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The shootings in San Bernardino, California and the London subway stabbings have been called acts of terror by the authorities, even though no group has claimed responsibility. How would you define an

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An act of terror does not require some large organization to coordinate it. The sniper shootings in the Washington D.C. are were committed by only two people, yet held the region in the grips of terror that they would be next.

While ISIS has not claimed responsibility, they have confirmed that the two were supporters of ISIS. Whether someone acts alone, acts in support of, or acts under orders from a larger group, it's still an act of terror.

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According to FBI's definition of 'domestic terrorism' below both incidents are terrorist acts.

With the San Bernardino in particular, nearly everybody agrees the shootings were 'terrorism,' but instead the debate has centered on whether the shootings should be labeled 'Islamic terrorism.'

I would argue that terrorism in the name of Islam should be referred to as 'Islamic terrorism' by journalists. Likewise, when Christianity motivates a terrorist act, journalists should refer to it as 'Christian terrorism' (for instance).

As it now stands, when Christianity motivates a terrorist act journalists rarely use the term 'Christian terrorism,' such as was the case with the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shootings just one week before the San Bernardino shootings. The Colorado Springs shooter is referred to as a 'lone gunman' while the San Bernardion shooters are referred to as 'terrorists.'

News outlets and their editors need to be consistent with respect to usage of the word and its juxtaposition with other words.

Here is part of the FBI's definition of "domestic terrorism."

"'Domestic terrorism' means activities that:

1.) Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law; and

2.) Appear intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination. or kidnapping."

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Is the act meant to frighten you into changing some behavior or being too afraid to express a belief or opinion about the person or group involved? Is the act meant to violently demonstrate the believed superiority of a particular mindset over another? Then it's an act of terror and the perpetrators are terrorists. The KKK were terrorists. So were the San Bernardino shooters.

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Rather than navel-gaze over definitions, it's useful to use the old adage that "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."

Why does the individual who commits the crime feel so aggrieved?

Failure to discover and effectively address the cause simply perpetuates the conflict. We cannot turn back the clock, but as Nelson Mandela said:

Reconciliation means working together to correct the legacy of past injustice

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Killing innocent people at a wedding party with a remote operated drone.

Bombing a hospital filled with doctors.

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SensatoDEC. 08, 2015 - 08:12AM JST Here is part of the FBI's definition of "domestic terrorism." "'Domestic terrorism' means activities that: 1.) Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law; and 2.) Appear intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination. or kidnapping."

Big kudos to you for making the effort to research the topic.

I disagree with the FBI's definition. I feel a key component of any definition of terrorism must include that the targets are civilians. Otherwise all kinds of other forms of asymmetric warfare can be counted as terrorism, and we get muddy notions like "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."

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"Why does the individual who commits the crime feel so aggrieved?"

Because they have been indoctrinated by a hateful, intolerant and supremacist creed. Studies have found zero correlation between a people's socio-economic circumstances and their likelihood of becoming radicalized. The 911 bombers were from affluent and privileged backgrounds.

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JeffLeeDEC. 08, 2015 - 05:20PM JST Because they have been indoctrinated by a hateful, intolerant and supremacist creed. Studies have found zero correlation between a people's socio-economic circumstances and their likelihood of becoming radicalized. The 911 bombers were from affluent and privileged backgrounds.

"Zero" correlation sounds quite suspect. In most studies, even things that are unrelated often have some degree of correlation simply by chance. You're quite correct that not all terrorists are motivated by poverty, but you should not oversell the strength of that argument.

It's also a fact that not all terrorists have been indoctrinated. Many captured ISIS fighters in Iraq are illiterate and completely unaware of the theology ISIS espouses. They are often just desperate people whose first priority is to provide for their families, and even since the US and its allies destabilized Iraq with their poorly-planned invasion, terror is the only job that pays.

Now granted, these fighters are not the sort of people we tend to hear about on the news. They're not as dramatic as the stories of western-born children of immigrants who turn their backs on freedom and peace and return to the Levant. But then, these illiterate, theologically-ignorant fighters have killed far, far more people than "the terrorists". It's just the people they've killed don't speak English, so we barely pay attention to the news covering it.

It's a complicated situation, with several different sorts of people with several different agendas driving it. You probably shouldn't trust anyone who wants to boil it all down to a single problem.

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"Zero" correlation sounds quite suspect"

Read ...and learn:

Baylouni, A.M. Emotion, Poverty, or Politics? Misconceptions About radical Islamist Movements. Connections III, No. 1, Vol. 4. pp. 41-47

"Europe's Angry Muslims" RS Leiken

"Exploding misconceptions". The Economist. 16 December 2010.

I've been doing a lot of reading myself on this recently. So many of them are wealthy and privileged. Others are professional class, others students. others illierate folks as you say. Some are Western converts. The full friggin spectrum. There just ain't any socio economic correlation worth mentioning.

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Plainly and simply put it is violence committed by a person or group or government in order to achieve a political goal.

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I think the most important question to be answered here is "Why did such an attack happen?"

Few hints: Recession, poverty, mass migration, civil war, internal unrest, religious fanaticism, polarizing of the world, repeating the same mistakes even after 2 world wars, too much automation, job loss in mass scale, shrinking economy and the hints go on an on.

So now accepting the fact that human beings are stupid creatures how about re-visiting this "terror attack" and control our instinct to be swayed by blame games played by the global media to further divide the masses.

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JeffLeeDEC. 08, 2015 - 08:50PM JST "Zero" correlation sounds quite suspect" Read ...and learn:

That's an awful haughty tone to take considering that your references don't say there is "zero correlation". They say poverty isn't the primary cause in all forms of terrorism. There's a big difference between the two positions. That's why I said you shouldn't oversell the situation. Poverty doesn't cause terrorism, but it's not zero correlation either.

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