What the fuck is terrorism.

Terrorism is a term thrown around a lot lately due to the fact that the U.S. was attacked on Sept. 11th 2001. Everyone can agree, besides those 30% who believe Bush was behind the attacks, that those attacks were terrorism. It fits the most basic definition of terrorism, which is basically, the use of force against a civilian population with the goal of changing the policies of that people’s government. That seems simple enough and as a result should be applied broadly but never seems to be. As it turns out, it is never terrorism if you are the one terrorizing. In order for something to be considered terrorism it must be received never handed out. For instance, a Palestinian blowing themselves up at a bus stop full of soldiers and some civilians is terrorism. This is simple enough and everyone agrees with that. What people seem unable to grasp is that if the US drops a bomb on a water treatment facility, a television station or in a neighborhood that too is terrorism. 9/11 was a terrible day for the people in the buildings, on the planes and their loved ones. No one deserves to be killed for the actions of their government regardless of what those actions are. The innocent civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq do not deserve to die because of the dictatorships that led their respective countries just like average Israelis who were being killed also deserve to live. Still one is terrorism and one is “defense”. In other terms terrorism is used by the weak “defense” is used by the strong. “Israel has a right to defend itself” but the Palestinians don’t?
If an alien people invaded America and kicked us out of our homes, would we have the right to resist or would that be terrorism? If that same alien people were dropping bombs on apartment buildings and continuously launching artillery at us would we call it their “defense”? Was George Washington a terrorist? Probably to the British he was. Was he right to kill the British or should he and the rest just lived as subjects? Were the Contras in Nicaragua terrorists or freedom fighters? Depends who you ask.
The beauty of the word terrorism is that it is meant to apply only to the weak. If the Palestinians were launching artillery shells into Israel and “accidentally” killing civilians would it be considered terrorism or “defense”? Is the accidental slaughter of over 45,000 Iraqi civilians by US war toys terrorism? Can any innocent civilian death be an accident when every war planner knows full well that civilians will die as a result of military action. Of course, these dead are euphemistically called “collateral damage”. That makes it seem okay. “The war was noble and these people had to die ‘accidentally’, overall though it was worth it”, that is what “collateral” damage means.
If it is morally wrong for a “terrorist” to knowingly kill civilians in an attempt to change the actions of a hostile government than it is equally immoral to knowingly kill civilians through the use of guided missiles. In both instances the planners knew that their actions would kill civilians in advanced. For once our people were at the receiving end of violence and we freaked out and killed at least 60,000 civilians as a response. That is twenty times the number killed in America. Since virtually everyone thought that attacking the people of Afghanistan was the right thing to do, it begs the question. Would it be okay for the Afghan people to come back and kill 300,000 Americans? Of course not. So it only makes sense that the most powerful nations, who have the means to kills millions, have a bigger responsibility to not respond the way they do. Violence is violence. If it okay for us then it is okay for them. If it wrong for them it is wrong for us. No one has the right to kill another person unless we all have that right.