Western Terrorism: Double Standard?

Question

If the definition of a terrorist attack is one that directly targets civilian non-combatants then why does the west have such double standards? For example, my lai massacre, northern ireland events, hiroshima, nagasaki, tokyo, dresden, london, rotterdam, king david hotel, etc, etc, etc.

Someone please explain to me how those are acts of war to be proud of but when a muslim does it to a westerner it is "Terrorism"?

The usual answer I get is, "Well we were nations at war, and they are guerilla organizations." If you feel that way, then please tell me how you can honestly believe it is OK for a nation to target and kill civilian non-combatants but it is NOT OK for an organization to do so.

Answer 1

I suggest you spend sometime studying history and understand the term of context.
my lai- There was no hero's welcome for those guys the man in charge was punished.
Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Tokyo- were military targets in war. The first two shorten the war and save lives on both sides.

In WWII civilian deaths were part of it they were not the targets.

Muslims run suicide bombs and their main goal is to kill women and children. They are hero's.

So there is no double standard if you spend time thinking about it.

Answer 2

I can't speak to most of them except for this:
1) Northern Ireland was a bad thing and was put down with military force. No hypocricy there
2) Hiroshima was a military target for the specific reason that it was a large storehouse of supplies with a relatively small civilian population.
3) Nagasaki was targeted for the same reason. Incidently, both cities had leaflets dropped on them warning of attack and telling people to leave the cities.
4) Tokyo was subject to targeted bombings, not general attack. Bombing wasn't as accurate back then though, so yes, SOME small percentage of civilians died in collateral damage.
5) Dresden was a revenge attacked planned by the brittish for firebombing london, that doesn't make it right though
6) London was the basis of people like Douhet's strategies, where they thought that terrorizing the populace would end the war sooner, ultimately saving lives. We've since learned from our mistakes that that isn't true... which is why we can say that terrorism is bad now.

Answer 3

Actually, many consider the IRA to be the most brutal terrorists and insurgents of all time. It has indeed been called terrorism by many. The reason is because it was purely civil, they attacked their own people, whereas most Middle Eastern terrorism is strictly directed at westerners.

It's never OK to target civilians in war. I'd go so far as to say it's not OK to target anyone in a war, but then again reality has this funny way of making things really difficult. Terrorism is simply conducting any act designed to instill terror in people. Being a terrorist doesn't mean you're from the Middle East, or you use suicide bombs, it's strictly scaring people. Even verbal threats, if effective, can be considered terrorism.

Answer 4

My Lai Massacre: I seem to recall a Courts Martial. There were over 300 during the VietNam War for many different crimes committed by US Military personnel. What is interesting about that one is I know a lot of Vietnamese. One was an ARVN Major. He & my girlfriend told me the VC would intentionaly put villages at risk by firing on Allied Forces and then flee the area. Their goal being to have the forces return fire on friendly villages creating an incident they could use for recruiting in other areas.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The Japanese started the war in 1933. I think that is when they invaded China, Korea, VietNam, Cambodia, Laos etc. etc... President Truman ended the war. Period. End of that story.

Dresden: You bomb our friends, we bomb you back. Worked pretty good too.

I will leave N. Ireland to the Brits. London to the Germans. The King David Hotel to the Israelis.

Besides you have made up your mind. No one here is going to change that.

Answer 5

You are mixing things up really well. My lai was the result of men committing a crime. The government prosectued those from my lai. I don't see the Iranian government for example trying terrorists. Hiroshima/Nagasaki--If you read your history-the entire population was being armed with bamboo spears as well as more modern weapons. The entire population told to fight to the death. Any historian will tell you that the expected casulties for the invasion of mainland japan would have been in the millions. (women and children) Dropping the bomb on Japan shortened that war and saved millions of lives.

Answer 6

You are reaching into historical times. Find a ** recent ** deliberate attack on civilian, innocent targets by a western government, then try your argument again.

The majority of those you mentioned were attacks on countries who had committed the worst atrocities and carpet bombing was the technology of the day

Answer 7

There is only one standard. The safety of the American people. If we have to kill some non combatants in the process of killing all the terrorists then So Be It.

Answer 8

if its your side its always justified

if its the other side its always outrageous and criminal

thats what war is all about

It is true, we in the United States in fairly recent history have used slave labor, have committed genocide (American Indians), and have killed hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) of civilians in order to terrorize our enemies into submission. This isn't ancient history, these things have all happened within 2 human lifetimes of the present.

Answer 9

Well...how about Hiroshima got bombed in the end because we got dragged into the middle of the war we stayed out of until Pearl Harbor happened...does that ring a bell to you?

Like the poster above said...garbage.

Answer 10

It is double standards yes. Our American government wants to continually expand and tighten its Imperialism and Hegemony in the world and to achieve that means to sometimes employ inhumane actions. That is why our government is so quick to wave the flag of democracy, freedom, and justice wherever it goes throughout the world and whenever it carries out something. What most of our people only see is the flag being waved in front of them which makes they believe that all our government does is right and just. They cannot get themselves to go around that flag and see what is really behind it. If we were to remove that flag or basically unmask our country we would see all the horrors it is currently doing around the world inorder to further its imperialistic goals. Remember that our government has overthrown freely elected governments throughout the world, assassinated heads of states and major figures, provided assistance to various massacres around the world, and so forth. But when it comes to others we immediately label them terrorist even though our government's actions makes them look like angels. When it comes to others we immediately tag them with labels and call them terrorist. But also when it comes to terrorist who's actions benefit us we then call them legitimate resistance or freedom fighters. Our government is rife with double standards.

On one hand we chant the slogan of peace and security but on the other we instigate wars around the world and overthrow democratic governments.

On one hand we preach to the world about fighting for human rights but on the other we continually provide assistance to friendly regimes who oppress their people, we send people to other regimes to be tortured, and also finance inhumane treatmens toward others around the world.

On one hand we preach about environmental protection but on the other hand we are the biggest polluter in the world.

On one hand we preach about democracy to the world but on the other we overthrow elected governments and install dictatorships.