When Is A Terrorist A Terrorist?

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Of the 35 federal terrorism-related cases in Iowa since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the Des Moines Register reports that "most defendants had questionable links to violent extremism. Those defendants who could be identified by the newspaper were, in most cases, charged with fraud or theft and served just a few months in jail."
Apparently, the "terrorism-related" label has more to do with the type of illegal activity that the suspect is being prosecuted for than evidence of actual terrorist connections or motives. "'Bona fide' terrorism is a matter of semantics," Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Murphy, who heads the criminal division of the U.S. attorney's office in Cedar Rapids, told the Register. "I don't think you can draw conclusions based on what a person is convicted of." U.S. Senator Charles Grassley (R-Ia.) questioned the rationale of lumping minor crimes under the terrorism label. "When people read that they're doctoring the numbers, aren't they going to have less confidence in the Justice Department and the war on terror?" asked Grassley. "You can't say that somebody's a terrorist when he isn't a terrorist."