditated, politically motivated violence against innocents."

Well, around 1 million dead Iraqi civilians. You be the judge.

United States Department of Defense: the "calculated use of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or intimidate governments or societies in pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological."

Iraq meets that.

League of Nations Convention (1937): all criminal acts directed against a State and intended or calculated to create a state of terror in the minds of particular persons or a group of persons or the general public.

Iraq meets that.

Gee, I wish I had some facts to back up what I was saying.