On 5/12/05, Autoplectic wrote: > I think naming the resistance in Iraq an insurgency concedes too much > to the Pentagon and White House. Were the North Vietnamese insurgents?
El dictionario (http://dict.die.net) defines "insurgent" as: >adj : in opposition to a civil authority or government [syn: seditious, subversive] >n 1: a person who takes part in an armed rebellion against the constituted authority (especially in the hope of improving conditions) [syn: insurrectionist, freedom fighter, rebel] >2: a member of an irregular armed force that fights a stronger force by sabotage and harassment [syn: guerrilla, guerilla, irregular]< except for the bit about "constituted authority," this definition -- which represents the judgement by the dictionary-writers about the most common usages -- seems to fit the opposition groups in Iraq. It's not like the word "insurgents" involves negative (or positive) value judgements. (Hey, it's better than the increasingly common word "terrorists.") The North Vietnamese were very different from the Iraqi anti-US forces (among other things, showing much more unity and organization) so I don't think what we call them is very relevant. -- Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://myweb.lmu.edu/jdevine
