In fact, it is difficult to think anything positive about terrorism, especially in the era of smart bombs, when our military is able to bomb with such precision that civilians are rarely killed and injured, and only the target is taken out. The fact that our military is able to conduct war with a precision never before achieved is one reason why terrorism seems more shocking than ever before. There's a jarring difference between warfare and terrorism in 2004. When the United States wages war we go to great lengths to protect the civilian population as much as possible. The opposing forces have taken advantage of that fact in Iraq, storing weapons in mosques and allowing combatants to use them as a staging arena for their efforts.

The truth is that terrorism has changed since its beginnings. The United States was born out of terrorism and revolution. If the American Revolution were taking place today, the British would describe the Boston Tea Party as a terrorist act, and the guerilla-like tactics used by small bands of civilian men against British encampments during that time would be viewed as crimes. In more recent times, many French citizens were outraged at how easily their country gave up and surrendered to the Nazi German army, and even more distressed to see how completely the Vichy government cooperated with those who had defeated them in war. The French resistance movement was one result. Private citizens who were determined to continue to fight for their country. At great risk to themselves and their families, they worked under cover of darkness to blow up bridges so the German army could not use them, snuck British spies into the country and reported troop movements to the Allies. Because the Allies won the war and France was liberated, they are called heroes, but if Germany had won, they would have been terrorists. The victors write history.

However, it's a poor analogy. American revolutionaries of the 18th century never deliberately harmed thousands of civilians to make a point. They did not blow up civilian public transportation. The members of the French resistance, while they dealt swiftly with people who gave away their secrets, worked very hard to avoid any harm to innocent citizens. On September 11, the attackers defined anyone who disagreed with them as the "enemy" and had no problem with the fact that nearly all the people they killed or maimed had no quarrel with them. Comparing today's terrorists to Revolutionary War heroes or the French resistanceis a little like comparing a cobra with a garter snake. The only thing terrorism can accomplish is to draw attention to a group's cause. People so passionate about their causes ought to be able to think up better ways to express it.