名校最新大学英语四级阅读精讲的系列讲义：(122)_大学英语阅读

名校最新大学英语四级阅读精讲的系列讲义：(122)

　　What is terrorism?

　　In a growing number of conflicts around the world, one or both sides attempt to label the other as terrorist in an effort to win support for their own causes. Yet as the so-called terrorists group often proclaim, a clear distinction between a terrorist action and a non-terrorist military operation is frequently difficult to establish. Most governments argue that terrorism is　defined by violent methods to achieve political ends which are undertaken by organizations not recognized by the world community as legitimate representatives of a nation; furthermore, random acts of violence, like attacks on school buses or shopping centers, are labeled as terrorist . Political organization as the IRA and the PLO have been dubbed(称为) terrorists , by the governments of England and Israel because of their tactics and their non-official statuses as representatives of accurately defined nations. In the case of the PLO, however, its election to power under Yasser Arafat has now　confused its former recognition as terrorist. Even the IRA is earning status as an authentic opposition voice to the continued presence of British troops on Irish soil.

　　All this simply highlights the problems of separating what is a legitimate political organization with the right to employ violence to achieve political ends from so-called terrorist groups. Inseparable from this issue is historical precedence and the degree of power and prestige an organization or nation has on the world stage. For example, while most independent observes would agree that the IRA setting off a bomb in a London subway station confirms its notoriety, they would be less certain that Israel s recent bombing of a refugee camp is equally terrorist , despite the　fact that many more innocent people were killed and injured in the latter incident than in the former. This raises the question, though certainly not for the first time, whether legitimate, even democratically elected, governments are also capable of terrorist action. Is there always a clear moral distinction between the behavior of normally respected nations and that of rogue organizations? What does seem clear from these reflections is not that terrorist actions are in any way justified, but that the use of　such labels is sometimes based on a political need rather than on superior moral or ethical grounds.