What's the difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter?

topgalant

A "Terrorist" is what you call a "Freedom Fighter" when they are fighting YOU

cheesehead with an attitude

i guess it depends on what side out the bullet you are on,

im not defending what these extemeist are doing in iraq, but american patriots in the late 1700's were called insurgents too, its just that we didnt kill inocent civillians

Peter F

A freedom fighter is anyone who exercises their Geneva convention right to resist the occupation of their territory by a foreign power- and restricts that resistance appropriately to military, police and political targets only.

An insurgent is similar to a freedom fighter- except they are in breach of one or more of the Geneva convention stipulations.

A terrorist is someone who directs violence against civilians, or uses it indiscriminately to intimidate, subvert or repress the population or otherwise achieve a political outcome by violence.

tommy44432

Seems to me that terrorist will kill anyone...military or civilian...to make their point. A freedom fighter will fight a government or it's army. There is a fine line here. It doesn't take much for a freedom fighter to cross over to terrorist.

AniMeyhem!

A terrorist kills indiscriminately, while a freedom fighter will choose his targets with an eye towards minimizing collateral damage.

A freedom fighter is closer to a professional soldier than a terrorist in that they follow an unwritten rule not to kill their own; as that will eliminate their popular support. Freedom fighters, however, will kidnap, extort, traffic in drugs, etc. to support their resistance movement against the government they believe is oppressive; for to them the end justifies the means.

lordkelvin

A terrorist kills wantonly and indiscriminately, using random killing of innocent non combatants (both sides) to instill fear in order to further impose his will on other people
A freedom fighter usually will have some moral and ethical restraints and limit his killing to the actual enemy.

Jose M

Terrorist is somebody who uses violence or the threat of violence, especially bombing, kidnapping, and assassination, to intimidate, for their purpose. Purpose can be anything from religious to political.

Freedom fighter somebody who participates in an armed revolution against a government or political system regarded as unjust.

Bill A

A terrorist is anyone against the USA, A freedom fighter is anyone, trying to protect their countries rights and views from domination by the US government and military.

sci

terrorist attack civilians to gain political advantage irregardless of personal survival.

Freedom fighters engage military objectives with the aim to survive

Ret. USAF SNCO

bruce m

great question, your right of course there is none, one countries terrorists are another countries freedom fighters, lets face it you either agree with people threatening and killing Innocent people in the name of freedom or you don't ( IE nail bombs in kids playgrounds by the IRA ) theres no middle ground I'm afraid no matter how you try to gloss it over

Beastie

It depends on whether they're on your side or the other side.

Example. Nelson Mandela. Locked up on Robben Island for a very long time for terrorist activities against the South African government.
He planted bombs, he spread terror. That is the definition of a terrorist.
On the other side of the coin, he was a freedom fighter trying to bring an end to apartheid.
To the South African government he was legitimately in prison for crimes committed.
To millions around the world he was in prison for wanting an end to apartheid.
As far as I can see, he's now a reformed terrorist and one of the elder statesmen of the world.
Because there is no cause, no matter how legitimate, worth killing innocents for. And it's up to his conscience to sort that one out.

Bob G

A terrorist uses indiscriminate attacks against a nation's civilian targets to create fear in the populace and to try to get the government to 'crack down' on the nation hoping that other people will get so disgruntled that they will join, or at least support, the terrorists' aims.

A 'freedom fighter' uses attacks against a nation's military/government targets in an attempt to so degrade them that they can achieve their aims in the ensuing chaos.

Unfortunately, those lines can be very blurry. Viz. 9/11: Was the attack on the WTC terrorism? Absolutely! Was the attack on the Pentagon terrorism? Maybe not so much, but since it was incorporated in the larger strategy we call it such.

waspy772004

Which side of the bomb you're on.

One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. As many others have said, it's all about your perception of the particular event. Benjamin Netanyahu wrote a book that attempted to define terrorism... and, having read it... I'm none the wiser at differentiating.

I like the tongue in cheek answers to your question! I wish I were witty enough to come up with my own answer along those lines. Dr. Dolan, is that you?

kimht

terrorist is them who are fighting the American army while
freedom fighter is them that fought the Soviet invasion
basically they are still the same person just a bit older

molly

The country they are in at the time if its their country with the majority of people behind them freedom fighters someone else's country killing innocent people terrorists.

Golden

all a matter of prospective. usama bin ladin, when first hired by papa bush, was a freedom fighter (Mujahideen), he fought against the Soviets, our sworn enemies. when he turned against us he became a terrorist.

What a guy!!

Your point of view.

bwonder48

Terrorists rely on the media more to get the governments attention

James Mack

Depends on your views, they can be seen by some individuals as in either camp.
Foe example, the IRA were viewed by many in the Nationalist community as freedom fighters because they wanted a United Irelend and more importantly(?), defended Catholic communities from attack my the 'B' Specials(State Paramilitary group), RUC (Police) and some sections of the Protestant community.
As the old saying goes, one mans freedom fighter is another mans terrorist.

francis f

a terrorist is a person who fights for his country but in his own manner, a freedom fighter is a person who fights for a good cause that everyone can see is for the better rather than worse.

des c

You have missed one out "Whats the difference between a terrorist and freedom fighter, and a bucket of s***" The answer is the bucket of course.

semisatanic1

The only difference is how your described by the media and your polititions!
What the average person like you or me thinks doesn't matter!

nostrebor

terrorist fighting against something you agree with/ believe in

freedom fighter fighting for something you agree with/believe in

johnny d

Terrorism is a tactic, labels mean nothing.
What is important is not so much the means, but the ends. If the Taliban fought with uniforms, tanks, and f-16s they would still be the Taliban. And regardless of the means....Islamic fundamentalist are a$#holes.

*****

Philosophy, If you think one way, you're a terrorist, if you think the other way, then you are a freedom fighter. It is a semantics GAME. In reality, there is no difference.

MikeGolf

A 'freedom fighter' will at least attempt to obey the Laws of War.

A terrorist will ignore the laws of war.

Another _big_ difference is that a freedom fighter will not be sending suicide bomber into a marketplace or a mosque.

budding author

.As you well know this question has no answer.
If Germany had won the war and occupied Britain, I would be classified a a terrorist! Because I would not tolerate a bunch of Nazis taking over, and I would not tolerate my own folk bowing down to them.
I was going to ramble on and do a bit of raving here, but I just repeat, your question is unanswerable.

Graham H

The difference is whos side you are on

Omgitshim1

Both terms have something in common. They refer to a smaller group fighting against an occupying or larger force. Essentially they are the same thing.

The names have slightly different meaning due to one effectively being branded as illegal, and the other as legitimate. It really depends on whose law you are referring to.

The Geneva convention makes some definitions, but it applies only to those who recognise its legitimacy.

Also, a terrorist adopts a more guerrilla style approach to warfare, whereas a freedom fighter might adopt a more direct and consequently suicidal approach.

Bronwen c

I believe a terrorist spends their entire life scheming of how to end peoples lives, violence is a way of life for them and the value of human life is non existence.
Freedom fighters are regular people with regular jobs that highy prize life and their countries and are attempting to keep both of these alive and well as we know it.They do not aim to kill for recreation and although do kill , do not rejoice in doing so.These people are fighting for the freedoms of many and to try to improve others quality of life.
Of course everyone differs on this question, I guess it depends on your point of view.

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