SEATTLE — Within a space of a few hours on Sept. 30, an accused man confessed to terrorism charges in Germany, the terrorism threat level was raised in Sweden, and former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich lengthily discussed "suicidal jihadists" in a speech given in Denver.
Although it is tacitly understood that U.S. President Barack Obama has distanced himself from his predecessor's indefinite war objectives — embodied in the ill-defined "war on terror" — chances are that the dreadful term "terrorism" is not going away anytime soon.
Regardless of its alleged French roots — dating back to the French revolution of the late 18th century — "terrorism" is very much a political term and very much a recent one. U.S. officials, especially those vying for political office, are very generous in their use of this word. But others — from the most authoritarian, dictatorial regimes to Scandinavian democracies — have also developed a special affinity for it.
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