I'm not sure terrorism is really all that hard to explain. As far as I can tell, it comes from a feeling of helplessness and anger leading to the need to 'strike back'. Once upon a time, there were Americans who beat and burned the homes of those who felt affinity for the. This is both before and after the War of 1812 was declared. In any event Americans don't think of those people as terrorists, they call them patriots.

When the CIA tried to assassinate Castro, was that terrorism? No, of course not.

My feeling is that it's not so hard to explain the 'why' of terrorism, but it might be more difficult trying to figure out the definition. It's a definition that must include 'them', but exclude 'us' and it's not simple.

>That is my reaction right now. I'm still mulling it over though. His comment is one I heard a couple of times from young soldiers under stress who are puffing their chests out so to speak. When young soldiers make comments like that it is typically not something they truly want or believe (they are usually embarrassed by their statements later), but only a way of feeling secure and keeping the fear under control and psyching themselves up for whatever may come (in their case fear is warranted). Anyone else I have ever heard make a comment like that I put into the category of ignoramus (like the stupid politician). It is difficult to believe that any educated person could really see things that way. That is where I got my comparison of how some Europeans view Americans as Jerry Springer guests. Not realistic at all but there are educated people who actually believe the Jerry Springer show is an accurate representation of Americans. There is no explaining it. Not any more than
>one can explain terrorism.
>
>
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>>>>So, instead of telling Kevin that he is an idiot, you tell Terry that there is large number of idiots in the world. What this does, is obscure what Kevin said, and divert the flow towards a supposedly greater issue.
>>>>I wonder why nobody calls Kevin's statements for what they are: hate propaganda. I recall when Metin was accused by many here that he hates US, just because he posted some negative views about it. How does that compare to openly, publicly, stating that US should nuke whole countries?
>>>>Hate breeds hate, and it is a very dangerous thing to promote it, especially in a public forum. I feel it affects me, and it is an awful feeling - which is the main reason I refrain to post to Kevin.
>>>
>>>I highly disagree with Kevin's statements. Based on his contributions to CODE magazine and helpful posts regarding .NET on the UT, I don't think he's an idiot. However, I highly disagree with his thoughts on using nuclear weapons. I think using nuclear weapons in almost any situation is a bad, bad idea.
>>>
>>>Hate propaganda? I don't think I could label it as that. I would be very surprised if he hated Muslims, or any religious/ethnic/racial group of people.
>>>
>>>I think it's just a remarkably bad idea.
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>>I have a lot of respect for Kevin, and like you, I doubt very much that he is any sort of racist. Imho, he sometimes tends to lose his perspective on some issues and to 'overstate' his reactions. This, I believe, is one of those cases.