A lot of newspaper columnists are worried that the word "terrorism" is "losing its power to horrify" because we're using it too often. I worry too about this too, only from kind of a different angle. I worry that we're handing out the word "terrorist" to every no-class single-A bushwhacking gang in the world, when it should only apply to groups that have earned it, gangs with a few real scalps on their belts. I'm talking standards here. I'm trying to stop grade inflation, like what happened to the Purple Heart when they started giving it away for paper-cuts.
The way I see it, "terrorism" is one of the few really serious, scary, real words left. Curse words don't have any power since the gritty TV shows started using them for effect. All the "hate speech" stuff is off-limits. What's left of the old hard stuff? Just a few words and "terrorism" is one of the best.
We need to remember what the word really means, to look at some old-school terrorists, original gangstas, so we have a standard to measure new gangs against.
And that's why I'm going to tell you the amazing story of the Japanese Red Army, the best pure terrorists, pound for pound, in history.
eXile - Issue #228 - War Nerd - The Japanese Red Army - By Gary Brecher
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