Wednesday, March 22, 2006

What is the definitaion of "terrorist"?

Reading through some late night CNN.com stories and I came across this one:



Bomb Damaged Riosinio Hotel In La Paz, Bolivia

CNN
March 23, 2006 1:43AM

American and his girlfriend arrested in hotel bombings

American man and his Uruguayan girlfriend were arrested Wednesday, accused of killing two people and injuring at least seven with bombs that severely damaged two hotels.

Police puzzled over their motive, discounting terrorism but saying they had religious reasons and that the American appears to be mentally ill.

The first bombing was at the Alojamiento Linares Hotel, also in La Paz on Tuesday. The fatalities came from the first bombing, because the police were able to uncover the plot and evacuate the Riosinio Hotel before the second bomb went off.

These are the two whackos responsible for two bombing attacks in Bolivia:


Claudio Lestad, 25, of New Orleans


Alda Ribeiro, 40, of Uruguay

The story continues to say that these two were planning a bigger hit than the two hotels.

The couple had planned to bomb the Chilean consulate in La Paz on Saturday, National Police Chief Issac Pemintel said.
The President of Bolivia imediately called these people terrorists, according to the story.




Bolivian President Evo Morales

President Evo Morales lost no time in denouncing them as an attack on Bolivia's democracy. "This American was putting bombs in hotels," Morales said. "The U.S. government fights terrorism, and they send us terrorists."

So, what makes these two loonies different than the crazy people who bomb embassies? What is the difference between a consulate and an embassy?

Consulate:

1. The residence or official premises of a consul.
2. The office, term of office, or jurisdiction of a consul.
3. Government by consuls.

Embassy:

1. A building containing the offices of an ambassador and staff.
2. The position, function, or assignment of an ambassador.
3. A mission to a foreign government headed by an ambassador.
4. A staff of diplomatic representatives headed by an ambassador.

Consul:

1. An official appointed by a government to reside in a foreign country and represent his or her government's commercial interests and assist its citizens there. See Usage Note at council.
2. Either of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, elected for a term of one year.
3. Any of the three chief magistrates of the French Republic from 1799 to 1804.

Ambassador:

1. A diplomatic official of the highest rank appointed and
accredited as representative in residence by one government or sovereign to another, usually for a specific length of time.

2. A diplomatic official heading his or her country's permanent mission to certain international organizations, such as the United Nations.
3. An authorized messenger or representative.
4. An unofficial representative: ambassadors of goodwill.

So, the National Police Chief, Issac Pemintel stated that the couple had a plan together to blow up the Consulate of Chile in La Paz, Bolivia on Saturday, but the police "denounced terrorism" as the reason, but sited "religious reasons" for the bombings.

What did the victims of these bombings have to say about what happend?


"This doesn't make any sense. It seems like a joke. Clearly they are psychopaths and they wanted to kill people," said Natalie de la Quintana, who lives up the street.

"It knocked me out," [Ramiro]Calle [employee at the Riosinio Hotel] said. "I was very frightened."

"I was terrified," said Helga Bruggeling, an Australian tourist who was staying across the street. "Our entire building shook. Now we're wondering if it's safe to stay here anymore."
So, what is a terrorist?
Terrorist:

1. One that engages in acts or an act of terrorism.
2. Of or relating to terrorism.

Terrorism:

1. The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person
or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.
2. The unlawful use or threat of violence esp. against the state or the public as a politically motivated means of attack or coercion 3. Violent and intimidating gang activity
4. The calculated use of violence (or threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimindation or coercion or instilling fear.
So, what do you call two people who planned to bomb the consulate of a soveriegn nation in a second soveriegn nation for religious reasons?

Sounds like terrrorists to me.