The LA Times published an insightful commentary by Joshua Muravchik (pictured) on the UN’s inability to unequivocally condemn terrorism:
For eight years now, a U.N. committee has labored to draft a “comprehensive convention on international terrorism.” It has been stalled since Day 1 on the issue of “defining” terrorism. But what is the mystery? At bottom everyone understands what terrorism is: the deliberate targeting of civilians. The Islamic Conference, however, has insisted that terrorism must be defined not by the nature of the act but by its purpose. In this view, any act done in the cause of “national liberation,” no matter how bestial or how random or defenseless the victims, cannot be considered terrorism.
This boils down to saying that terrorism on behalf of bad causes is bad, but terrorism on behalf of good causes is good. Obviously, anyone who takes such a position is not against terrorism at all – but only against bad causes.
