Martin Sheen proud of uncle's IRA past

[IAN 2411]

I will agree that the acts perpetrated on 9/11/01 were acts of terror as well, by anyone's definition.

I have to disagree, along with, Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the above were atrocities. They were destruction causing the slaughter of innocent lives to make a point. The 9/11 conspirators terrorised no one, because the world was already alert to Al Qaedas methods of wanton destruction. The only people that can be terrorised are those that know something painfully bad is imminently going to take place involving them personally.

Please explain to me your reason in saying, that Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki was terrorism? It was calculated civilian slaughter of an unequalled nature. They was also three of the biggest atrocities in WW2.

Be well IAN 2411

[Thorne]

I have to disagree, along with, Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the above were atrocities. They were destruction causing the slaughter of innocent lives to make a point.

Yes, they were atrocities. They were also acts of terrorism.

The 9/11 conspirators terrorised no one

No one? How many people are still afraid to fly? How many people get worked up by the very sight of a dark skinned man with a beard on a plane? If no one is terrified, why are so many people being inconvenienced by the TSA and Homeland Security?

The only people that can be terrorised are those that know something painfully bad is imminently going to take place involving them personally.

Or those who are afraid of something bad that might happen to them personally.

Please explain to me your reason in saying, that Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki was terrorism? It was calculated civilian slaughter of an unequalled nature. They was also three of the biggest atrocities in WW2.

They were all intended to get the surviving civilian populations to force their governments to end the war. In the case of Dresden, the area of the city which was bombed had virtually no military value, and so IMO had no military justification. Nagasaki and Hiroshima, on the other hand, were valid military targets, filled with war industry and military units. The fact that they also sufficed to bring the Japanese government to surrender, thereby potentially saving far more lives than they took, may provide some justification for them. That does not make them any less horrific, nor does it deny that they were ultimately acts of terrorism. Just that, as far as the Allied nations were concerned, they were "good" acts of terrorism.