One man's bloop is another man's gleep

[prog]

Has the phrase "freedom fighters" been used non-ironically anywhere in the western world at any time in the last 25 years?

No?

OK, then stop implying that your political opponents are using the term in order to equivocate their positions. Thank you.

Comments

[novalis]

Yes.

(that's a t-shirt that FSF Europe sells)

[doctor_atomic]

That term is used in many a reggae song.

[rserocki]

I read it used in a non-ironic sense when someone said he didn't like how the pirates in PotC 3 were shown as being freedom fighters when they were more bloodthirsty and such in the first movie. Although I recognize this is not real world.

[radtea]

Yes, but only by bellicose conservatives in support of rightist thugs, particularly in Central America and specifically in Nicaragua in the '80's.

"Freedom fighter" is as silly a term as "terrorist". One identifies the group by its nominal goal, the other by its purported method. Neither is useful for distinguishing anything from anything else. I'm damned sure the non-violent Buddhist monks in Burma have the junta there in a state of terror: you don't send out the army to violently suppress and kill people who don't make you piss yourself with abject fear.

Likewise, the Taliban are fighting for the freedom to impose Islamic law on a particular hunk of geography, and the Zionists who fought for the creation of Israel were pretty keen on having the freedom to create a Jewish state.

But I do think the use of anything other than neutral descriptive terms ("irregular fighters", "guerilla fighters", etc.) by anyone over the age of forty is grounds for dismissing their opinion on the matter entirely.

What Is Proactol

[anonymous]

Thanks for very interesting article. btw. I really enjoyed reading all of your posts. It’s interesting to read ideas, and observations from someone else’s point of view… makes you think more.
So please keep up the great work. Greetings.