Was the London killing of a British soldier 'terrorism'? | Glenn Greenwald

Comment is free: Glenn Greenwald on security and liberty | guardian.co.uk 2014-08-28

Summary:

What definition of the term includes this horrific act of violence but excludes the acts of the US, the UK and its allies?

(updated below)

Two men yesterday engaged in a horrific act of violence on the streets of London by using what appeared to be a meat cleaver to hack to death a British soldier. In the wake of claims that the assailants shouted "Allahu Akbar" during the killing, and a video showing one of the assailants citing Islam as well as a desire to avenge and stop continuous UK violence against Muslims, media outlets (including the Guardian) and British politicians instantly characterized the attack as "terrorism".

I am outraged that we can't kill people in other counties without them trying to kill us!"

"While nothing can justify the savage killing in Woolwich yesterday of a man since confirmed to have been a serving British soldier, it should not be hard to explain why the murder happened. . . . It should by now be self-evident that by attacking Muslims overseas, you will occasionally spawn twisted and, as we saw yesterday, even murderous hatred at home. We need to recognise that, given the continued role our government has chosen to play in the US imperial project in the Middle East, we are lucky that these attacks are so few and far between."

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Link:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/23/woolwich-attack-terrorism-blowback

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Gudgeon and gist ยป Comment is free: Glenn Greenwald on security and liberty | guardian.co.uk

Tags:

woolwich attack

Authors:

Glenn Greenwald

Date tagged:

08/28/2014, 08:03

Date published:

05/23/2013, 09:03