Defining Terrorism

I'm not quite sure how I feel about Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's parsing of words around the question of whether or not Joe Stack, the man who flew a plane into an Austin, Texas IRS building, was a terrorist. She says Stack "had his own personal issues and personal motives," and even though "he used a terrorist tactic...an individual who uses a terrorist tactic doesn't necessarily mean they are part of an organized group attempting an attack on the United States." By that criteria, it's only possible to be a terrorist if you use a "terrorist tactic" AND are a member of an organized group. I'm not sure Timothy McVeigh or the Unabomber. Both of them carried out their acts as individuals. And I think defining terrorism in a way that doesn't include them is pretty dangerous, minimizing the nature of their attacks.

Also, I'm not sure Joe Stack's anti-government animus counts as "his own personal issues and personal motives." Stack's manifesto made clear he met with lots of other folks who shared his anti-IRS views. Those circles were definitely looser than al Qaeda cells, and I'm certain there are a lot of people in those circles who are horrified by Stack's actions, even as others rush to claim him as a hero. But that doesn't mean that Stack didn't have an ideology, and that he didn't try to terrorize federal employees and the federal government. By that definition, I remain convinced that he's a terrorist, and not just a common murderer.