The European Parliament Has Declared Russia a Terrorist State

The European Union Parliament has declared the Russian Federation to be a terrorist state. Although I have often posted about the overuse of the word terrorism, a reasonable argument can be made that this declaration is correct. Terrorism is the violent targeting of innocent civilians to intimidate the populace into giving into the demands of the terrorists. A major reason for the declaration of Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism is because under Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, an ex-Soviet intelligence officer trying to restore the Soviet Union, Russian forces are targeting Ukrainian civilians during the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Russia had similarly targeted civilians in Syria, during its intervention in support for Syrian tyrant Bashar Assad, who is himself a state sponsor of terrorism. Syria harbors terrorists and is a conduit for its ally, Iran, the worst state sponsor of terrorism in the world. The Russians often target hospitals in both wars and even targeted rescue workers in Syria. The deliberate targeting of civilian areas, instead of military targets, is a war crime, like terrorism, and which is done for a similar purpose. Such targeting, even in wartime, could, therefore, also meet the definition of terrorism. But Russian military support for terrorist-sponsoring Assad is a clearer example. In the Syrian Civil War, in which Syrians rose up against oppression eleven years ago, Russia has worked with Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi’ite terrorist organization backed by Syria and Iran. Another argument has been made that Russian murdering of exiles abroad through the use of chemical weapons is an example of terrorism. These killings are targeted for political purposes, not against innocent civilians, and thus are crimes, but not acts of terrorism, but the use of such weapons in civilian areas has endangered civilians. Unlike Russia’s deliberate targeting of civilians in Syria and Ukraine, its use of chemical weapons abroad is a crime against humanity that is similar in this sense to its indiscriminate attacks on legitimate military targets that also strike civilian areas. This distinction between the targeting of strategic targets without regard for civilian casualties, and the deliberate targeting of civilians without targeting any militarily strategic target is essential under the law of war. Putin has become the most malign force in the world in many ways, often in violation of treaties and international law, many of which are not acts of terrorism. But because the Russian Federation militarily supports a terrorist-sponsoring state and deliberately targets civilians in two wars, it is not unreasonable to declare it to be a state sponsor of terrorism.