The word
terrorist has become famous since the September 11 attacks, which was officially
said to be caused by an Islamic “terrorist” group, Al Qaida. Until now, there
were many incidents around the world called terrorism, such as suicide bombing
in China, and the sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway. These incidents were
very frightening and sensational to us. However, we may simply be using
terrorist as a useful word to categorize the people who are dangerous to us. In
my opinion, not all terrorists are the ones to blame for these fearful attacks.
There are two reasons for this. First, the meaning of terrorist is ambiguous, they
vary depending on the context. Second, terrorism is often caused by the world
political system.
First, the meaning of terrorist has
changed over the years. According to the Military Air Glossary (cited in the Weblio
Dictionary, n.d.), terrorist was primarily used for people who approved of
rough or violent ways of political affairs. Nowadays, it is often used for people
who practice terrorism. The meaning of the word terrorist used in the latter
case is larger than the former. This fact implies that “terrorist” was used slightly
differently from its original meaning by a lot of people for a long time.
Mostly the media was using this word to make an incident, such as suicide
bombing, sensational. As a result, the usage of this word broadened, and included
a meaning what it didn’t before.
Second, terrorism does not happen by
itself. According to the Military Air Glossary, people become terrorists when
they doubt a government’s justice. Even the government was practicing terrorism
and the resistance group was fighting against it using so-called terrorism, only
the resistance will be criticized as “terrorists”. The reason why this happens
is the idea that the government is founded by the people’s free will, and
politics should be run by this, and no matter the minority should be practicing
justice, they are “dangerous” rebel forces and must be exterminated. This structure
contradicts itself, and thus produces terrorists.
To conclude, some terrorists are unfortunate
people who were seen as a dangerous resistance group to the government. They
were claimed as terrorists by the irresponsible media that wanted exclusive
news, and those in power who didn’t want some registance group to get in their
way. Of course, terrorists are guilty for their deeds because they are
dangerous in many ways, but we should think twice before using this word.
411words
References
Terrorists,
(n.d.) In The Military Air Glossary, The Weblio dictionary.
Retrieved
8:40, June 9, 2014, from
Hello! I’m Ryo Isojima. Your essay is so clear and refined that I can understand clearly the points of your essay. By the way, I have a question. Could you tell me the concrete example of the second point? I will be glad if you tell me it.
ReplyDeleteHello, Ryo. Thank you for commenting.
DeleteAn example of the second point is the American Revolution. It is no longer considered as terrorism, but in fact, George Washington was called a terrorist by the British at that time. The USA succeeded in becoming a independent country with its own government, but when they were just a resistance against the British government, it makes no difference between what we call terrorism now.