http://www.debate.org/debates/?order=1&sort=&member=thinkingduck Customize this RSS feed by going to http://www.debate.org/rss/ en-us 2013-05-23T22:36:17-08:00 2013-05-23T22:36:17-08:00 http://www.debate.org/debates/The-United-States-government-commits-acts-of-terrorism/1/ (Voting Period) A lot of people believe that the United States is a sponsor or itself perpetrates terrorism. They cite various actions or atrocities carried out by the United States military, the CIA, or allied entities. I do not believe the United States can be characterized as a terrorist state. This topic is potentially very sticky, since people hold ambiguous definitions and feelings about terrorism. I stand by the definition that terrorism is a violent act intentionally inflicted against innocent civilians for the purpose of swaying a third party, usually a government, to change its behavior. The use of violence in itself doesn't define terrorism, nor do the goals of the assailant matter. The actions of the target government that might inspire a terrorist act aren't a concern either. The key point to defining terrorism is that violence is used against innocents in order to sway the actions of a third, responsible party. This is particularly onerous to those who want to http://www.debate.org/debates/The-United-States-government-commits-acts-of-terrorism/1/comments/ 2008-01-02T19:53:24-08:00