[bullseyebarb]

Originally Posted by jambutty

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.

My word works just as well.....one meaning being a slogan. And what is a slogan if not a brief attention-getting phrase? Fits the bill.

I made a point of separating the Islamists, (Al-Qaeda being but one branch of the same tree), from the other groups you have mentioned above. All use or have used terrorist tactics but not to the same aim as the radical Muslims.