at what point does this projection of judicial power against individuals in the name of safety (whose safety? whats really at stake here even?) become terrorism?
Become terrorism? To answer that we'll first need to define "terrorism".
There are over 109 different definitions of terrorism. It is not only individual agencies within the same governmental apparatus that cannot agree on a single definition of terrorism. Experts and other long-established scholars in the field are equally incapable of reaching a consensus.
I think terrorism has a perfectly good definition - political lobbying/influence "by other means" than conventional politics, i.e. attacking and terrorizing civilians. Doesn't matter who does it or how exactly.
Maybe the US government doesn't exactly use that definition, but that doesn't mean there is no such thing as terrorism.
So, that's who this general was, an Iranian visiting some Iranian country? Was he there to see the fjords?
Anyway, telling me what I would think or say is unacceptable in a civil conversation. If I write something, you can assume I mean it, or you can disengage if you think I'm trolling.
If you're going to take my comments as justifying US actions, perhaps they can be taken that way, but they may apply to retaliation as well, no? Is there much of a gray area with military personnel in Iraq right now, who aren't Iraqis?
Now? You might be missing some context on the whole Middle East conflict.
Though I also don't think they should just drop the investigation if they have evidence there was a real crime committed (the false police report). I sure don't know anyone who committed a felony, got busted, but then was allowed to just walk away because it was a hassle to prosecute them. As for the effort, I'm sure they have some digital forensics tool that will search anything for them these days. Probably just one case among many that one person is working on at this point.
I mean... you obviously don't like this, and many people agree, on very reasonable grounds. But it just is not terrorism.
It's sort of how boiled mushrooms are not "death", even though I have equal affinity to both concepts.
So "spectacularly ignorant" might be a better alternative to "lunatic", but that isn't polite either.
It's kind of like how Matt Levine was making fun of Carlos Ghosn today for saying "I was brutally taken from my world as I knew it".
``Yes, right, that perfectly and exactly describes the experience of every single person who is arrested and sent to jail. Very few of them like it! And he’s not wrong, it is a bad thing to take people away from their friends and families and everyday lives. It’s just, you know, that’s kind of the deal, with jail. In general society does not seem especially responsive to arguments of the form “I do not want to stand trial for these crimes, because I’d rather hang out with my friends.” ''
are you saying that courts have become so opaque and inaccessible to voters that they exert their power as an impenetrable cabal ? Or that people need a PhD to assess whether the law or its enforcement is good or bad?
Surely both programming and law are more accessible than at any prior time in the history of the universe.