the question of whether a coordinated, cross-border campaign of violence that kills civilians counts as terrorism has only ever had one answer in mainstream Western political vocabulary: Not if it's us.

 https://x.com/nxt888/status/2098684688781242879

Sony Thăng

@nxt888

They will tell you that "Islamic terrorism" is different because it's global. Because it crosses borders. Because it recruits internationally. Because it has ideological coherence that transcends geography. These things are true of ISIS at its peak. They are also true of American foreign policy. American foreign policy crosses every border. Recruits internationally, in the sense of building coalitions. Has ideological coherence, democracy promotion, free markets, rules-based order, that transcends geography. Has produced a human toll on a scale ISIS never remotely approached. Nobody calls it American terrorism. Nobody calls it a civilization-level threat to the people on the receiving end. Nobody calls for the surveillance of American communities or the monitoring of American ideological literature. Because the question of whether a coordinated, cross-border campaign of violence that kills civilians counts as terrorism has only ever had one answer in mainstream Western political vocabulary: Not if it's us.

6:06 PM · Sep 12, 2026

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https://x.com/nxt888/status/2098684688781242879