Etymology of a “Terr*rist”
Every wave of rhetoric can get watered down to a single other, a finger to point at, an enemy. Whether it be the “barbarians” and “savages” or “communists” and “terrorists” - these blunt terms carry such jarring power that it brings people to unspeakable violence.
Growing up during the War on Terror meant a lot of things for me and my Afghan family. The slur of terrorist didn’t sear as much as the bombs being dropped on our peoples whose only crime was being born on a goldmine. Though it did make me curious as to how this word could blind people so easily and fruitfully to the extent that they would die for it.
What I discovered on my path down the etymology of “terrorist” was unexpected. Its first usage was in the 18th century and up until the 1973 had only really been used exclusively directed at the government. Curious how in the age of increased policing and surveillance technology the government could create such a strong unification of its people while they practice these tools on other countries.
After 20 years of war in Afghanistan the U.S. handed the country back to the Taliban and put them on a weekly allowance of some 40 million dollars. What could they hope to gain from it? What they wanted all along - unrestricted access to Afghanistan’s precious minerals and resources. Not that they hadn’t been mining for these things all along of course. J.P. Morgan is known for bringing these natural resources to market and funneling out “trillions of dollars” of mineral wealth through the mines they build throughout Afghanistan. Thousands of commissioned contractors in Afghanistan embezzled billions of tax dollars globally from their international agencies, getting paid to build the country while they did nothing. I have the misfortune of knowing this first hand, as an ex-friend of mine’s father was proud to be among the scam artists. Sadly, the list of exploitation over my people and land is endless.
Yes, acts of terror have led to the the characterization of a terrorist, and yes their acts are terrifying. The only political power they have access to is the insane course that any one person could take at any time for any reason to disrupt the social fabric. Unfortunately, this has come to represent all of the associated others. From the suicide bomber to the suicide soldier, I only wish I could know what they were thinking and feeling. Who put the gun to their head to be or to kill a terrorist?
It’s funny how the lines blur between one and the other, as they are one and the same.
Is it not terror going to another person’s home, one who has no idea who you are or why you’re there other than to use their land and kill their people. The number of terror stories I’ve heard alone that never make their way back to the American soil they go home to is enough. From soldiers that killed for sport, hungry for innocent civilians, madmen that massacre a whole family in their sleep (this one unfortunately I happen to be related to), to the looting of all our precious artifacts and jewels that is only acknowledged by the peoples who witnessed it. It is enough to make any one sick just hearing it all. Imagine the kind of madness living through it would do, and there you have the motivations of a terrorist. Though it doesn’t justify the taking of any human life - it does present a foundation for insanity. And yet the white boy from Illinois, who could hardly face the hardship of another world, can commit a massacre on school children and his insanity pleads innocence. What’s equally scary is how these same insanity plagued white men can go unnoticed in the guise of a soldier holding a gun. A wolf in wolf’s clothing, and yet he is regarded as a hero.
Hero, terrorist, and the martyrs in between. When you wind up in the messy definition of these words, it’s easy to get confused as everything loses its meaning. But I have always found it interesting how America approaches the problem. In this country we seem to address the symptoms more often than the root cause. This is a lucrative system for capitalists, even more so for war profiteers. “We refuse to negotiate with terrorists.” Why negotiate with someone when you have the upper hand? Especially if it means you get to rob them blind of their resources, funnel billions out of the war economy, and dominate the global market so they never recover. Win, win, win.
It almost seems too perfect of a setup. In a vicious cycle, they poke the bear, the bear reacts, and they come back 20x harder with the whole world behind them as they take whatever they wish. Funny how Afghans only ever really bombed themselves and yet for twenty years they paid for 9/11. All because the wahabi extremists wanted to use them as a “home base for their training grounds”, while the US was hungry for its loot. Many of the terrorists on the plane, who predominately came from Saudi Arabia, had been redirected to Afghanistan from fighting the Russians in Chechnya. When the Western world is going around cutting land up like a butcher and white people’s lives are apparently the only ones valued and prioritized, the enemy becomes a generalization for both sides. Again, it’s not that it justifies the acts of terror, but it doesn’t change the fact that it is a reaction, a symptom to a larger problem. It is not as baseless and random as the West portrays it.
Terrorism is a disease with no cure. Whether it’s the government, the soldier, the freedom fighter, or the suicide bomber - they are one in the same. Born with the same brain to kill the enemy. It is a never ending game of cat and mouse, magnified by bombs, bullets, and tanks. This is not to give sympathy to either actor, but to unveil the propaganda we are fed and challenge the motives behind it. The terms have been construed to the point that for every Western life lost comes the death of at least 10,000. That to me is repulsive and leaves any argument over human life meaningless.
Extend this to Hamas and Israel and you witness the blueprint unfurl clearer and clearer. This is the age of colonialism we live in, and it is a con for all of us. The taxpayers who support it, to the communities that suffer from it in exile helpless as they watch, to even the soldiers that dedicate their lives to a grand lie - we are all the victims of this rhetoric. Let us not forget the real enemy. That which distracts us from what we are entitled to and what we deserve as citizens who stand against war profiteering, genocide, erasure, and exploitation.
