Quoted from Ledbetter Gm You wrote... I think you are specifically talking about Muslims here and 9/11. I am talking about terrorism in general, which has been around forever and has not always concerned Muslims. Easy here buddy. I never said that so you need to be careful because first and foremost a muslim and a terrorist are TWO DIFFERIENT THINGS. An extreamist terrorist who happens to be a muslim is a person who dies for his own personal rewards in heaven. The men who murdered 3000 people in new york on September 11th, were pathitic terrorist, not solders. If we are to continue on this path, be mindful please of the fact that many people who have served believe that it "is all words" my friend. Shawn..

Okay, sorry, I never meant it like that. I would not presume you would think that at all.


It just sounds to me that what you are saying is that if a school is hit by a cruise missile then it is war, if it is blown up by a home-made bomb then it is terrorism. But then that totally goes away from your original argument which was it is all about the actions and not the motivations. In the minds of the people planting the bomb then they are every much fighting a war as the guy in the uniform pushing the button.

And while Yes, I am in full agreement with you that acts committed in warfare should be viewed differently than acts not committed in warfare, it is irrelevant to the original question.

This is why it is an impossible task, nobody can be right here. In order to get into the mind of anyone who commits these acts you need to know that they truly believe what they are doing is right, and is for a higher purpose, and they do believe they are at war.

Therefore soldiers and terrorists are exactly alike.

But don't take that out of context, I am not suggesting soldiers are terrorists. I am pro war in many instances and certainly not anti-American. But their motivations are often the same, in that they are serving a higher purpose. Whether that be God, Allah, their Government, Freedom from tyranny, whatever. Just as a soldier believes what he is doing is is right, then so do terrorists. Whether they are right or not really does depend on the context of their situation.

Was Nelson Mandela a terrorist?