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Terrorism for Martians

Me: Look, we’re just trying to promote stability.

Martian: On Earth, war makes things more stable?

Me: It’s…complicated. But really, America is a peace-loving culture.

Martian: But you have more wars than anyone. On Mars, this does not seem peaceful.

Me: Okay, but it’s not terrorism. Terrorism is when, you know, you terrorize people.

Martian: But did you not, alone among the peoples of your planet, use atomic weapons against your fellow humans, when you bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

Me: Only to end the war.

Barry Eisler on the how you would explain the difference between war and terrorism to a Martian. Well worth a read.