Who killed more citizens last century; terrorists, or people's own governments?

Question

Based on the answer to that question: Who is the bigger threat to your security? Terrorists, or your own government?

The shocking stupidity of those who said "terrorists" is truly frightening.

God help us.

90% of the debate over the forming of our Constitution was about how to prevent our government from oppressing Americans. Yet, Republicans today unanimously deny that any such oppression is possible, and to think such a thing is crazy.

I know who I believe.

Answer 1

Considering Pol Pot, Hitler, and numerous slaughters in Africa, I'd say dictators are the ones who killed the most citizens.

Whether that is government or not is strictly opinion!

Answer 2

Our western governments have killed many more than mid east fanatical terrorists in the last 100 years, By far!

You have to remember though, it's only been about 30 years since the gasoline money rolled in and got them out of their poverty. (When the oil producing nations nationalized the wells the west had built and formed OPEC )

That line in a movie that said “ A 100 years ago you were living in tents and cutting each others heads off, and 100 years from now you will be doing the same again” ( after we end of dependence on oil) is true!

Answer 3

In many countries (but no this one), the government and the terrorists are on and the same. The terrorists are the bigger threat. However, some Americans defend the 'rights' of terrorists.

Answer 4

Your own government. Terrorists are a teeny teeny little group.
If you look at governments around the world, RIGHT NOW, in
Africa, SA, China, etc. you find the slaughter of millions of ordinary people who have the wrong language, or religion, or colour or whatever excuse you want. All the terroistsl in the world since recorded history started, would only result in a handful of deaths compared to the great wars over the thousands of years, done by the " leaders" of countries.
Subversive, counter groups have always existed, but are teeny teeny purveyors of death, compared to, say Napoleon, Hitler,
Alexander, etc. etc. all LEADERS of a " Government " of the time.

FORGET the " last Century " how about looking at Africa over the past 25 years? Millions of deaths. What 'terrorist' group even comes close?

Answer 5

The answer is easily governments.
The biggest threat to MY security is terrorist's because my government doesn't try to kill innocent civilians. There have been, and still are many oppresive governments who kill their own civilians if they threaten to rally the public against their totalitarian control. The US government however, protects its civilians, in spite of their political point of view, so long as they don't pose a threat to other innocent civilians .

Answer 6

Well various despotic governments including those governed by Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and Saddam Hussein have killed more of their own citizens than have terrorists, unless you wish to lump them in quite rightly with terrorists who are engaged in state sponsored terrorism, in which case one could say terrorist states have killed more.

I might point point out that the flaw in your logic lies in the small detail that more selflessly than any nation in history the United States has shed its citizens' blood and expended its national resources to bring down the rulers of terrorist states and then rebuilt the infrastructures of those war-torn regions that their people would not suffer the desolations of the wars their leaders initiated.

I am baffled by the American left's tendency toward self-loathing of their country, but attribute it to the luxury of having the freedom to speak, hard won by the patriots who have made the sacrifices that make it possible.

Perhaps we should have left the Germans alone to continue their atrocities. Perhaps Saddam should also have been left to eradicate the Kurds as well.

The fact is that in our Nation's enduring constitutional history in every war civil liberties have had to be reigned in so that the country could focus its efforts on threats from without, and in every instance during the course of those wars the Supreme Court has sustained that exercise of power as necessary for the preservation of the state. After all, no state, no constitution.

Do you honestly think we conservatives are comfortable with this? Conservatives by their nature favor smaller and less intrusive government, unlike liberals who never saw a tax or a social program they did not like. But we are mature enough to recognize that this is a war, and as such it demands extraordinary, but still constitutional responses to the existing threat.

Now if you want to talk about a real threat to your personal freedoms, let's talk about the erosion of private property rights in this country foisted upon us by liberals. If you think about it, all other rights must stand on the sanctity of property rights. After all, if they can take your soapbox you have no freedom of speech. If they can tax your church you have no freedom of religion and so on. Since the days of Franklin Roosevelt liberals have fought to introduce more and more federal and state authority over private property. Indeed now it is legal to take your land from you and give it over to another private owner who promises the state more tax revenue from its use. That being the case, you really have no private property rights any longer, and if you have no property rights, you have no other rights either. So just who is the greater threat here, a President who has temporarily reduced your civil liberties to fight a war or a liberal Democratic Party whose goal for your entire life, that of your father's and that of your grandfather's has been to permanently erode your rights?

Answer 7

People's government of course. Why do "terrorists" decide to suddenly kill people? It is because of the actions of their governments. For example, Hezbollah, most people would say Hezbollah is the evil terrorist group that is killing and kidnapping the innocent Israelis. Yet, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. Israel occupied an area of Lebanon for years, plus there were thousands and thousands of innocent women and children an men imprisoned for no reason. Hezbollah was simply defending its people and trying to regain its land back. If Russia occupied the state of Florida, and the international world wouldn't do anything about it, plus Russia had imprisoned thousands of Americans, wouldn't the us fight back wouldn't there be groups that would try to regain there land back?

Answer 8

Who said that your own government can't be terrorists?

Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Ho Chi Mihn were terrorists in charge of their counties. It was 'My way, or to the death camps' with all of them.

From Wikipedia "Terrorism is the systematic use or threatened use of violence to intimidate a population or government and thereby effect political, personal, religious, or ideological change."

Fits all those guys to a "T".

I'm looking around, I don't see any death camps around here? Do you? Where are they?

Answer 9

Joseph Stalin killed the most.

I view both terrorists and my own government as a threat to my security. Better the devil you know . . .

Answer 10

all through history it has been the Governments!!!
what the terrorists are doing is a backlash of wetern imperialism.
they sure have killed many innocents but it's not comparable to how many were killed by governments.

Answer 11

Sadly, my home government is the biggest terrorist in the world. If you take a good look at the history of US foreign involvements, the government is responsible for some of the most grotesque acts in history.

Such is life.