ForumsWEPRIs Al Gore a terrorist?

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th3pr3tz3l
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th3pr3tz3l
189 posts
Nomad

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

This topic is not about the discussion of if global warming is/is not happening. It is purely a discussion about Al Gore himself and wether or not he meets the definition of a terrorist, through performing acts of terrorism

The other day, when doing about nothing in particular, I began to think about terrorism, and tried to figure out if any seemingly accepted figures in Canadian or American society fit the definition of terrorist. And my thoughts came to Al Gore himself, the former vice president who spreads awareness about global warming. I will point out I will argue strongly he is a terrorist, but this is really because I want to see if I could argue it effectively enought to actually convince people that he is a terrorist. Basically i'm saying I DONT ACTUALLY BELIEVE THIS! Unless of course I argue it too well, then maybe i will believe it .

One of the definitions of terrorism that the United States Government uses is:

Too intimidate or coerce a civilian population;or To influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion.

By this definition wouldn't Al Gore be considered a terrorist?

Here is a statement made by Edward Peck, former U.S chief of mission in Iraq, when Jimmy Carter was president:

"In 1985, when I was the Deputy Director of the Reagan White House Task Force on Terrorism, they asked us...to come up with a definition of terrorism that could be used throughout the government. We produced about six, and each and every case, they were rejected, because careful reading would indicate that our own country had been involved in some of those activities."

Now this topic is not about the government, but about Al Gore, and careful inspection of the current definition of terrorism used by the United States implicates one of its upstanding citizens, Al Gore.

I Believe Al Gore used his film, An Incovenient Truth, to scare the masses into a panic about global warming. He showed images of some of the countrie's largest cities being destroyed by flooding as they were lower than sea level. Doomsaying as this could do much more than just worry people about global warming, it could even affect things like housing prices in the area! Although I am not saying he would have caused these other affects intentionally, would he not have intimidated, and in doing that, coerced a civilian population as the definition of terrorism states? I also believe anyone who didn't know about global warming before his movie must not pay attentiont to the media, it had been being talked about for years, all Al Gore did was make a movie. Even Richard S. Lindzen, a writer for Wall Street Journal, wrote in the June 26, 2006 issue that Gore was using a biased presentation to exploit the fears of the public for his own political gain.

Would anyone like to comment on this?

  • 49 Replies
Eyes
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Eyes
139 posts
Blacksmith

Ok...read the thread first instead of making rash statements based on what you think the title implies.

@ SkullZero1: I would say yes, someone can cause terror without having a political agenda.

Moegreche
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Moegreche
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Duke

This is a pretty loose definition of a "terrorist" which is a term that the U.S. decides to apply to certain people. I'm not sure that coercion is the right word to use to describe Gore's film. A definition I retrieved from here states that "Coercion is the practice of compelling a person to behave in an involuntary way (whether through action or inaction) by use of threats, intimidation or some other form of pressure or force." This seems to most closely fit the type of coercion we're talking about, but the force or authority that is implied in coercion does not come from Gore himself. If he were saying that if we didn't stop CO2 emissions then HE would flood the planet, then yes by all means he's a terrorist. This is certainly propoganda, and some form of intimidation, but it is not really any different than what certain religions use to keep their followers coming to church. It's scare tactics and propoganda, not terrorism.

Wittman
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Wittman
318 posts
Nomad

Well, if you put it like that then I guess he could be called a terrorist. But when I think "terrorist", I think of evil man blowing things up.

Cortexal
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Cortexal
80 posts
Nomad

Moegreche, I would have to agree with you. That i a very reasonable explanation. Good job.

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