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Originally Posted by whocarz
I disagree with the term "freedom fighters" to describe the Iraqi militias that are fighting our soldiers. Resistance fighter is a much better description. I would say a terrorist is one that kills civilians intentionally to make war as unpalatable as possible or to further their political goals. It is one thing when armies clash out in the fields far away from a civilian populace, because there it is distant and can be ignored more easily by the public. It is when the violence is happening in the streets that the horror of war becomes appearant.
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Unfortunately, civilian populations have been targeted ever since the advent of "total war," which became commonplace during WWI. By your definition, the Allie's firebombing of Dresden in WWII would qualify as terrorism. Battle on distant fields for from civilians probably hasn't been common since the Civil War era.
Damn, but it's hard to nail down a definition for this pesky word.