Political assassinations by allies were acceptable before being relabeled terrorism

Evidence

The Clinton administration viewed Iran as a hub of international terrorism and Islamic “extremism” and instituted sanctions and banned trade with Iran. However, it consorted with the Taliban, whose ultraconservative Deobandi philosophy had created horrific conditions for women in Afghanistan (as noted in Chapter 3), because of an interest in forging a pipeline deal that would, it was hoped, give US companies access to the oil and natural gas reserves in the Caspian Sea. At the end of the day, Islamist forces that cooperated with a vision of the world adopted by the United States were allies, and those who did not were enemies and cast as “terrorists.” This is how imperial ethnocentric racism works. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 400 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

The word terrorism is put in quotation marks throughout this text not to deny the existence of groups like al-Qaeda or ISIS or to downplay the devastating attacks they have carried out, but rather to call attention to the kinds of acts of political violence that are seen as terrorism and those that are not. Although terrorism is often defined as violence targeted against civilians to inflict fear so as to advance political agendas, governments often label as terrorist those non-state actors that attempt to thwart their objectives while ignoring the political violence of allies. Further, state violence and state-sponsored violence against civilians is rarely, if ever, categorized as terrorism irrespective of the number of lives lost. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 413 (#contradicts, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The US once allied with Islamist forces before treating them as enemies; US tolerated Islamist political assassinations when allies performed them; Terrorism labeling follows political allegiance, not acts of violence — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 413 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• US tolerated Islamist political assassinations when allies performed them #corroborates (0.95)
• Islamist groups are labeled allies or terrorists based on US interests #corroborates (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 400
• Terrorism labeling follows political allegiance, not acts of violence #contradicts (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 413
• Terrorism did not exist as a media index category before 1972 #expands (0.72)