Are we the American Terrorists?

I was recently scouting through Yahoo! Answers, when I came across a question that I found severely interesting in its concept. It was a question about the war, and though badly written, it was good food for thought.

To quote him/her exactly the question was;
Are all the Americans terrorists because Bush is killing people in Iraq and Afganistan?

He continued on in is not-so-clear-clarification to say:
Is it fair to consider the whole as terrorists because one has committed some crime ?

At first, I took the question to mean something a little bit different than what it did. What I understand now is that this was probably an Afghani who was trying to make the point that its not fair to say that people from Afghanistan are terrorists because of a few peoples actions.

When I went to click answer, I hadn't yet realized this and I took it at face value.

I went to answer something along the lines of:
Are both President Bush and U.S. Troops terrorist because they are killing people in Iraq?

My answer is as follows. Please read it, and tell me what you think.

Asking if the U.S. soldiers are terrorists is obviously going to spark some excitement. As you have seem from some of your responses you have already received, I think you would agree.

Had you been just a little clearer in your questioning I think you would have gotten more thought out answers, but whats done is done.

Here is mine.

Answering this question requires that we hash out first what a terrorist is. Resorting back to the old fashioned 'what does the dictionary say' technique, I've taken this from dictionary.com

ter·ror·ism [ter-uh-riz-uhm]
–noun
1.the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes.

a terrorist, obviously being a person who commits acts of terrorism would thus be:

A person who uses violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp for political purposes.

A man or woman who is taking a weapon to another human being is being violent, and if one is being violent in a war, they are I presume attempting to win the war.

The idea of wining a war is no doubt getting the other side to give up. To stop fighting the war. However, it is human nature to not give up if we don't have to. Not to give up if we think we have a chance. In order to make one side give up, the winning side has to make themselves - prove themselves to be more powerful. They must intimidate the opposing side.

My last point is, what is more political than war?

So, as the U.S. occupying Iraq, we ARE using violence, AND threats to intimidate or coerce the opposing side to give up the political issue over which we are disputing.

Simple answer: War is terrorism.

Longer answer: Every man or woman who participates in war is a terrorist, but I think the blame extends farther than that.

The Declaration of Independence states:

"...governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it ."

This paragraph says, that governments get their power only from the people they govern. It is the right of the people to alter their government. It is this phrase in the Declaration on which our institution of Democracy arguably stands, and it is this democracy that has given power to the officials of our government that has started this war. The consent that we have given them.

I will go so far as to say that not only are any of the U.S. troops currently fighting in this war terrorists, but consequently and without denial so is the establishment that sent them there.
Just as inarguably I will say that WE, the Citizens of the United States of America ARE TERRORISTS.

We are terrorists, but this does not make us sinners in the eye of man. This "sin" will forever lay in the purely subjective question of justification.

Are we justified in our terrorism? Thats not this question. That is not my answer.