Terrorism

[tekisui]

terrorism-(noun)
1. the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/terrorism

Labeling criminal acts and mass murders as terrorism legitimizes, or creates, the political message motivating it. Saying an act is terrorism is to say it is an act of war for terrorism is war done cheap, without uniforms, armies and sophisticated weapons.

The use of the term 'terrorism' over the term 'murder', leads to vastly different responses. Criminal acts are answered with investigations and arrests. Terrorism is most often answered with war.