Cowards = People who kill others.

Lots of heat and little light in this discussion. It has become a point of rhetoric to call terrorists "cowards", the idea being they don't have the guts to fight like a man against armed and trained opponents, but are killing unarmed and defenseless people. Terrorists can also be criticized for acting in an utterly immoral manner, as they are engaging in murder for the purposes of political coercion, the notion being that soldiers who kill in war do not murder because they act in self-defense in fighting against other soldiers who are intent on killing them.

The moral black and white of these views certainly does not correspond with the more complicated situation we find ourselves in these days. Are soldiers who are safely up in planes and dropping bombs or at a distance and operating drones really acting in self-defense? Since many of the conflicts at present are non-conventional and the fighters blind in with the civilian population as part of their strategy, the effort to take them out inevitably causes civilian casualties (so-called "collateral damage"). With this in mind, especially the civilian populations in those countries, have a difficult time seeing the logic of who is a terrorist and who is a legitimate soldier. I am not defending those who hide among civilian populations or condemning soldiers who have to deal with them, I am just stating how the situation appears to me and that it certtainly does not lend itself to black and white assessments.

Back to the 9-11 hijackers. Do I think they were vile human beings? Yes, I do. They had accepted the evil notion that it is not only acceptable but also morally praiseworthy to kill innocent and defenseless people as a method of political coercion. I can find no justification for it, and I condemn them as evil and immoral. The fact that they were acting in accordance to what they conceive as their "faith" is no excuse. To go further, do I consider them cowards? No, not really. I cannot imagine a cowardly person would accept a suicide mission. In any case, why does it seem necessary to people to insist they be condemned as cowards? In any case, there are many other grounds upon which to condemn them.

It's impossible to make gross generalizations about large numbers of people, but everyone involved in any ventures in 'terrorism' or it's subsequent war are most likely ill informed & sad to say, ignorant. People do something because they believe it is the right thing to do. George W & his miserable lot convinced the American public that a war in Iraq was necessary. Nowadays, most people understand that was wrong. Why wouldn't the same hold true for Bin Laden? It does.

Sadly, most American's are idiots. (Gross generalization. I know...) Granted there's a heck of a lot of us in the US that contribute to society, but from what I've experienced in my lifetime, there are a more morons on the other side of the seesaw causing the rest of us, the ones that can't be brainwashed, to be dangling in midair.

That being said, the first fifteen minutes of this film felt like leftist propaganda, nothing more. Some idiot in LA, high on 'riches', 'fame' & his/her own self importance wrote an idealized dialogue attempting to illustrate his/her radical concepts, & ultra idealistic view. The truth is, everyone that gets involved, no matter the side, has been duped & sadly needs to wake up. The fact that we're actually discussing this & some, as I can see from the comments on this board, have become emotionally involved is playing right into the eagerly waiting hands of that idiot in LA. This is a silly film & I'm pretty sure, only after 13 minutes, that I will not watch the remainder. I will not waste my time.

Not to say I'm conservative, I'm actually pretty radical & ultra leftist myself. But, once again I see through the brainwashing & I won't be led down this silly road. Look through the material & you'll see it for what it is. Look through what the media tells you & you'll undoubtedly see it for what it is. Rubbish.

IMDB Film Ratings: http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=22271274

"Cowards = People who kill others."

Umm... sounds exactly what Americans are doing all the time. Take any (oil) war you started and killing thousands of civilians. Some US soldiers even did that for fun. Those acts and casualties barely even got the headlines at the time. US behaves in many case no better than those 911 terrorists.

I'm sure this has been pointed out numerous times but that's a straw man of her argument.

The US gave a medal to the crew that shot down a civilian air liner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655#Medals_awarded).

Ask the Iranian's what they think of that crew? Cowards shooting down a defenceless plane.

Many who are subject to bombing by advanced armaments by western armed forces call the soldiers, sailors and pilots perpetrating those acts cowards too - especially those that carpet bomb. It's your point of view that defines the word.

Words like terrorism, coward, hero have actual meanings and a propaganda meaning. So it's pointless to argue them as the adage is really true: your terrorist is my freedom fighter, and your freedom fighter is my terrorist.

One point about the US and every other democracy on the planet is that they always pay lip service to their ideals. So, all men are created equal, the war of independence was about freedom to pursue life, liberty and happiness. Except when African slaves, women, workers tried to exercise those rights.

Freedom of speech is the same, if you don't respect freedom of speech for those views you despise, you don't respect it at all. Everyone, including Stalin believes in freedom of speech for the views they like.

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Bauer vs. Bourne, that is the question.