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Old July 24th, 2007, 09:13 PM
Amrit Amrit is offline
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Default Re: WW2 "Resistance" Vs "Terrorists"?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mussolini View Post
Well of course the Germans called them Terrorists!

But to differentiate between French Freedom Fighters and Iraqi Terrorists, look what i said in my previous post. Or answer these questions:

Did the French Freedom Fighters/Underground 'Terrorize' the French populace?

Did the FFF target Civilians in their attacks?

Did the FFF commit mass-murder of civilians?

The answer to all is NO: they were truly fighting against their oppressors.

In Iraq, the case is different. For previously stated reasons.
I don't want to get drawn into the debates about comparing resistence and terrorism and/or France and Iraq, but in answer to your question Mussolini, I would suggest an examination of the actions of the "Resistence"* and FFF AFTER liberation. Apart from the "mass murders", the answers to your questions would be YES. The immediate post-liberation period was almost an orgy of attacks, extra-judicial killings and violence against both real and perceived collaborators. Neighbours turned on neighbours to get revenge for actions that had nothing to do with the occupation.

Most of these attacks and killings have been swept under the carpet, and apart from the occassional pictures of women having their hair being shaved off, not a lot of coverage has been given to this period.

* I place the word Resistence in quotes because the numbers who claimed to be members of restistance groups after the war was greatly inflated, both those wanting to show that they were against the occupation (when in reality the vast majority of the French were pretty resigned to it), and by the De Gaulle, who wanted to show that France had been active in fighting Germany.
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