[jambutty]

Originally Posted by bullseyebarb

This shibboleth gets trotted out far too often. In the case of the Islamists - they are not fighting to bring freedom to anyone but to impose their own dark vision upon as many people as possible.

This cliché (not shibboleth) is trotted out often because it is perfectly true.

What would call the Tamil Tigers? If you were a Sri Lankan you would call them terrorists but if you were a Tamil you would call them freedom fighters. They are not trying to impose their way on the whole country or a foreign country, they just want a corner to themselves. The same goes for the Basque people and the Kurds.

During WWII the French resistance was, according to the Nazis, a terrorist group but to the Allies they were freedom fighters.

The Al-Qaeda is different in that its war is waged all over the world and that makes them out and out terrorists.