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'State terrorism' is a controversial term, with no agreed on definition, used when arguing that there may be a similarity between terrorism and certain acts done by states.
The concept of ''state terrorism'' and indeed of ''terrorism'' has its roots in the Reign of Terror in revolutionary France.

Contents

Scope and definition

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links

Scope and definition

Like the definition of terrorism and the definition of state-sponsored terrorism, the definition of state terrorism remains controversial. There is no international consensus on what terrorism, state-sponsored terrorism, or state terrorism are. Nations also disagree on what distinguishes a "terrorist organisation" from a "liberation movement". There is no international agreement or treaty defining these terms.^[1]
The earliest use of the word "terrorism" identified by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' is a 1795 reference to what the author described as the "reign of terrorism" in France.^[2] During that part of the French revolutionary period that is now known as the Reign of Terror, or simply The Terror, the Jacobins and other factions used the apparatus of the state to execute and cow political opponents.
According to the Britannica Concise terrorism is "systematic use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a population and thereby to bring about a particular political objective".[2] According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, State terrorism, also known as Establishment Terrorism, is "employed by governments—or more often by factions within governments—against that government's citizens, against factions within the government, or against foreign governments or groups. This type of terrorism is very common but difficult to identify, mainly because the state's support is always clandestine."[3]
Linguist and political analyst Noam Chomsky has stated that, "The U.S. is officially committed to what is called 'low-intensity warfare'.... If you read the definition of low-intensity conflict in army manuals and compare it with official definitions of 'terrorism' in army manuals, or the U.S. Code, you find they're almost the same." The United States is a Leading Terrorist State An Interview with Noam Chomsky, , David, Barsamian, Monthly Review, 2001 Chomsky and Edward S. Herman have argued that the distinction between state and non-state terror is morally relativist, and distracts from or justifies state terrorism perpetrated by favored states, typically those of wealthy and developed nations (Chomsky and Herman, 1979). Chomsky has in turn been criticized for allegedly ignoring or justifying terrorism by states such as Communist China, Vietnam, and Cambodia.[4] Herman responded to such accusations in ''Z Magazine''.^[3]
There are several related terms: Democide, Genocide, State-sponsored terrorism, Crime against humanity, Crime against peace, and War crime.

See also

★ Crime against humanity

★ False flag

★ Selective assassination

★ Terror bombing

★ War crime

★ Color of law

★ Armenian Genocide

★ Holocaust

★ Consequences of German Nazism

★ Human rights in the Soviet Union

★ Population transfer in the Soviet Union

★ Khmer Rouge

★ Al-Anfal Campaign

★ North Korean human experimentation

★ State terrorism by Iran

★ Allegations of state terrorism by the United States

Notes

1. [1]
2. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Edition, CD Version 3, 2002, Oxford University Press
3. "Pol Pot And Kissinger: On war criminality and impunity", by Edward S. Herman, Z Magazine, September 1997

References

★ Sluka, Jeffrey A. (Ed.) (2000). ''Death Squad: The Anthropology of State Terror''. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0-8122-1711-X.

★ Chomsky, Noam and Herman, Edward S. (1979). ''The Washington Connection and Third World Fascism: The Political Economy of Human Rights: Vol. 1''. Boston: South End Press. ISBN 0-89608-090-0

★ Western State Terrorism, Alexander George, , , Polity Press, 1991, ISBN 0-7456-0931-7

★ Unpeople: Britain's Secret Human Rights Abuses, Mark Curtis, , , Vintage, 2004, ISBN 0-09-946972-3

Further reading

★ Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth & K. Lee Lerner, eds. ''Terrorism : essential primary sources.'' Thomson Gale, 2006. ISBN 9781414406213 Library of Congress. Jefferson or Adams Bldg General or Area Studies Reading Rms LC Control Number: 2005024002.

★ Tarpley, Webster G. ''9/11 Synthetic Terror, Made in USA'' -Progressive Press. ISBN 0-93085-231-1

★ Chomsky, Noam. ''The Culture of Terrorism'' ISBN 0-89608-334-9

★ Chomsky, Noam. ''9/11'' ISBN 1-58322-489-0

★ George, Alexander. ''Western State Terrorism'', Polity Press. ISBN 0-7456-0931-7

External links

'Prevention of terrorism'

★ The National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism

★ Recognizing State Terror

★ http://State Terrorism and Counterterrorism