Terrorism

Terrorism is defined as deliberately and violently targeting civilians for a political purpase, and is always considered a bad thing. America has even gone so far as to "declare war" on terrorism, which in and of itself is a dangerous idea. However, American troops also use acts of terrorism to "persuade" others to do what we want.

In my opinion, the most notable of these acts are the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The government deliberately dropped atomic bombs on these two cities, knowing full well that they did not house military bases. It is almost impossible to count the number of people those explosins affected, because even if you went uninjured from the blast, there were still all sorts of uncatalogued effects from the radiation poisioning. These bombings were used to bully Japan into surrendering.

Which leaves me with this question: How can we expect the American government to get rid of terrorism when they are not above it themselves?

Richardson, Louise. "What is Terrorism." What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat. New York: Random, 2006. 3-20.