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Depends on whether the primary purpose of the assasination is to eliminate that political figure or to strike fear into the others. In the first case, it isn't.
Usually an assassination isn't carried out like a gangland hit. Its there to kill the person more often than not.
I see the Awesomeness.
Thread Hop: because they don't want to get sued I think. Or the officials will stop talking to them.
Fight smart, not fair.
Whilst I'm not sure that this is in any "official" definition, to me terrorism implies a group seeking to promote a political cause of some kind through creating terror and fear. I'm not sure a lone individual could ever qualify. Lee Harvey Oswald wasn't a terrorist - he acted alone (conspiracy theories to one side) and it's not clear he was trying to create fear as such. A lot of lone gunmen or bombers are as much motivated by being generally pissed off with life or society as any ideology.
The uncertainty about who committed this terrible atrocity, and why, explains the fact that it isn't being labelled terrorism yet.
"Well, it's a lifestyle"
We can't be sure politics was a motive at this point. Maybe the guy just wanted to make Jodie Foster like him. 
Professional Smartass
It wasn't just an assasination attempt: he set a bomb which killed seven and shot ten people at a political partys youth camp. To me at least the second strike sounds like terrorism.
bitchy queen
I always thought it was the reverse. If it is a white guy, they're less likely to call it terrorism.
"Without a fairy, you're not even a real man!" ~ Mido from Ocarina of Time
So that's what this does
I think that it's just a trend. Over the years they've become less quick to drag out the T-word.
V
Especially as the terrorists themselves are changing, away from Organised groups like The IRA and ETA, to "franchises" like al-Qaeda and lone people and loosely-bound groups that share a view.
Keep Rolling On
Her with the hat
For what it's worth, according to this journalist
currently in Norway, the suspect has been charged with "acts of terrorism".
adopting kitteh
That's an accusation. It does not imply that it was the fact. Accusations of this kind are made to rally people around someone to blame.
Fanfic Recs orwellianretcon'd: cutlocked for committee or for Google?
Needs to be more Evil
This deserved to be call a "terrorist attack" more than many attacks against US soldiers in Iraq. Unfortunately "terrorist" is loosing of it's original meaning, and applied as roughly meaning "armed Muslim".
Point that somewhere else, or I'll reengage the harmonic tachyon modulator.
Oddly enough, according to someone in the Norway thread from Norway, this IS being called a terror attack.
Laugh it off, everybody
"Terrorism" is vague. That's about the only reason I could think of.
I spread my wings and I learn how to fly....
The Norway thread form Norway? Where is that? In the Departmentof Redundancy Department perhaps?
edited 23rd Jul '11 10:20:55 PM by Baff
I will always cherish the chance of a new beggining.
NOT THE BEES
Also, they don't want to be wrong, or jump to conclusions.
...are we talking about the same news companies?
Gotta trope, dood!
For what it's worth, I believe they called it a terror attack on CNN yesterday evening and today, although they're alternating between that and just "attack" or "shooting".
They lost me. Forgot me. Made you from parts of me. If you're the One, my father's son, what am I supposed to be?
Professional Smartass
Read in todays newspaper the headcount has gone up from 17 to 92. Apparently he shot 85 instead of 10.
Laws are made to be broken. You're next, thermodynamics.
Found this article. Might as well post before this thread fades...
http://www.slate.com/id/2299959/
68
They can be very inconsistent.
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So a political assassination is an act of terrorism?
I will always cherish the chance of a new beggining.