They Were All Terrorists

Uzbek troops "Only Killed Terrorists;" anywhere between the official 169 killed, to 500 that human rights groups estimate, to the opposition's estimation of 745. All of them were terrorists, including the women and children terrorists in the crowd.

Of course this is infuriating. But why are the generously skeptical group of AntiCentenarîites concerned so much with the Uzbek usage of this linguic device of justification? [Apart, of course, from America's official ambivalence to this horrendous crime]

Because it sounds suspiciously familiar to us...

"The president's advisers all agree that Taliban and al Qaeda fighters are not prisoners of war," the official said. "Nobody thinks they are entitled to prisoner of war status."

The Bush administration now classifies the detainees as "unlawful combatants," a designation that exempts them from requirements under the 1949 Geneva Conventions.

In other words, call them whatever you want to, and then do whatever you wish with them. Or... the reverse. It doesn't matter in our new, post-9/11 world- the rules are made up as we go. Terrorists, unlawful combatants... no worries. Kill em, detain em forever. Nobody will miss them.
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The Spread of Language: like when we declared "pre-emptive strikes" to be not only politically managable, but straight Okay. And then North Korea and Iran decided they needed nukes to defend against them.