A couple of days ago I wrote about the ongoing problem of piracy in the Gulf of Aden and implied that attacking passenger liners would be a sure way to grab international attention by drawing the label of “terrorism.” this was not meant to imply, however, that such piracy actually qualifies as terrorism. I think it is more complex than that. Nonetheless, Douglas R. Burgess, Jr., in an op-ed piece in The New York Times, argues that piracy is indeed terrorism.
Frankly, I do not buy the argument. And I think it fits into a category that I identified some time ago of invoking terrorism where it does not really apply simply because the very invocation of terrorism demands action in a post-9/11 world. Piracy might fit somewhere in between mere criminality and some other sort of global threat, but one of the key tenets of terrorism is that it be politically motivated. Economic gain is generally not a constituent part of terrorism, though terrorists might use force for economic gain in order to continue their political agenda.
Sloppy categorization is unlikely to help in the long run. Piracy is a difficult enough issue to combat without blurring lines any further by conflating it with terrorism. Burgess’ argument obscures more that it illuminates and both piracy and terrorism are topics that frankly do not need to be muddled further than they already have.
