Freedom Fighter or Terrorist. Any difference?

[kvnchrist]

I was looking at the thread about Nelson Mandela, from another site and I notice a quite a few references to terrorism. I wanted to get down to the ground level on this and hear what others think about it.

 

 

I personally think that people use what they have to to stress their issues. Some are religious and some are political. I don’t really think that we will ever know the entire tale of people like Mr. Mandela, who lived in a world where we can only imagine what it was like.

 

 

Who is actually innocent when hatred and bigotry are ingrained in the society you live in. Could apartheid have existed without the acceptance of the society that it was a part of? Even those who convinced themselves that the perpetuation of such discriminatory laws were guaranteed only because they had been around for such a long time?

 

 

Complacency in the face of tyranny is a death of spirit. No matter how long the body lives, it can never fully be prosperous if shackled to the opinions of others.

[Beriallord]

The label of "Freedom fighter" or "Terrorist" all depends on who controls the media.

[Vagrant0]

The label of "Freedom fighter" or "Terrorist" all depends on who controls the media writes the history books.

ftfu.

[Tidus44]

There is no difference between a freedom fighter and a terrorist, other than point of view and perhaps, what one is led to believe.

 

I recall Reagan inviting and hosting the Taliban in the White House and praising them as having the same ideals as the Founding Fathers of the USA and calling them freedom fighters. But, then denouncing Mandela as a “communist terrorist” and supporting the oppression of the ANC by the South African government.

 

There is any number of groups/individuals around the world that one could label as either “freedom fighter” or “terrorist”, but neither the media nor the history writers all agree on what the correct label should be at any particular time. One does wonder why or how labels are applied though, as Nelson Mandela is a hero of his country, but Ruth First (for example) is still seen as a communist and a terrorist.

 

It is said that history is written by the victors. I suppose time may tell, but at this particular point in history, I’m not overly clear on who the victors are.

[HeyYou]

The difference between freedom fighters, and terrorists, is determined by who wins the conflict.

[RGMage2]

The difference between freedom fighters, and terrorists, is determined by who wins the conflict.

Exactly that. If you win you were a freedom fighter, if you lost you were a terrorist. History is written by the winners.

[Vagrant0]

If I really had to choose one label or another, I guess it depends entirely on what happens after the smoke clears. Does the individual, after succeeding or failing, try to work for the best situation possible for both their group and any others that are willing to reconcile, or do they continually keep the conflict burning and looking for new opponents just so that they have something to fight for? Is their cause justifiable on its own, or is it something they are fabricating out of spite for whoever the ruling party is?

 

If they are fighting only for the sake of fighting, or are fighting for a situation that does not allow for amicable reconciliation, then they are terrorists.

[Nintii]

One man's meat is another man's poison ... half full or half empty ... depends on where you stand.

[stupidname1313]

Well correct me if I'm wrong (I don't know much about South African history), but I thought that Mandela did use terrorism before he went to prison, but when he got out he tried to stop violence against whites and promote peace.

[Ghogiel]

Well correct me if I'm wrong (I don't know much about South African history), but I thought that Mandela did use terrorism before he went to prison, but when he got out he tried to stop violence against whites and promote peace.

 

 

In the same way US operations are called terrorism, and the same excuses are used to hand wave it away as acceptable. 'We were attacking a military target, the school was just in the way.'

 

The terrorist attacks that supporters of apartheid/ detractors of mandela usually point to were ANC attacks on military installations.

 

Even the often cited Church Street bombing was a military target and it killed mostly military personal.

 

Everybody else is collateral damage.