Tag Archives: terrorism

When is a terrorist not a terrorist?

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Government initiatives seem to be running the risk of equating mental disorder with terrorism, thus increasing the stigma faced by people with mental health problems. So far as I can tell the new project’s findings make no attempt to identify either causation or diagnosis.

It seems to me that it’s just as likely that prejudice and hatred cause mental disorders as the other way around. I also worry that “mentally ill” will continue to be used as the explanation only for white-skinned terrorists while the familiar epithet of ‘evil’ will remain the description of choice for non-whites.

There may well be value in this research but only if the eventual published findings are a great deal more nuanced and detailed than this week’s stigmatising pronouncement has been.

What the. ….

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Today is ‘Patriots’ Day’ in the US. It’s also a date that will likely go down in history as yet another tragedy in the states. The Boston Marathon has just been interrupted by two explosions and police allegedly have cautioned people to avoid litter bins.

It’s hard not to consider terrorism although precisely who might have caused this atrocity (or why) remains to be seen. I’m not going to speculate – I remember the internet chatroom frenzy after 9/11 with everyone from ‘the blacks’ & ‘the commies’ to ‘the Jews’ being blamed by self-proclaimed ‘experts’ adamant that they had inside information.

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All I’ll say is that the luckless victims of these explosions have my sympathy and I hope that whoever is responsible can be brought to justice soon.

Update: According to The New York Post 12 died in the initial two blasts. Other social media sources suggest that there has since been at least one further explosion while Sky news reports ball bearings scattered at the scene suggesting home made explosive devices. A ‘person of interest’ was arrested shortly after the explosions.

This just cannot be justified.

The Department of Foreign Affairs advises anyone concerned about loved ones in Boston to call 014780822.