'Domestic Terror': Bomb Found in Backpack Ahead of Spokane MLK Parade

[Kaneman]

Originally Posted by goof2

Sorry, I don't subscribe to any point of view where randomly blowing up innocent people qualifies as patriotism.

Nicely done sir.

[Homeslice]

Originally Posted by goof2

The IRA was doing exactly this 20-30 years ago and yes, it was called terrorism then too.

But we are talking about things that happen in America.

For instance what about that old white dude who mailed a bunch of pipe bombs in the 70's or 80's? Was that called terrorism?

[goof2]

Originally Posted by Homeslice

But we are talking about things that happen in America.

For instance what about that old white dude who mailed a bunch of pipe bombs in the 70's or 80's? Was that called terrorism?

I don't think qualifying something as terrorism is especially dependent on location.

If you are talking about the Unibomber then yes. Even he called what he was doing "terrorist activities" in his 1995 letter demanding his manifesto be printed. There is at least one area where his actions were different from this attempted attack though. He was trying to target specific people and institutions by directly mailing them bombs. The targets of this attempt would have been completely random.

If you are talking about someone else I don't know who you mean.

[anthonyk]

With no insight into the motive for putting the bomb there, how can you call it terrorism? Terrorism is all about motive, not a description of the action itself.

[goof2]

Originally Posted by anthonyk

With no insight into the motive for putting the bomb there, how can you call it terrorism? Terrorism is all about motive, not a description of the action itself.

Admittedly I am making an assumption about the motive, but I think it is a fair one to make. What other reason would someone have to leave a concealed bomb in a public place? Even if we remove the parade from the equation there really aren't many other plausible explanations.

[Homeslice]

Well, when I was a kid, I was pseudo-friends with a few other kids who would plant pipe bombs here and there. It was called pranks or vandalism back then. As opposed to terrorism which IMO is "wanting to instill fear and/or political change".

[anthonyk]

Originally Posted by goof2

Admittedly I am making an assumption about the motive, but I think it is a fair one to make. What other reason would someone have to leave a concealed bomb in a public place? Even if we remove the parade from the equation there really aren't many other plausible explanations.

The reason is to kill or injure people. There are about as many motives for doing that as there are people willing to do it.

If someone plowed their car through the parade intentionally, would that be terrorism?

[pauldun170]

Originally Posted by anthonyk

With no insight into the motive for putting the bomb there, how can you call it terrorism? Terrorism is all about motive, not a description of the action itself.

In other words are you saying....
If some guys just feels like killing people...then its not terrorism.

If some guys feel like killing people who would parade in honor of
Martin Luther King just to "show em"" it is terrorism

[Homeslice]

No......

If someone is pissed because they got laid off, or divorced, and they go on a shooting spree, it's not terrorism IMO.

Terrorism = attempting to change public opinion, policy, or behavior. Not someone who is simply depressed and wants to take it out on others. And not someone who just thinks bombs are cool or wants their name in the paper.

[goof2]

Originally Posted by anthonyk

The reason is to kill or injure people. There are about as many motives for doing that as there are people willing to do it.

If someone plowed their car through the parade intentionally, would that be terrorism?

Originally Posted by Homeslice

No......

If someone is pissed because they got laid off, or divorced, and they go on a shooting spree, it's not terrorism IMO.

Terrorism = attempting to change public opinion, policy, or behavior. Not someone who is simply depressed and wants to take it out on others. And not someone who just thinks bombs are cool or wants their name in the paper.

I get what you two are saying and if was planned as a random act of craziness then I would agree that isn't terrorism. From what I have seen though the people interested in committing random acts of craziness typically don't do so with anonymous bombs.